Sudan internet cable repaired after three-day fault

Aug 8, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s internet connexion with the world is re-established Tuesday night after a three-day disruption due to a technical problem on submarine internet cable feeding the country from Saudi Arabia. The fault in the only cable link to Sudatel has severely hit business and press services.

Internet access in Sudan has been out of service from early Sunday morning to late Tuesday afternoon. The stated reason was a problem related to the under-sea communications cable, which connects Sudan with the rest of the world via Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The abrupt breakdown in Sudan’s contact with the rest of the world via a speedy Internet link-has given a big jerk and jolt to diverse arenas-virtually every aspect connected with ?E’ such as Emails, E-ticketing, E-commerce, E-bookings, E-correspondence, E-records-with E-newspapers atop.

The cable, which is Sudan’s sole international “gateway” is owned by Sudatel. Other telecoms companies, like Canar, lease the gateway from Sudatel until they can establish their own. Sudatel had a back-up gateway through satellite, but they abandoned it after they decided it was expensive.

The Internet outage has caused huge financial losses to many companies, according to al-Sudani newspaper, and it has created havoc for the travel, shipping, and financial sectors.

(ST)