Some 98% of the world’s population depends on the flow of data through undersea fibre cables to remain connected, so it is accurate to refer to these cables as the lifeblood of internet connectivity. Since they are buried beneath the ocean to link continents, they carry a resounding majority of the world’s data for international telecommunications, therefore any disruption could have far-reaching effects. The vulnerability of the global communications infrastructure has been brought to light by recent events, with reports of damages resulting in major internet outages in several locations, most notably in Africa.
Although the precise date of the damage is unknown, remediation efforts to address a reported undersea fibre cable cut began on March 4, 2024. This damaged internet access in several African nations, disrupting daily operations for millions of internet users as well as companies and emergency services. With differing degrees of interruption and downtime, a wave of internet outages has been reported in 14 African nations (Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, The Gambia, and Togo). The West Africa Cable System (WACS), MainOne, South Atlantic 3 (SAT3), and Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) maritime cables are among the damaged cables. The global undersea cable system’s redundancy, or backup solution, has helped lessen the impact of the disaster by enabling traffic to be rerouted to other cables to preserve some degree of connectivity, albeit at the expense of significantly lower performance.
Sectors Most Affected
1. Banking and Financial Services: Customers’ ability to execute financial activities smoothly was impacted by the banking sector’s issues processing transactions, occasional outages of Internet banking services, and ATM disruptions.
2. Education: Students’ participation in online learning was hampered as educational institutions and online learning platforms struggled with content delivery and upkeep of virtual classrooms.
3. IT and Technology Services: Businesses that provide web hosting, cloud computing, network provisioning, and other IT-related services experienced disruptions that affected the operations of their clients in a variety of industries.
4. Telecommunications: Most of the major telecom companies across West Africa were impacted, but some more than others. Maintaining a constant level of service quality posed issues for internet service providers as well. As a result, there will be missed calls, sluggish internet, and interrupted communication services.
5. E-commerce and Online Retail: Because users were having trouble accessing online services, e-commerce platforms and online retailers saw a decrease in customer traffic and transaction volumes.
Companies in the telecommunications sector, namely those offering fibre optic cable services in Africa, include SAT3 and MainOne. An undersea cable system linking South Africa to Europe, Asia, and the Americas is run by SAT3, a South African business. On the other side, MainOne is a West African business that offers connectivity options, such as a network of submarine cables circling the continent. Both businesses have been attempting to replace and repair the damaged cables in response to these fibre cable outages, as well as looking into other options to keep their connectivity services available.
Regrettably, there has been prior damage to underwater fibre lines. These cable cuts are not limited to Africa; there have been several instances of comparable damages with comparable degrees of impact. West and Central African nations suffered an interruption in internet service, which disrupted daily life in these regions. According to Seacom, the traffic was automatically diverted to the Google Equiano cable when a route was affected. Although the source of the cable failures is still unknown, operators of several subsea cables have reported failures.
Experts are speculating that “something larger” is to blame for the “severe” impacts experienced by at least a dozen African states. Countries like Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso were reportedly badly impacted, according to NetBlocks.
According to a statement from internet infrastructure company Cloudflare, interruptions were also reported in the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, and Niger.
Lesotho and Namibia were also impacted, according to the Guardian. West and Central African businesses have been impacted by this outage. Numerous businesses rely significantly on the internet to supply services to their clients, with the continent leading the way in mobile internet usage. Major South African telecom carrier Vodacom blamed disruptions in the country’s underwater cable system for connection problems that affected the nation’s network providers.
Possible Causes of the Undersea Cable Cuts
This crucial infrastructure for connectivity could be harmed or interrupted for several causes. Owing to the lack of clarity surrounding the present cut’s cause, other theories have been proposed, covering a wide range of typical causes for such harm.
1. The majority of submarine cable faults are caused by landslides, earthquakes, and equipment failure in addition to human activities like fishing and anchoring in shallow waters close to the coast. Any human activity has been instantly ruled out, including ship anchors, fishing, drilling, and other activities, due to the distance from land and the cable depth of around 3 km at the fault spot. Based on our initial investigation, it appears that the cable break was caused by seismic activity on the seabed. However, additional information will be obtained upon retrieving the cable during the repair exercise.
2. Anchoring and Fishing: Cables may inadvertently be cut by deep-sea fishing nets and ship anchors. Certain commercial ships that have been crippled by attacks or a drifting ship whose dangling anchor is scraping the seabed can cut sea cables.
3. Human Error: Damage might result from careless handling when installing cables or performing maintenance.
4. Sabotage: Though it happens infrequently, cables can be purposefully severed during geopolitical disputes.
In summary, the cause of the damage to the fibre cables is not universally accepted. A portion of people think it was caused by the Yemeni Houthis, who have a clear target list that includes several Western nations, while others think it was possibly intentional damage from an anchor drop or drag against the ocean floor where the cables are located. Recent research has pointed to an undersea seismic event as the reason for the cuts in the undersea cables at various locations.
How we can prevent future undersea cable disruptions from happening
It will take a coordinated effort in multiple areas to lower the likelihood of future cable outages:
1. Redundancy: Several data paths should be purchased as a requirement rather than a luxury. Since we depend so heavily on the movement of data and information daily, it is important to establish and strengthen several data transfer channels to lessen the impact of a single cable failure.
2. Technological innovation: creating innovative technology to monitor and safeguard underwater cable integrity more effectively.
3. Policy and regulation: tightening maritime laws about fishing and anchoring near cables.
4. Route Planning: Plan cable routes carefully to steer clear of dangerous locations.
How Satellites Can Play a Major Role in Redundancy
Strategic use of satellite technology can increase the resilience and dependability of global communication networks. Satellite services typically operate in clusters, with multiple spacecraft cooperating to form constellations. This arrangement reduces service disruptions significantly by preparing for the possibility that one satellite may fail and other satellites in the constellation will take over. An illustration of the functioning of this configuration is the Global Positioning System (GPS). A proactive strategy would be to use a combination of Geostationary (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to stop this kind of impact.
While LEO satellites orbit closer to Earth and cover a variety of moving territories, GEO satellites are fixed in place above specified regions of Earth, providing consistent coverage. When combined with cutting-edge network architectures, these services guarantee that vital communication features are accessible despite obstacles that can impair connectivity.
Present-day suppliers of satellite internet services include OneWeb and Starlink (SpaceX) while Iridium Communications and Globalstar are utilised for communication.
Conclusion
The recent internet outage drives home the need for Africa to position itself in a way that makes the continent technologically resilient. The dependence of Africa on the West for everything else is not the way to go. Anytime the West coughs, Africa must catch a cold. That scenario must be a thing of the past. It is an undeniable fact that the world is interconnected, even more so in terms of technology. However, Africa can still put in measures to safeguard the continent from such shocks when they happen. There must be a deliberate effort and realisation by African leaders to ensure that the continent’s independence is cemented in every shape and form, including technologically. Without that, Africa will always be taken for a ride and bear the harshest brunt of such force majeure anytime things go wrong.