Gabon has also felt the impact of the internet outage affecting several African countries since March 14th. Of the three fiber optic cables serving the country, two were severed, but technicians promptly implemented alternative solutions or Plan B to avoid penalizing consumers.
The fiber optic cables affected in Gabon are known as ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) and SAT-3 (South Atlantic 3). The third, unaffected cable is WACS (West Africa Cable System).
According to a Gabonese industry expert, following the severance of the SAT-3 cable from the Ivory Coast, all traffic was redirected to the WACS cable. These two connections are operated in Gabon by Moov Africa Gabon Telecom, a local subsidiary of Maroc Telecom.
Regarding the ACE cable, another expert explains that the traffic simply shifted routes. Instead of originating from France or Portugal, Gabon’s communications now pass through South Africa, with some also routed through Nigeria.
This expert emphasizes that disruptions experienced by Gabonese internet users may have been caused by possible congestion during the rerouting of communications. “Everything is back to normal,” he assures, adding that the operators will bear the costs of these changes, not the consumers.