TEAMS fiber optic repairs get starting very soon

After nearly a month since the East African Marine System (TEAMS) fiber optic broadband cables were destroyed by a passing ship’s anchor in Mombasa, Kenya, repairs are due to start.

The repairs, scheduled to take place next week, will take approximately four days under the supervision of eMarine, the contracted TEAMS cable maintenance company.

“eMarine has a ship in transit to Kenya. The repair work should start around 22 March and so far there is nothing to suggest we are off track,” Nzioka Waita, Safaricom Director of Corporate Affairs, said.

Kenyan data users have suffered connectivity issues since the incident, but Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said traffic is being re-routed through the SEACOM and EASSy cables.

“Service is running properly now, it is just running expensively, because we are having to route traffic on alternative routes or up on satellite. So it is costing us a lot more than it did before,” Collymore said.

Although Collymore said the repairs have taken longer than expected, the cable should be ready for use in the next three weeks.

March 14, 2012

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