Severed cables lead to internet blackout

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 22 Dec 2008 at 10:51

Internet services in parts of the Middle East and south Asia were disrupted over the weekend, as undersea cables were cut.

The damage was blamed on a stray ship's anchor cutting the lines between Sicily and Tunisia late on Friday. Repair crews arrived on Sunday, dispatching robotic submarines to inspect the damage.

The damage to the SEA-ME-WE3, SEA-ME-WE4 and FLAG cables, owned by different consortiums, caused varying degrees of disruption from Zambia to India and Taiwan.

It is unclear how long it will take the robot to locate all the cables as the anchor suspected of causing the damage may have dragged them several miles from their normal positions.

The robot will bring the affected parts aboard ship for repairs, before relaying them.

France Telecom, which owns the repair ship, expects to have repaired SEA-ME-WE4 by 25 December and SEA-ME-WE3 by the end of the year. The French company is not part of the consortium owning the FLAG cable, which would be repaired by another cable ship.

The situation had improved in India, Singapore and Reunion, and the Egyptian government has reported more than 80% of its internet capacity has been restored.

The incident follows a similar event back in February, when three undersea internet cables were cut within four days.