SEACOM expects all connectivity to be restored to full pre-crash conditions by 23 July 2010. The repairs are not complete yet, but, officially, “in the final stages of completion”, with only testing to go before the cable goes back down into the water.

SEACOM’s official statement made today just after lunch:

SEACOM is pleased to confirm that the physical repairs to the fault on the submarine cable are in the final stages of completion with the entire system currently undergoing testing before the cable is lowered back into the water. Our technical teams are actively working with all customers to reinstate their SEACOM traffic to pre-outage configurations and all connectivity going out of Africa is expected to be fully restored on 23 July 2010.

Maybe there’s hope yet.