Editor's Review

The Communications Authority directed service providers to take proactive steps to secure alternative routes for their traffic.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has announced that the internet speeds in Kenya will remain slow in the coming days.

In a statement on Monday, May 13, CA Director General David Mugonyi noted that the slow internet speeds are a result of a deep-sea fibre cut that occurred on the Mtunzini teleport station.

Mugonyi noted that the disruption affected a number of submarine cables serving Kenya, including Seacom and the East African Submarine System (Eassy).

“We wish inform individual and corporate consumers that the recovery process has since commenced but Internet intermittency and slow speeds may remain in the coming few days before services are fully restored,” read the statement in part.

The CA Director General directed service providers to take proactive steps to secure alternative routes for their traffic.

CA Director General David Mugonyi

Mugonyi mentioned that the authority is monitoring the situation closely to ensure that incoming and outbound internet connectivity is available.

“The East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) cable, which has not been affected by the cut, is currently being utilised for local traffic flow while redundancy on the South Africa route has been activated to minimize the impact,” he added.

The statement comes after internet users took to social media to complain about unusual slow internet speeds.

Teleco giant Safaricom earlier announced it was working on restoring a stable internet connection.

"We have experienced an outage on one of the undersea cables that deliver internet traffic in and out of the country. We have since activated redundancy measures to minimise service interruption and keep you connected as we await the full restoration of the cable. You may, however, experience reduced internet speeds," the company stated.