Telecommunications operators and Internet service providers are working to find alternative routes after another break in the West African Cable System – the third this year – threatens to slow down Internet access in South Africa.
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The West African Cable System has suffered another break – at the worst possible time for South Africa, with many people now relying on home broadband connections to work.
More than a month after freak simultaneous submarine cable breaks disrupted Internet access in South Africa and other African countries, international connectivity has been fully restored.
The cable breaks affecting international Internet connectivity to South Africa should be fully repaired in the coming days, according to the latest updates.
The Wacs cable system broke off the coast of Congo after it became trapped and embedded in dense and heavy sediment caused by the flow of turbulent waters in an undersea canyon.
Cable ship the Leon Thevenin is now running two days ahead of schedule with repairs to the Wacs and Sat-3/Wasc cable systems that were severed last month due to a suspected earthquake.
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The Wacs cable, one of two cable systems damaged earlier this month due to a suspected undersea earthquake, will probably only be fixed on 8 February.
A cable repair ship set sail from Cape Town on Wednesday night and is expected to reach offshore Angola in the coming days when it will begin the first stage of work to repair undersea cables slowing Internet connections in South Africa.
Extreme weather has delayed the departure of a ship from Cape Town, whose crew has been tasked with fixing two subsea cable breaks that are negatively affecting international connectivity in South Africa.