Multiple subsea cable breaks played havoc with internet connectivity in South Africa on Thursday.
The outage affected everything from banks and mobile network providers, to Microsoft services.
RELATED: Microsoft confirms some services are down
How exactly did the internet ‘break’ and how vulnerable are we to this type of disruption to our lives?
Bruce Whitfield chats to Arthur Goldstuck, founder and CEO of World Wide Worx.
The main cause was three major cables that feed the West Coast of Africa and Southern Africa going down simultaneously, Goldstuck says.
“We don’t know why they went down, but when multiple cables go down simultaneously, it usually means that there’s been some kind of incident at sea like an underwater earthquake or rockfall.”
“There’s another cable feeding this part of the world called the Equiano cable which Google act laid down… That wasn’t affected; it’s clearly part of a different route.”
Arthur Goldstuck, CEO – World Wide Worx
Goldstuck explains that when cables are laid down, it requires a survey of the sea floor to ascertain what is the best route in order to avoid obstacles like rocky areas.
Typically, everybody finds the same easy route and it is just by good fortune that the Equiano cable didn’t follow the same one, he goes on.
The scenario gets worse however, says Goldstuck.
“What’s also happened in the last week or so is that on the east coast of Africa going up through the Red Sea, the undersea cable connecting the SEACOM cable… suddenly was out, not in its own right but in terms of its connection going to Europe through the Red Sea.”
“People were blaming the Houthi rebels for their bombing activity on ships there…so that still hasn’t been repaired and chances are are it’s going to take a while.”
Arthur Goldstuck, CEO – World Wide Worx
