Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – Internet connectivity across The Gambia was disrupted on Thursday after the Gambia National Telecommunications Company (GAMTEL) announced a service outage affecting the country’s ACE national fiber optic network, compounding challenges already facing citizens amid ongoing electricity rationing and power outages.
In a notice to customers, GAMTEL said it was experiencing a service interruption that had affected internet connectivity nationwide.
“We are currently experiencing a service outage affecting internet connectivity. Our technical teams are actively investigating the cause and working diligently to restore services as quickly as possible,” the company said.
The telecommunications provider apologized for the disruption and appealed for patience as engineers worked to restore normal service.
The outage had a ripple effect across the country’s telecommunications sector, affecting GSM operators that rely on the national fiber optic infrastructure to deliver internet and communication services.
Customers reported slow internet speeds, interrupted mobile data services, dropped calls, and difficulties sending text messages.
The disruption comes at a time when many Gambians are already grappling with electricity shortages and scheduled power rationing, which have disrupted businesses, public services, and daily activities in several parts of the country.
The simultaneous strain on both power and communication networks raised concerns about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and its impact on economic activity. Businesses that depend heavily on internet connectivity, including banks, digital service providers, and online traders, were among those affected by the outage.
Industry observers noted that the incident underscores the importance of robust backup systems and redundancy measures to ensure continuity of essential communication services during network failures or power-related disruptions.
In response to the outage, telecommunications companies activated alternative backup routes and contingency plans to maintain some level of connectivity while restoration efforts continued.
The incident has renewed discussions about the resilience of The Gambia’s digital infrastructure and the need for greater investment in backup power and network redundancy to minimize the impact of future disruptions.
As of Thursday evening, GAMTEL had not announced when full services would be restored but said technical teams remained engaged in efforts to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
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