Safaricom Apologises After Complaints On Slow Internet, Explains Reason: "Undersea Cable Outage"

• Safaricom PLC said the internet disruption affecting customers was a result of an outage in one of the undersea cables that delivers internet traffic in and out of the country
• The telecommunication firm stated that it has since provided other communication paths to minimise service interruption
• They apologised to their customer, noting that they have measures in place that will also keep their customers connected as they await the full restoration of the cable

Amos Khaemba, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi - Kenya's leading telecommunications firm, Safaricom, has apologised to its customers after an internet outage hit the country.

Why Safaricom's internet was not working

In a statement on Sunday, May 12, Safaricom PLC acknowledged that the county was experiencing an internet outage.

Safaricom explained that they were experiencing an outage on one of their undersea cables that delivers internet traffic in and out of the country.

"We have experienced an outage on an undersea cable that delivers internet traffic in and out of the country.

"We have since activated redundancy measures to minimise service interruption and keep you connected as we await the full restoration of the cable," Safaricom explained.

The telecommunications company asked Kenyans for patience, warning that they might experience reduced internet speed.

"You may, however, experience reduced internet speeds. We thank you for your patience and understanding," they added.

A section of Kenyans had gone online to complain about the issue after witnessing a slow speed in downloading documents.

What caused the Safaricom M-Pesa pay bill outage?

Elsewhere, Safaricom issued an apology to customers for the disruption of M-Pesa pay bill services experienced on Monday, January 22.

Customers could not complete M-Pesa transactions using pay bill numbers, while others experienced delays in transaction completion.

In a statement to customers, Safaricom told customers that the company was experiencing intermittency with payments.

Following the statement by Safaricom, customers still stated that they were experiencing challenges in purchasing electricity tokens from Kenya Power.

A spot check by TUKO.co.ke also revealed that customers were experiencing delays in the completion of pay bill transactions, particularly purchasing tokens from Kenya Power.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke