GT&T cable damage causes web blackout

GT&T cable damage causes web blackout

GT&T Customers across Guyana were left without internet and data services for close to four hours on Wednesday following damage to the company’s submarine fiber cables.

Just after 6 o’ clock on Wednesday morning, the damage to the cable  caused severe disruptions to the company’s data platform. All of its internet service went down and data services on cellphones and smartphones were also affected.

The company said Local and International engineers began work to restore the damage once it was realized and service was restored just before 12 noon.

The Government was informed of the disruptions since it affected internet connections across the country including the connections being provided by other companies that may be relying on the GT&T service.

In an official statement, GT&T apologized for the disruptions.

“GT&T apologizes to its customers for the disruption to its services during the course of November 6, 2013 due to a marine disruption to the Suriname Guyana Submarine Cable System (SGSCS) 277 km off the Guyana shore”, the company said in a statement.

The statement added that the “disruption resulted in customers experiencing intermittent failure in all International Traffic and Internet during the day. The damage also affected the main fibre optic path out of Guyana.”

On the company’s website, it describes the  submarine fiber optic cable, which is anchored on the bed of the Demerara River, linking Goergetown to West Demerara, as another technological boon which the Company has introduced.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Digicel Gregory Dean on Wednesday told News Source that the damage to the GT&T cable affected his company’s international calling service. GT&T holds a monopoly on international voice and data. Digicel’s international service would be interconnected through the GT&T system.

Dean said additionally, Digicel’s data service experienced some problems as a result of high usage when the GT&T system was down.

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