[afnog] Perturbations de la connectivité Afrique de l'OUEST / Afrique Centrale suite à avaries sur les câbles sous-marins -- West Africa/Central Africa Connectivity Disruptions Following Submarine Cable Faults

[Peter]

Good evening,

----- GMAIL <temptempor at gmail.com> wrote:
> Bonjour,
> 
> Je suis un simple lecteur occasionnel.
> 
> Je trouve que cette crise est une excellent occasion de faire 
> fonctionner la liste, bien que je me doute que beaucoup ici doivent ces 
> jours-ci s’activer à essayer de résoudre/contourner le problème.
> 
> D’après les infos disponibles, les pays sont inégalement impactés:
> 
>   * <https://blog.cloudflare.com/undersea-cable-failures-cause-internet-disruptions-across-africa-march-14-2024>https://blog.cloudflare.com/undersea-cable-failures-cause-internet-disruptions-across-africa-march-14-2024
> 
> Le communiqué de Main One:
> 
>   * <https://www.mainone.net/faqs-on-mainone-submarine-outage-2024/>https://www.mainone.net/faqs-on-mainone-submarine-outage-2024/
> 
> À propos des réparations:
> 
>     This process might take 1-2 weeks for repairs while about 2-3 weeks
>     of transit time may be required for the vessel to pick up the spares
>     and travel from Europe to West Africa once the vessel is mobilised.
> 
> Il semble qu’au moins une partie du matériel pourrait ne pas être stocké 
> sur le continent…
> 
> Avis/commentaires des professionnels de la liste sur la situation ? Si 
> la situation avait déjà été discutée et des pistes d’améliorations 
> proposées ?
> 
> Cdt,
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Good morning and a good start to the week to everyone!
> 
> Just a casual reader here.
> 
> I think this crisis is a great opportunity to liven up the ML a bit, 
> although I suspect that many here must be busy these days trying to 
> solve/work around the problem.
> 
> According to available information, countries are unequally affected:
> 
>   * https://blog.cloudflare.com/undersea-cable-failures-cause-internet-disruptions-across-africa-march-14-2024
> 
> The statement from Main One:
> 
>   * https://www.mainone.net/faqs-on-mainone-submarine-outage-2024/
> 


Lesson learnt; alarms should start ringing when any submarine cable experiences issues since the convoluted contractural arrangements means loss of alternate routes and restoration capacity.


> Regarding the repairs:
> 
>     This process might take 1-2 weeks for repairs while about 2-3 weeks
>     of transit time may be required for the vessel to pick up the spares
>     and travel from Europe to West Africa once the vessel is mobilised.
> 
> It seems that at least part of the equipment could not be stored on the 
> continent…
> 


Future lesson; spares should be stored on continent for cables that serve the continent. It may be time to also invest in repair ships and personnel as part of licensing future submarine operators unless network operators want to continue paying the cost in delays of outsourcing offshore.


> Professionals’ opinions/comments on the list about the situation? If the 
> situation had already been discussed, and improvement suggestions proposed?
> 


Time for cross continent land based cables?

Regards
Peter


> Regards,
> 
> O.Yann
> 
> ​