The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) and the Cable Consortium of Liberia (CCL) have started work to reroute the country’s only fiber optic cable. The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable provides most of Liberia’s internet connectivity. It currently lands at PHP Beach in Central Monrovia.
However, the construction of PHP Park, a new sports and recreation facility, has damaged the cable. Heavy rocks placed over the cable during construction caused it to sink and disrupted connectivity. Liberia has experienced frequent internet outages since then.
Experts warn that a complete cutoff is imminent if no action is taken. “The ACE, Orange Liberia, Lonestar Cell MTN, LTA, and CCL all advised the former CDC-led administration to avoid construction over the cable. We wrote a letter, we pushed, but our resistance to this whole infrastructure was ignored, unfortunately,” said Henry Benson, CEO of CCL.
To avoid demolishing the park while restoring internet stability, a team from the global internet consortium responsible for ACE will arrive on April 22, 2025. They will begin redirecting the cable to a safer location.
Liberia’s ACE cable rerouted safely
The work is expected to cause intermittent disruptions nationwide from April 23 to April 28. It will cost an estimated $200,000. “As we stand here, the ACE cable lies directly beneath us, buried under heavy rocks.
With every tide, those rocks shift, increasing the risk of total internet failure,” Benson elaborated. The government’s decision has sparked a heated debate, particularly among former President George Weah’s supporters. They accuse the government of trying to dismantle signature projects from the Weah administration.
The government is telling the Liberian people that the nation’s entire digital infrastructure, our link to the Atlantic, to business, communication, and learning, rests so precariously on a single point beneath a recreational park,” said Wantoe Teah Wantoe, a member of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). Daniel Sando, Deputy Minister for Public Affairs at the Ministry of Information, stressed that the purpose of the work is to rescue the cable, not to break down the park. The cable that provides primarily internet activity has been at risk following the controversial construction project initiated by the former government,” Sando explained.
The LTA has assured Liberians that contingency plans are in place to prevent a complete internet shutdown during the repair process. Technicians are working to ensure that the new cable pathway will be clear of future obstructions.
Image Credits: Photo by Thomas Jensen on Unsplash
Cameron is a highly regarded contributor in the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. His articles delve into the theoretical underpinnings of AI, the practical applications of machine learning across industries, ethical considerations of autonomous systems, and the societal impacts of these disruptive technologies.
