Subsea cable operator Seacom encountered a service-affecting outage on its cable system on 24 February.
In a statement, the company says the disruption is only on the segment of the cable that runs from Mombasa (Kenya) to Zafarana (Egypt).
Initial assessments suggest the disruption to the subsea cable occurred within the vicinity of the Red Sea, and other cables in the area appear to have also been impacted, it adds.
Seacom says it is unable to confirm the cause of the disruption at this time, but is working with its cable repair partner to assess the feasibility of the repair in the region.
The firm points out that the location of the cable break is significant due to its geopolitical sensitivity and ongoing tensions, making it a challenging environment for maintenance and repair operations.
“Seacom still continues to carry traffic on its own cable between Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa for both transmission and IP services,” says the company.
“All other IP-based services destined for Europe and other regions were automatically rerouted via Seacom’s alternative routes on Equiano, PEACE and WACS cable systems, and supported by its diverse terrestrial infrastructure, ensuring its clients remain operational with some latency in their internet communications.”
It notes that although the outage has had an impact on some clients’ businesses across East and Southern Africa, Seacom has been working diligently to ensure the continuity of its services.
“Seacom provided customers with a cautionary alert on 5 February that any disruptions to the cable system could be impacted by delays in repair operations due to the instability of the area. The team is currently working towards restoration timelines and will communicate these plans with our clients,” it concludes.
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