We are working to restore full internet connectivity — NCA assures

The National Communication Authority (NCA) says it is working with all relevant stakeholders round the clock to restore full internet connectivity. The telecommunication industry regulator’s assurance follows disruption to internet services suffered by users across the country since Thursday, March 14, 2024.

“Internet users across the country suffered a significant degradation of data services,” NCA confirmed Thursday evening. The disruptions occurred following a cut to multiple submarine cables carrying communication traffic between the West African sub-region and the rest of the world.

NCA, in a post on its corporate website, announced that a number of measures to restore connectivity were being pursued while troubleshooting and restoration work progressed. Currently Mobile Network Operators are rerouting traffic through alternative paths.

“The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and subsea cable landing service providers continue to work with partners within the sub-region whose cables have not been impacted by the current outage to provide some connectivity,” NCA said.

Additionally, the MNOs were leveraging local caches, including content from the Ghana Internet Exchange (GIX) and other local inhouse caches to provide efficient data services, it added. The Regulator said: “Disruptions affecting multiple undersea cables responsible for carrying international traffic have occurred in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire and with some disruptions in Portugal.” It would take a minimum of five weeks to repair the damage and restore service fully, the NCA announced Saturday, March 16, after a meeting with the MNOs and the subsea cable landing companies. Here’s how the cable cuts affected internet speeds in Ghana: Slower downloads and uploads: Users might experience slower loading times for webpages, videos, and other online content. Lag in online applications: Activities that rely on real-time data, like GPS navigation, video conferencing or online gaming, might experience delays or interruptions. Limited functionality for some services: Services that require a lot of bandwidth, like streaming highdefinition videos, might be unavailable or work poorly. The severity of these impacts depends on the specific cable cuts, how quickly repairs are made, and how effectively internet service providers can reroute traffic. It is also important to remember that not all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Ghana are created equal. Some ISPs might have more redundancy built into their networks, making them less susceptible to the effects of cable cuts. GNA