Internet services across Kenya are expected to experience intermittent outages and sluggish speeds in the coming days after multiple undersea fibre optic cables were damaged, according to the country’s telecommunications regulator.
The Communications Authority of Kenya said a deep-sea fibre cut occurred at the Mtunzini cable landing station in South Africa, impacting several crucial submarine cable systems that carry internet traffic to and from the East African nation.
Among the affected cables are the high-capacity Seacom and East African Submarine System (EASsy) lines, which suffered severe disruptions that have already begun to degrade internet connectivity for businesses and consumers across Kenya.
In a statement on Monday, the regulator said repair efforts were underway but cautioned that internet services would likely remain “intermittent” and speeds could be slow for several days until the cables were fully restored.
“We wish to inform individual and corporate consumers that the recovery process has since commenced but internet intermittency and slow speeds may remain in the coming few days before services are fully restored,” said David Mugonyi, the Authority’s director-general.
To mitigate the impact, Kenyan internet service providers have been instructed to reroute traffic through alternative routes, including the East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) cable, which was not affected by the cut. Backup terrestrial links to South Africa have also been activated.
The cause of the fibre cut is still under investigation, but such incidents are not uncommon, often resulting from anchors dropped by ships or underwater environmental factors like seismic activity.
