Update 3: Undersea Cable Disruptions Affect Data Services

15^th March, 2024: The National Communications Authority (NCA) updates the public on the disruption to data services as a result of undersea cable outages which occurred on 14^th March 2024.

As mentioned yesterday, all subsea cable landing service providers in Ghana (ACE, MainOne, SAT-3 and WACS) were completely cut off from international data services. This outage has affected data services in the West African sub-region. Preliminary investigations indicate that these incidents may have occurred between Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.

As at the time of this update, all four (4) subsea cables from Ghana to Europe through Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal are still out of service.

The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and subsea cable landing service providers continue to work with international partners within the sub-region whose cables have not been impacted by the current outage to provide some connectivity while troubleshooting and restoration work progresses. Additionally, the MNOs are also leveraging on local caches (like content from the Ghana Internet Exchange (GIX) and other local in-house caches), to provide efficient data services.

The NCA continues to monitor the situation and is working around the clock with MNOs, subsea cable landing service providers and all relevant stakeholders to provide timelines when available, with regards to full restoration of data services.

The public will be informed of any new developments.