Internet service remains stable amid SAT-3 facility cut

The South Atlantic 3 (SAT-3)/West Africa Submarine Cable (WASC), the 15,000 kilometre underwater cable system, managed by the incumbent national carrier, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), has been severely damaged for some time now, though the nation’s internet market has remained relatively stable and efficient, market observers have said.

Prior to 2010, any damage to SAT-3 would have created widespread pandemonium as the entire nation would experience an internet blackout. This is no longer the case as Nigeria is already experiencing a glut in terms of international bandwidth capacity, with four new cables facilities sitting pretty on the nation’s shores.

Henry Ise Okogie, executive vice chairman, Broadbased Communications, an fibre infrastructure company, confirmed the recent development, saying, “SAT-3 has been cut for over a year now. NITEL is owned by a consortium of 35 countries, including Nigeria.

According to him, the moribund NITEL and the consortium has been able to revitalise the cable infrastructure for over a year now. Companies have being forced to use fibre alternatives as well as satellite links – to maintain connections to the rest of the world, according to him. “The impact is not been felt because we have alternative cable systems such as Glo-1, MainOne, West Africa Cable System ( WACS) and ACE,” said Okogie in an interview.

The combined capacity of these cable infrastructure is about 14.5 terabits, he said, further adding that the dedicated spectrum frequency available to all mobile operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to distribute wireless account for 2.5 percent of the entire lot. He said Nigeria’s under-developed distribution networks, including terrestrial fibre and last mile connectivity are militating against the optimal utilisation of the undersea cable systems.

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Lanre Ajayi, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said telecoms firms need more frequency spectrum to enable them deploy efficient broadband services. “We are doing well in international connectivity. But in the last mile and middle mile, we are not doing well. That’s why we need more spectrum,” he added.

Meanwhile, the damage to SAT-3 has been caused by the reclamation of Bar Beach by the Lagos state government under its Eko Atlantic project, a new city under construction off Bar Beach, Victoria Island: a stretch of coastline adjacent to Lagos. It was gathered that the cut on SAT-3 occurred June last year at the ‘Beach Manhole’ of the infrastructure- which is the first landing point of an undersea cable. It was further gathered that repairs of the cut section of the cable have become impossible as a result of the depth of the sea.

The sea has reportedly become shallow because of sand filling going on and would not enable cable ship effect repairs of the cut section of undersea cable. Due to the problem, that the management of the SAT-3 infrastructure and Lagos State government have decided to relocate the Beach Manhole of the infrastructure to a location that is far from the Eko Atlantic.

The repair of cut on undersea cable will take a minimum of three weeks. The repair will involve renting of a cable ship from Cape Town in South Africa which is the only country where the ship is available in Africa; processing of custom papers; obtaining approvals from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and other agencies required to allow the ship to come into the country’s waters.

Ben Uzor