Gambia: Govt adopts National Fibre Protection Policy
April 20th 2023
The Gambian government has adopted a ‘National Fibre Protection Policy’ in an attempt to ensure the safety and protection of fibre-optic telecoms cables and to minimise damage and level of risk to such infrastructure. As reported by Agence Ecofin, the policy defines roles, responsibilities and obligations of all players in the fibre infrastructure ecosystem and sets out conditions of violations and their consequences, with guilty individuals liable for fines starting at GMD500,000 (USD8,000) to cover repair costs. Theft and vandalism of fibre cable segments have frequently caused service disruptions in Gambia over the past decade – a problem which has reportedly seen a recent resurgence. The effects of fibre network failures can be particularly acute as Gambia is heavily reliant on its single submarine international fibre link to the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) system, with the government currently studying possibilities for connecting to a second major cable.
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