250:. Togo and Niger were "completely offline" and Benin was able to "reroute its net traffic through neighboring countries." However, the three nations were able to use alternative satellite links in order to maintain some Internet communication with the rest of the world. Nigeria suffered a 70% loss of bandwidth that caused problems in banking, government and other mobile networks. President of the
226:
SAT-3/WASC/SAFE began operations in 2001, providing the first links to Europe for West
African internet users and, for South Africans, taking up service from SAT-2 which was reaching maximum capacity. SAT-2 had been brought into service in the early 1990s as a replacement for the original undersea
230:
In
November 2007, no internet access was available through SAT-3 for about seven days in parts of central Africa. A government official from Cameroon blamed a technical failure at the underwater SAT-3 high sea fibre optic terminal, about forty kilometres from Douala. Many ISPs in Cameroon had
37:
1007:
1406:
1401:
773:
1000:
439:
Although
Telecom Namibia holds ownership in SAT-3/WASC, Namibia has no landing point. Namibian internet users currently have no access to SAT-3/WASC, because Telecom Namibia would have to purchase capacity from
993:
456:
4,500–12,000 per Mbit/s per month, over 50 times greater than bandwidth prices in the U.S.) in large part because operators have monopoly control of access. The lowest rates occur in
493:
464:
president Brian
Herlihy states that the owners of the SAT-3 cable have cut prices by 50% since the 2007 announcement of Seacom, in order to compete with the arrival of Seacom in
202:. The SAT-3/WASC/SAFE system provides a path between Asia and Europe for telecommunications traffic that is an alternative to the cable routes that pass through the
1164:
231:
transitioned their connections from independent satellite connections to SAT-3 in mid-2007 creating serious communication difficulties during the seven days.
254:, Lanre Ajayi, said, " a critical national resource because of its importance to the economy and to security." Two weeks may pass before the cable is fixed.
882:
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460:, where the Ghana Internet Service Providers Association (GISPA) organized a two-year negotiation through a court fight against Ghana Telecom.
955:
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774:"WACS and SAT3 : Gabon, Congo, DRC and Cameroon experience internet disruption due to an incident on the Cameroonian landing point"
287:
experienced internet disruption due to the rupture of the cable on 17 January 2020 off the coast of Gabon. It was fixed on
January 27.
211:
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280:
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while SAFE has a capacity of 440 Gbit/s. The SAT-3 system together with SAFE was built by a consortium of operators .
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to the international cable was cut off by a fishing vessel forcing network providers to provide internet using
56:
234:
In late July 2009, SAT-3 cable damage caused internet blackouts in multiple west
African countries including
1199:
924:"The Case for "Open Access" Communications Infrastructure in Africa: The SAT-3/WASC cable, Ghana Case study"
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were impacted, despite new cable systems such as Google Owned
Equiano recently landing in the country.
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Nigeria portion of SAT3 cable was damaged in March 2016. On June 9, 2017 the link between
17:
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52:
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The Sat3 Fibre - a
Monopoly That Stands in the Way of Cheaper International Bandwidth
425:
897:"Damaged West African and South Atlantic 3 undersea cables could take months to fix"
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327:(though this landing is considered to be part of the Telefónica domestic network)
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724:"Congo-Brazzaville facing major internet outage: submarine cables damaged"
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Prices for SAT-3 bandwidth in the
African countries it serves are high (
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ICASA Enquiry Into Telkom's SAT-3 Monopoly Awaits
Government Response
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On 6 August 2023, the cable system snapped simultaneously with the
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749:"Internet connection restored in Congo-Brazzaville after 15 days"
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514:
East Africa Cable linking South Africa and East African nations.
