There has been a flurry of updates relating to the repairs to the SEACOM cable. In short – don’t expect anything before 22 July – previous expectations of “5 – 8 days” were over-enthusiastic from the operator themselves…

While restoration capacity has successfully been sourced and implemented from other cable operators servicing the eastern and southern African regions, a lot of work lies ahead regarding the actual SEACOM cable. It appears that the exact location of the cable break, above and beyond the previously reported repeater issues, has been pinpointed at 4 700m below sea level, resulting in the need for specialised repair equipment, robotics and expertise.

The repairs, according to SEACOM, are in the hands of third-party contractors who – beyond weather and sea conditions – run on their own timeline. So the cable operators, SEACOM, have put forward 22 July as a possible next repair date.In the mean time, additional capacity is being sourced from industry partners to alleviate the situation. The latest update from SEACOM regarding the new time line was today, 9 July 2010.