SAFARICOM SERVERS CRASH DISRUPTS CALLS, MPESA OPERATIONS

Dominant telco, Safaricom, has caused major disruptions in communication in the country after experiencing problems in its Network Subsystem.

This is the system responsible for establishing calls and routing them within and to other networks.

The problem appeared to be with its Mobile Switching Center servers (MSC-S) a group of interconnected switching nodes that manage connections between subscribers or the interface through which calls are routed within the network using what is called the BICC protocol.

This would be what is called the Nc-interface where calls are transported within the core network and the widespread nature of the problem suggested that this is where the problem may lie.

So, while the radio network system is sending the requests for connection, and they are being received, the establishment of the required connections is not taking place as it should. It is not clear if this is due to a physical fault like a broken cable, or a software malfunction particularly in the case of any software updates.

Safaricom's Core Network Support Engineers are working to resolve the problem which has come at an inopportune time as political parties nominations continue across the country and constant need for communication with party headquarters to resolve crises is paramount.