Teams Cable Damaged by Ship at Mombasa

Monday, February 27th, 2012...A major cut has occurred on the TEAMS (The East African Marine Systems) cable at the coast, cutting a crucial link for the bulk of internet and international voice traffic in the region.

The cut, which occurred on Saturday February 25, was caused by a ship off the coast of Mombasa. This resulted in complete loss of traffic.

"We wish to notify all our stakeholders of ongoing emergency repair works and apologize unreservedly for any inconvenience this may cause. The cable should be fully operational within the next three weeks," said TEAMS' General Manager Joel Tanui.

He added that TEAMS had already notified its stakeholders and the undersea cable maintenance company E-Marine to commence repair work on the damaged cable. These works are expected to take about 3 weeks with maximum effort being made to reduce the downtime and its impact.

A landmark public-private partnership, TEAMS is the premier undersea cable system serving the entire East African region. Besides the Government of Kenya, the other shareholders in the TEAMS consortium include Safaricom, Jamii Telecom, Wananchi, Essar, Kenya Data Networks, Access Kenya, Telkom Orange and Bandwidth & Cloud Services.

For further information, please contact Joel Tanui on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Safaricom Announces Recovery of Data Service Following Teams Cable Cut

Monday, 27, 2012…Integrated communications company, Safaricom, has announced partial restoration of data service for its customers, following a cut that occurred on the critical TEAMS (The East African Marine Systems) undersea cable over the weekend.

Maritime officials have confirmed that a shipping vessel caused the cable cut at around midday on Saturday February 25, 2012. As a result, Safaricom customers experienced low internet speeds during the weekend as the firm actively cut over to alternative routes. Other services affected by the cut included international voice calls and Blackberry services.

To remedy the situation, Safaricom has successfully moved all its internet traffic to alternative routes, principally the Seacom undersea cable, resulting in partial recovery and resumption of services.

Safaricom has expressed its concern over the impact of this incident on data services in the region. The cable is one of the 3 routes for international connectivity in the East African region.

"We have been advised that owing to the highly specialized nature of the repair work, an external team has been dispatched to Mombasa and that the operation may take as long as three weeks. We thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this time and assure them of our commitment to the best data experience in Kenya," said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

For more information, please contact Washington Akumu on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

M-PESA Upgrade, Outage on Saturday Night

Nairobi, February 9, 2012…Integrated communications firm Safaricom has today notified its customers of a planned upgrade on its M-PESA service on Saturday night.

During the upgrade, to be carried out between Saturday (February 11th) at midnight and 6 am on Sunday (February 12th), the M-PESA service will not be available.

The upgrade is expected to enhance the M-PESA offering and ensure that the platform continues to deliver more innovative services.

Said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, "We wish to thank our customers for their continued support and understanding and assure them that this upgrade is necessary in order to grow the M-PESA service menu and improve overall customer experience."

He assured customers that all funds and records on the M-PESA remained safe.

For any inquiries or clarifications, customers and agents are advised to call M-PESA customer support on 234 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Monday, February 27th, 2012...A major cut has occurred on the TEAMS (The East African Marine Systems) cable at the coast, cutting a crucial link for the bulk of internet and international voice traffic in the region.

The cut, which occurred on Saturday February 25, was caused by a ship off the coast of Mombasa. This resulted in complete loss of traffic.

"We wish to notify all our stakeholders of ongoing emergency repair works and apologize unreservedly for any inconvenience this may cause. The cable should be fully operational within the next three weeks," said TEAMS' General Manager Joel Tanui.

He added that TEAMS had already notified its stakeholders and the undersea cable maintenance company E-Marine to commence repair work on the damaged cable. These works are expected to take about 3 weeks with maximum effort being made to reduce the downtime and its impact.

A landmark public-private partnership, TEAMS is the premier undersea cable system serving the entire East African region. Besides the Government of Kenya, the other shareholders in the TEAMS consortium include Safaricom, Jamii Telecom, Wananchi, Essar, Kenya Data Networks, Access Kenya, Telkom Orange and Bandwidth & Cloud Services.

For further information, please contact Joel Tanui on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Safaricom Announces Recovery of Data Service Following Teams Cable Cut

Monday, 27, 2012…Integrated communications company, Safaricom, has announced partial restoration of data service for its customers, following a cut that occurred on the critical TEAMS (The East African Marine Systems) undersea cable over the weekend.

Maritime officials have confirmed that a shipping vessel caused the cable cut at around midday on Saturday February 25, 2012. As a result, Safaricom customers experienced low internet speeds during the weekend as the firm actively cut over to alternative routes. Other services affected by the cut included international voice calls and Blackberry services.

To remedy the situation, Safaricom has successfully moved all its internet traffic to alternative routes, principally the Seacom undersea cable, resulting in partial recovery and resumption of services.

Safaricom has expressed its concern over the impact of this incident on data services in the region. The cable is one of the 3 routes for international connectivity in the East African region.

"We have been advised that owing to the highly specialized nature of the repair work, an external team has been dispatched to Mombasa and that the operation may take as long as three weeks. We thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this time and assure them of our commitment to the best data experience in Kenya," said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

For more information, please contact Washington Akumu on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

M-PESA Upgrade, Outage on Saturday Night

Nairobi, February 9, 2012…Integrated communications firm Safaricom has today notified its customers of a planned upgrade on its M-PESA service on Saturday night.

During the upgrade, to be carried out between Saturday (February 11th) at midnight and 6 am on Sunday (February 12th), the M-PESA service will not be available.

The upgrade is expected to enhance the M-PESA offering and ensure that the platform continues to deliver more innovative services.

Said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, "We wish to thank our customers for their continued support and understanding and assure them that this upgrade is necessary in order to grow the M-PESA service menu and improve overall customer experience."

He assured customers that all funds and records on the M-PESA remained safe.

For any inquiries or clarifications, customers and agents are advised to call M-PESA customer support on 234 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.