You might have experienced issues connecting to the internet on Friday, July 18, with no clear explanation at the time. However, your concerns can now be addressed after it was confirmed that two major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were experiencing a nationwide outage.
This was revealed by Internet observatory group NetBlocks, which reported that the two ISPs suffered a widespread disruption in connectivity across Kenya. The exact cause of the outage, however, remains unknown.
In an update shared on Friday, July 18, NetBlocks noted that the disruption may have persisted for as long as five days, with one provider suffering a total blackout.
“Confirmed: Metrics show two internet providers are currently experiencing a widespread outage across Kenya,” the group stated.
“Operators have not issued an explanation,” Netblocks went on to add.
A graph tracking the performance of the two internet providers showed relatively stable connectivity before Friday, followed by a sharp decline, suggesting the disruption was unexpected.
According to the data, one of the providers had near-perfect connectivity rates of close to 100 per cent before plummeting to 59 per cent on Friday.
The second provider had already been experiencing unstable connectivity throughout the week, with a zig-zag pattern from Sunday, July 13, leading up to a complete outage on Friday. The provider’s connectivity rate fluctuated between just above 60 per cent and nearly 100 per cent before dropping to zero.
The outage sparked concern among users, especially in light of recent disruptions affecting social media platforms, Telegram in particular.
The disruptions coincided with the occurrence of protests in the country, firstly the June 25 protests and the Saba Saba demos. At the time, speculation was rife that the government would cut off the internet to minimise the spread of information across social media, with Kenyans on high alert.
However, the recent outage of the two ISPs was not explicitly linked to any attempts to disrupt internet connectivity across the country, with reports indicating this was a technical issue within the ISPs.
This is especially after users of one of the providers confirmed internet connectivity this morning, indicating the issue might have been fixed.
