Commence the downloads: South Africa’s internet cables have been restored

After weeks of intermittent connection problems, South Africa’s link to Europe has been restored. As from the early hours of Wednesday morning, 19 February, all of SA’s internet connections should be up and running. 

The extensive restoration process took a total of 34 days, once the breaks were found. Yes, there were multiple breaks — something almost unheard of in undersea internet cables. 

This simultaneous cable break occurred in two of the Atlantic Ocean based submarine cable systems: the South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable (Sat-3/Wasc) and the West African Cable System (Wacs). The most recent fix was conducted by a ship called the Leon Thevenin on the Sat3/Wasc cable just off the Congo. 

What this means for you

Since the breaks, ISPs have been redirecting International traffic through other routes, which increased traffic on those lines. That’s probs why your internet has been so slow over the past month… if you weren’t sure. Openserve was hit the hardest, as these were its main connections to European servers

Now, traffic should be normalised across all ISPs — so no more slow downloads or wonky connections. If your internet is still iffy after the fix was confirmed, make sure to check for any additional issues with your ISP. 

Sauce: Business Insider