239:
199:
64:
989:
981:
What Must Happen when SAT3’s Monopoly Comes to an End? (CIPACO)
194:
It forms part of the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cable system, where the
929:. Association for Progressive Communications. Archived from
1407:
Submarine communications cables in the South Atlantic Ocean
1402:
Submarine communications cables in the North Atlantic Ocean
635:"BBC NEWS – Technology – Cable fault cuts off West Africa"
956:
Seacom to boost capacity, but prices won't drop overnight
498:
Individual cable systems off the coast of Africa include:
30:
South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable (SAT-3/WASC)
823:"Twin cable breaks impacting SA internet - TechCentral"
799:"Cameroon reconnects to WACS and SAT3 submarine cables"
859:"SA fibre operators hit by dual submarine cable break"
494:
List of international submarine communications cables
1308:
1027:
154:
144:
136:
128:
120:
29:
476:The cable itself consists of four fibers, using
227:cable SAT-1 which was constructed in the 1960s.
1001:
588:"Internet access off in Cameroon for 7th day"
8:
169:South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable
1008:
994:
986:
26:
844:"Bad news about break in undersea cables"
555:South Africa linked to the United Kingdom
954:van der Merwe, Christy (July 19, 2009).
269:. The cable was restored after 15 days.
573:Southwood, Russell (February 7, 2006).
566:
294:Cable System after a rock fall in the
917:
915:
913:
7:
883:"MyBroadband - Internet Cable Break"
699:"Ntel repairs SAT-3 submarine cable"
661:"Internet disrupted in West Africa"
697:Oluwagbemi, Ayodele (2016-03-29).
25:
971:Official SAT-3/WASC/SAFE Homepage
681:Cable fault cuts off West Africa
482:wavelength division multiplexing
35:
1017:Submarine communications cables
857:Malinga, Sibahle (2023-08-08).
531:Portugal linked to South Africa
1270:Svalbard Undersea Cable System
1220:Pacific Caribbean Cable System
525:Portugal linked to West Africa
214:. SAT-3 has a capacity of 340
187:, with connections to several
173:submarine communications cable
83:Altavista, Gran Canaria, Spain
1:
1422:2001 establishments in Europe
1417:2001 establishments in Africa
549:South Africa linked to France
610:"Nigerian 419ers now 404ers"
508:Argentina linked to Portugal
478:Erbium-doped fiber amplifier
198:cable links South Africa to
608:Scott, Peter (2009-07-30).
191:countries along the route.
113:Melkbosstrand, South Africa
1438:
612:. Fudzilla. Archived from
747:AfricaNews (2017-06-27).
722:AfricaNews (2017-06-14).
71:
43:
34:
18:SAT-3/WASC (cable system)
1300:West Africa Cable System
1265:Southern Caribbean Fiber
663:. Al Jazeera. 2009-07-30
922:Osiakwan, Eric (2008).
1050:Africa Coast to Europe
252:Nigeria Internet Group
92:Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
1028:Operational or future
298:. Internet Speeds in
263:Republic of the Congo
1290:VSNL Northern Europe
803:Business in Cameroon
778:Business in Cameroon
537:East coast of Africa
1309:Legacy or abandoned
1295:VSNL Western Europe
1085:Atlantic Crossing 1
958:. Engineering News.
772:Andzongo, Sylvain.
1412:Internet in Africa
300:Sub-Saharan Africa
86:Sesimbra, Portugal
1389:
1388:
1170:Greenland Connect
885:. 10 August 2023.
616:on August 2, 2009
543:Nigeria to the UK
162:
161:
155:Date of first use
107:Libreville, Gabon
16:(Redirected from
1429:
1180:Hibernia Express
1010:
1003:
996:
987:
959:
952:
946:
945:
943:
941:
936:on June 19, 2017
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846:. 8 August 2023.
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703:Punch Newspapers
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687:. July 30, 2009.
