Latest update from NCA on internet interruption

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has said it has been difficult to determine the cause of the undersea fibre optic cables which have resulted in internet connectivity challenges.

This according to the Director General, Dr Joe Anokye is due to the distance between the four subsea cables.

“These 4 cables in Ivory Coast, Cote D’Ivoire, ACE, one of them is called Ace. That’s the one closer. it’s about 118km or so. Between that cable and the next cable is about 11 kilometres and just to put it in context, you know, 11 kilometres is from, like, you know, the general post office to Accra Mall.”

“The distance between that cable SAT-3 and the next cable, which is the main one, is allegedly to be about 67 kilometres, which is like from Accra Mall to Suhum. And all 3 were compromised. The distance between Main One and WACS, it’s also 77 kilometres. This is Suhum to Nkawkaw. So it is very difficult to determine exactly what happened,” he explained in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.

Telecel visits Otumfuo after successful brand unveil in Ghana

Telecel, an Africa-focused telecommunications company, has paid a courtesy visit on Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to officially announce the complete rebranding of Vodafone Ghana to Telecel Ghana as well as introduce the leadership of Telecel Group to him.

AT Ghana SIM card sales rise as MTN and Telecel internet access improves

Both MTN Ghana and Telecel Ghana have today reported some improvement in internet access to customers following days of near total blackout due to the massive subsea cable cuts that happened on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

The cuts occurred on all four major submarine fibre optics cables that connect Ghana to the rest of the world and on which all telecoms and internet service provider in Ghana offer data/internet services to customers.

The four affected cables were as follows:

ACE – which stretches from France (in Europe) to Cape Town (South Africa
WACS – stretching from Portugal (in Europe) to Cape Town
SAT-3 – from Portugal/Spain to Cape Town
MainOne – from Portugal to Cape Town
Per a series of statements from the National Communications Authority, ACE, WACS, and MainOne lost 90% capacity due to the cut, while SAT-3 lost 100% capacity.

Hours of the disruption, AT Ghana was back on track providing service to its customers on the back of some limited backup capacity it had from WIOCC (West India Ocean Cable Company), while K-NET also fell back on its redundant capacity on Angola Cable to resume service with about 40 minutes.

But the two leading telcos in Ghana have been in the woods for days since the disruption, with customers largely unable to do anything meaningful online, except for WhatsApp text, and some limited access to YouTube and Netflix.

Ghana faces Internet meltdown from undersea cable disruption

ACCRA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The meltdown of Internet services across Ghana, caused by the disruption of undersea cables over the past few days, has severely affected the country's business activities.

Business owners said the Internet blackout has affected their routine activities and resulted in a loss of revenue due to the abrupt cessation of operations, causing a degree of anxiety and tension among the Ghanaian public.

One manager of a popular online news portal in Ghana, who spoke to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said, "The disruption of Internet services has been severe. I am not able to work the whole day."

Felix Sogah, an economics tutor at Chemu Senior High School in Tema City, said the Internet shutdown over the past few days has affected his work.

"I do research to update my figures and obtain data for what I teach my students. I have been doing this for years. However, for the past few days, it has been extremely difficult to access the Internet to obtain the data I require for my work," said Sogah.

Angela Aidoo, a Ghanaian mother of two, said she has difficulty accessing the Electricity Company of Ghana's application to pay her electricity bill.

"Because of the Internet disruptions, I cannot buy electricity and have to sleep in darkness when my meter goes off," said Aidoo.

Internet services in the West African country went down late Wednesday, affecting virtually all services that relied on the Internet, including the aviation industry, transportation, telecommunications, education, and health.