ACCRA, March 16 (Reuters) - Repairs on damaged subsea

cables that are causing internet outages across West and Central

Africa are expected to take at least five weeks before

completion and full service restoration, Ghana's communications

regulator said on Saturday.

The break in the cables has led to widespread disruption of

internet and telecommunications-linked businesses, including

banks, mobile phone operations, money transfer agencies and

stock exchange markets.

Ghana's National Communications Authority said it held a

meeting with the four subsea cable landing service providers -

Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, owned by data center

operator Equinix ( EQIX ), South Atlantic 3 (SAT-3) and the West

Africa Cable System (WACS) - and mobile network operators.

It said the service providers had located the approximate

location of the damage and had made preparations to dispatch

repair vessels.

"The cable landing service providers have indicated an

estimated time frame of a minimum of five weeks for full service

restoration from the time the vessels are dispatched to the

various locations," the regulator said.

MainOne said on Friday a preliminary analysis suggested some

form of seismic activity on the seabed had resulted in a break

to its cable.