driven by digital connectivity, the recent events involving the unprecedented damage toSouth Africa’s major west coast undersea internet cables have thrust the country into a precarious position.has highlighted the vulnerability of the country’s internet infrastructure and exposed potential risks that could have far-reaching consequences.
Unravelling the intricacies of these internet disruptions reveals a vulnerability that extends deep beneath the ocean’s surface. The underlying cause, a rockfall in thehas left us grappling with the reality that even well-armoured cables are not impervious to natural forces. Wacs, for instance, comprises only four pairs of fibre inside its robust armour.
To avert a catastrophe, it’s crucial that we rethink our current approach to undersea cable redundancy. The vulnerability exposed by these incidents calls for a paradigm shift in our understanding of cable architecture.