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140:340 Gbit /s
132:trunk and branch
104:Douala, Cameroon
39:
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641:. July 30, 2009
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448:Bandwidth costs
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137:Design capacity
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110:Cacuaco, Angola
80:Chipiona, Spain
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1021:Atlantic Ocean
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98:Cotonou, Benin
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89:Dakar, Senegal
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74:Landing points
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63:(12.42%), and
53:France Telecom
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363:Côte d'Ivoire
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1376:UK-Belgium 5
1234:
1205:NorSea Com 1
1165:Grace Hopper
1120:Columbus III
950:
938:. Retrieved
931:the original
901:. Retrieved
899:. 2023-08-08
891:
877:
866:. Retrieved
862:
852:
838:
827:. Retrieved
825:. 2023-08-07
817:
806:. Retrieved
802:
792:
781:. Retrieved
777:
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756:. Retrieved
752:
742:
731:. Retrieved
727:
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706:. Retrieved
702:
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665:. Retrieved
655:
643:. Retrieved
638:
629:
618:. Retrieved
614:the original
603:
591:. Retrieved
582:
569:
475:
451:
438:
430:South Africa
340:
296:Congo Canyon
289:
271:
259:Pointe-Noire
256:
233:
229:
225:
193:
189:West African
185:South Africa
168:
164:
163:
121:Total length
95:Accra, Ghana
72:
49:Telkom Group
44:
1346:REMBRANDT-2
1341:REMBRANDT-1
1250:SEA-ME-WE 3
1115:Columbus II
1100:BRICS Cable
1075:Americas II
593:November 7,
466:East Africa
208:SEA-ME-WE 3
204:Middle East
149:Fibre-optic
1396:Categories
1235:SAT-3/WASC
1125:Concerto 1
1090:Atlantis-2
1065:ANTILLAS I
903:2023-08-10
868:2023-08-10
829:2023-08-10
808:2023-08-08
783:2023-08-08
758:2023-08-08
753:Africanews
733:2023-08-08
728:Africanews
708:2023-08-08
667:2009-07-30
620:2009-07-30
577:. My ADSL.
562:References
506:Atlantis-2
472:Technology
408:Libreville
332:Las Palmas
206:, such as
165:SAT-3/WASC
145:Technology
55:(12.08%),
1275:Tangerine
1045:AEConnect
442:Telkom SA
59:(8.39%),
1326:CANTAT-3
1321:CANTAT-2
1316:CANTAT-1
1195:Main One
1160:GlobeNet
1150:FARICE-1
1145:EllaLink
940:18 March
685:BBC News
645:July 30,
639:BBC News
523:Main One
488:See also
432:meeting
403:Cameroon
321:Chipiona
316:Portugal
312:Sesimbra
285:Cameroon
261:in- the
177:Portugal
175:linking
129:Topology
124:13000 km
67:(8.93%).
61:AT&T
1361:RIOJA-3
1356:RIOJA-2
1351:RIOJA-1
1280:ULYSSES
1255:SHEFA-2
1105:C-Lion1
1070:ARCOS-1
1035:2Africa
1019:in the
417:Cacuaco
394:Nigeria
377:Cotonou
359:Abidjan
354:Senegal
341:and in
248:Nigeria
222:History
51:(13%),
45:Owners:
1381:WASACE
1336:Pangea
1285:UNISUR
1260:SMPR-1
1210:PAN AM
1190:MAYA-1
1135:Dunant
1130:Danice
1080:Apollo
1055:ALBA-1
535:SEACOM
462:SEACOM
421:Angola
399:Douala
343:Africa
246:, and
216:Gbit/s
1371:TCS-1
1366:SAT-2
1245:SAm-1
1200:Monet
1185:MAREA
1155:GLO-1
1110:Circe
1095:BDSNi
1060:AMX-1
934:(PDF)
927:(PDF)
863:ITWeb
797:BRM.
541:GLO-1
529:SAT-2
512:EASSy
458:Ghana
412:Gabon
390:Lagos
386:Lagos
381:Benin
372:Ghana
368:Accra
350:Dakar
325:Spain
277:Congo
273:Gabon
267:V-SAT
244:Niger
236:Benin
181:Spain
171:is a
57:Nitel
1331:ODIN
1240:SAex
1230:SAIL
1225:SACS
1175:HUGO
1140:ECFS
1040:AC-2
942:2016
647:2009
595:2007
553:WACS
518:LION
454:US$
434:SAFE
292:WACS
283:and
240:Togo
212:FLAG
210:and
200:Asia
196:SAFE
179:and
158:2001
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1215:PEC
547:ACE
281:DRC
183:to
167:or
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