Internet services may be fully restored in five weeks – NCA

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has announced that it will require a minimum of five weeks to fully restore data services nationwide.

This follows a meeting with top management from subsea cable landing service providers and mobile network operators (MNOs) such as AT, MTN, and Telecel.

During the meeting, the subsea cable landing service providers told the authority that they had remotely identified the approximate locations of the damage and had made preparations to dispatch repair vessels to the location for physical assessment and restoration.

“Based on the above, the subsea cable landing service providers have indicated an estimated time frame of a minimum of five (5) weeks for full-service restoration from the time the vessels are dispatched to the various locations,” a statement from the NCA on Saturday, March 16, said.

It added that the MNOs are, however, working tirelessly to improve internet connectivity.

“We expect some improvement in data services in the coming days while the operators work around the clock to restore full connectivity,” the statement assured.

The NCA further urged MNOs, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and other providers to actively engage in the operations of the Ghana Internet Exchange (GIX) to ensure efficient local content delivery and seamless internet traffic exchange.

Data services in Ghana and other African countries have faced disruptions since Thursday, March 14, due to cuts in undersea fibre optic cables, which are critical to internet connectivity.

The internet outage has had a significant impact on economic, academic, and social activities nationwide.