Internet Disrupted across Asia and Middle East as Undersea Cables Cut Again

The undersea cables linking Europe and Asia, which were damaged by ships early this year, have reportedly been cut again causing severe disruption to internet and voice traffic in the Middle East and other parts of Asia.

India seems to have been particularly hit with around 82% of voice traffic getting affected. I have been experiencing slow connection speed on my Broadband line from last 3 days so this could be a possible reason.

France Telecom is estimating that the cables would be repaired by December 25th but the Internet traffic can only be restored by December 31st.

The current series of faults is reminiscent of the submarine cable faults that occurred in January 2008. Today’s events have the potential to create worse disruptions: while the January 2008 accidents broke two of the three cables connecting Europe with Asia via the Middle East, Friday’s cable failures have caused faults on all three. France Telecom projects that service on all cables will be restored by December 31. Until then, many carriers in the Middle East and South Asia will need to route their European traffic around the globe, through South East Asia and across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.