South Sudan phone provider blocks access to Radio Tamazuj website

A telecommunications company in South Sudan has cut off access to the website of the news service Radio Tamazuj, according to Vivacell customers. The company is partly owned by South Sudan’s ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

A user of Vivacell’s data service in South Sudan today explained that his browser told him that the website “might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.” The user had no problem accessing another news website commonly visited by South Sudanese readers, Radio Tamazuj reported today.

Another reader of the website said he noticed the problem last night while trying to use Vivacell data to connect to the site. His web browser told him that the “server can’t be found,” while other websites loaded fine. The same user also said he had no problem accessing the website from the MTN network.

Radio Tamazuj broadcasts on short-wave radio are unaffected and will continue uncensored. The radio station recently announced plans to expand its broadcast airtime.

The radio station’s news could be accessed via its Facebook page. Users of wifi networks in South Sudan, many of which are connected to the Internet by satellite connections known as ‘VSAT’, are still able to access the website.

Vivacell is majority-owned by Lebanon’s Fattouch Investment Group. A minority stake is held by the ruling SPLM, whose investment in the company pre-dates the independence of South Sudan.

Customers told Radio Tamazuj that the Vivacell is “the slowest and most expensive” telecommunications company in the country.