Internet speed slows down due to repairs at Mombasa

Cause of slow down. The slow down has resulted from on going repairs on the TEAMs cable - East Africa’s main link to the internet.

Kampala.

There is likely to be disruptions or a slowdown in the speed of the internet across Uganda as repairs on The East African Marine System (TEAMs) – East Africa’s main undersea internet cable continue.
This however, is unlikely to have substantial impact on users as other alternatives have been lined up.
The repairs conducted at Mombasa have already affected much of Kenya with most disruptions experienced among government institutions for about a week.

Reports this week indicated that Kenyan state agencies including Immigration, Finance, and Education ministries experienced erratic internet linkage between Thursday last week and Tuesday this week as repairs on the cable took shape.

The upgrades on TEAMs, the main undersea cable supplying internet/ data to both Uganda and Kenya are expected to last for about two months.
A statement posted on the Airtel Uganda official Facebook page notified customers of possible disruptions due to ongoing repairs at Mombasa.
“In case you experience slow speeds, it’s due to ongoing maintenance on the main fiber link in Mombasa. We expect the maintenance to be finished by January 12. We regret the inconvenience caused,” the post reads in part.

However, other providers that Daily Monitor spoke to said unlike the disruptions in Kenya, there is enough functional backups to support continued supply in Uganda.
“Warid does not depend on one provider. We have TEAMs, EASSYs, and Satellite alternatives. We knew about these ongoing repairs on TEAMs and planned for them. I assure customers that internet speeds will remain the same,” Warid Telecom chief commercial officer Shailendra Naidu said on phone yesterday.
Additionally, Mr Ernest Fonternel, the MTN Uganda chief marketing officer said on a phone message yesterday that there would be no issues for MTN customers as there are other alternative like EASSYs and satellite connections.

It is important to understand that even though Seacom is Uganda’s main inland internet carrier, it picks its link from other undersea cables including TEAMs and Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy).
As a result, any problems experienced on either of the two lines are likely to spread to internet users in Uganda.

In February last year, internet connection to Kenya and Uganda went down after the TEAMs undersea cable was cut by a docking ship at Mombasa.
There are about five undersea internet cables that land at Mombasa from Asia and Europe with the main ones being TEAMs and Easy.

nkalungi@ug.nationmedia.com