Repair ship crew hopes to boost SA's internet connectivity by Saturday
There is some relief on the horizon for adults working from home and cooped-up kids: a broken undersea cable affecting internet connectivity in SA is expected to be repaired in five days.
Internet connectivity has been a source of frustration since a break on the West Africa Cable System (Wacs) submarine cable was confirmed late last Friday - mere hours into the 21-day lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
The South African National Research & Education Network (NREN) said in an update on Twitter on Monday that a cable repair ship, the Ile D'Aix, was sailing to the site of the fault.
WACS Outage Update: Cable vessel, the "Ile D'Aix", underway to the SV8 (Highbridge UK) side cable break. ETA at cable ground - Tue 31/03/2020 09h00 UTC. Estimated repair date: Sat 04/04/2020. The approximate position of "Ile D'Aix" on its journey is as attached. pic.twitter.com/rY5YdOcq9s
— SA NREN Operational Updates & Alerts (@RENAlerts) March 30, 2020
The site was initially identified as being between Highbridge, London, and Seixal, Portugal.
The estimated repair date is Saturday April 4.