Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has said that work is underway to fix internet challenges in Rwanda and other east African countries in the wake of reported damage to a subsea fibre cable systems that serves the region.
The issues started on Sunday, May 12. It is reported that Tanzania and Mayotte, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, were the most affected, while internet disruptions were also reported in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar.
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Speaking to The New Times on May 13, the General Manager of ICT Regulation at RURA, Charles Gahungu, noted that work "by the respective international players" is underway to fix the problem, though he expects it may take some more time.
"Fixing subsea fibre cables takes more time. If it were land cables that had been affected, it would not take long," he said.
Despite the recent deceleration in internet speeds within Rwanda, Gahungu emphasised that connectivity remains accessible, owing to prior initiatives undertaken by the nation to establish multiple connections to diverse channels interfaced with alternative servers.
Gahungu said RURA was in contact with local operators and it discussed the current internet problems. One of the solutions they are trying to exploit is making use of the alternative fibre infrastructure to which can be available for Rwanda, Gahungu said.
Meanwhile, in Tanzania, Nape Nnauye, the country's minister of information, communication and information technology said in a statement on Sunday that the government was informed that the disruption to the internet was caused by a fault on the cables between Mozambique and South Africa.
The information was shared to the neighbouring country by SEACOM and EASSy, the companies in charge of the affected subsea cable systems.
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"There are ongoing efforts to solve the problem. As they continue to solve the problem, we will have very low access to the internet and international voice calls," Nnauye said.
On Monday, MTN Rwanda, one of the main internet service providers in the country informed its clients that the technical problem affecting connectivity in Africa is not yet solved.
"We are still following up on the issue so that you will get internet services as usual," the message from MTN read.
Safaricom, Kenya's biggest telecoms operator, also said in a post on X that it activated redundancy measures to minimise service interruption after it was notified of an outage on the one of cables serving the country.
"We have experienced an outage on one of the undersea cables that deliver internet traffic in and out of the country. We have since activated redundancy measures to minimise service interruption and keep you connected as we await the full restoration of the cable. You may, however, experience reduced internet speeds," the telco said.
