A large number of Internet subscribers experienced hitches while downloading and uploading content online at the weekend. With the challenge continuing into the new week, investigations showed that banks, financial institutions, and some Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), which rely on the Internet to serve segments of the market, might experience difficulties in doing business. The hitches were as a result of cuts to submarine cable systems on the high seas in Europe, especially the West African Cable System (WACS), which serves the Nigerian market and some West African countries.
The WACS is an ultra-high capacity fibre optic submarine cable, linking Europe, West Africa and South Africa. It connects 14 countries and over two continents. This undersea cable carries telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea and transfers about 99 per cent of international data on the continent. The affected subscribers were mainly MTN users, who faced tough times surfing the Internet.
MTN is the largest operator in Nigeria with a 38 per cent market share and about 67 million customers. The South African telecommunications firm has connected about 53 million people in the country to the Internet. Confirming the situation, the firm had in a text message apologised to its customers, saying: “Y’ello. We apologise for slow data speeds and difficulty with accessing the Internet. Please, bear with us as we work to resolve the issue. Thank you.”
