What happened?
On Thursday, March 16, millions of Nigerians had limited access to the internet on their mobile and computer devices. Subscribers of telecommunication companies like MTN and Airtel couldn’t access social media apps and website pages. Customers of financial institutions also had trouble accessing their bank apps and USSD services.
According to multiple reports, the internet outage was a result of damage to international undersea cables supplying the country with connectivity.
MainOne on duration of repairs
MainOne network, a major internet provider for Nigerian banks and internet providers, suffered extensive damage to its submarine cable system which affected internet connectivity for many of its clients.
In a statement issued on Friday, March 15, the company said it needs to “identify and assign a vessel, the vessel has to retrieve the necessary spares required for repair, and then sail to the fault location to conduct the repair work.” This would be followed by pulling the affected cables from the seabed and getting technicians to fix them.
This entire back and forth might take a total of one month.
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What does this mean for customers’ access to the internet?
On March 17, MainOne returned with an update stating service had been restored to some customers while working on complete resolution for all affected.
“We have already restored services to some customers and are actively working on restoring services to others via capacity acquired on available cable systems.”
Many people also had their internet access restored on their mobile devices, and some were able to transact on their banking apps. In a March 18 statement, MainOne said it worked with regional partners to reroute traffic and restore services for banks, telcos among other companies in the West African business community.
MTN via an Instagram post told customers that internet services have significantly improved and “work continues round-the-clock on recovery efforts”.
As of the time of writing this report, Airtel has yet to issue an update to customers. However, internet services on the network have significantly picked up in the country.
Meanwhile, Globacom customers enjoyed uninterrupted internet service during the outage on Thursday. The telecommunication company in an Instagram post said that its network wasn’t affected by the fibre cut.
Now that you’ve gotten the update on the internet outage in Nigeria, you should read this next: Interview With Subsea Cable: “My Life Is in Danger”
