South Africa hit a bit of a snag with some undersea cables snapping, but why is this important? Undersea cables, also known as submarine communication cables, are essentially the internet’s deep-sea highways. They are long, fibre cables laid on the ocean floor, connecting continents and countries across vast distances.

Undersea cables are crucial for South Africa’s connection to the worldwide web, we rely on these cables to send and receive a vast amount of digital information—everything from emails and video calls to web browsing and cloud services. Now you can see why some undersea cables being disrupted causes a hiccup for South Africa’s internet connectivity. A few of our internet and cloud service buddies across the country are feeling the pinch, leaving some folks in a bit of an online limbo.

On Thursday, the 14th of March 2024, it seemed like the internet decided to take a little holiday, affecting many from connecting and using those oh-so-important services like Microsoft’s cloud platform. Here’s the silver lining – not all cables took a dive. The Google Equiano cable, a relative newbie in our cable family, stood strong amidst the chaos. This means RSAWEB has a backup plan to keep the data flowing, rerouting traffic to keep everyone online and kicking.

Now, fixing these cables isn’t a walk in the park. The cable repair company, Global Marine’s CS Sovereign vessel, set sail from Cape Town on 19 March 2024, and headed to the estimated cable break location, the deep waters off the Ivory Coast. Given the complexity and severity of the damage and the need for favourable weather conditions, repairs can take several weeks or even months to complete.

However, there’s good news for RSAWEB – we’re all clear! There were no disturbances on our end.

Here at RSAWEB, we’re all about being prepared. We have invested in diverse capacity across multiple cable systems. During the undersea cable breaks that affected the WACS,

ACE, and SAT3 undersea cables, connectivity seamlessly diverted to unaffected undersea cables, keeping customers online without a hitch.

Investment? Check. Routine maintenance and upgrades? Double-check. We’re always on our toes, ensuring that our connectivity speeds are nothing but the best with continuous routine maintenance on our network and upgraded infrastructure. And let’s not forget about loadshedding – we’ve got our data centre loaded with backup power solutions to keep the lights on and your connections stable, even when the grid takes a breather. Not only are we making sure that we are prepared for loadshedding, but we also ensure we partner with FNO’s that invest in similar loadshedding preventatives and backups. Koos Myburgh, our Head of Engineering, sums it up perfectly: “It’s all about people, our stellar services, and the tech that makes it all tick. We’re here because of our commitment to you, providing exceptional service and a seamless online experience.” At the end of the day, it’s our fantastic customers who make this all possible.

So, while the internet sea might be a bit rough right now, rest easy knowing RSAWEB’s ship is sailing smoothly, thanks to our awesome team and amazing customers that make it all possible!