Massive Transcontinental Internet Outage as Three Undersea Cables Severed - Again.   - 1,292 Views, 2 Comments

Summary: If you are having trouble with Internet connections between Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Taiwan, Yemen, or Zambia, you're not alone. Three undersea cables were cut this morning, leading to a global disruption of Internet connectivity. And this is the second time this year this has happened.

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If you are having trouble with Internet connections between Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Taiwan, Yemen, or Zambia, you’re not alone. Three undersea cables were cut this morning, leading to a global disruption of Internet connectivity. And this is the second time this year this has happened. As many as five undersea cables were severed back in February.

The cables which were today, Sea Me We3, Sea Me We4, and FLAG, were discovered early this morning, and reported in the French press by France Telecom. According to reports, “the causes of the cut, which is located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia, on sections linking Sicily to Egypt, remain unclear.”

Not only is Internet service generally disrupted, but it is affecting voice traffic as well. In fact, reports estimate that voice traffic has been affected as follows:

“- Saudi Arabia: 55% out of service
- Djibouti: 71% out of service
- Egypt: 52% out of service
- United Arab Emirates: 68% out of service
- India: 82% out of service
- Lebanon: 16% out of service
- Malaysia: 42% out of service
- Maldives: 100% out of service
- Pakistan: 51% out of service
- Qatar: 73% out of service
- Syria: 36% out of service
- Taiwan: 39% out of service
- Yemen: 38% out of service
- Zambia: 62% out of service”

Maintenance crews are already under way to repair the cables, however they are not expected to be fully operational until at least December 25th.

Massive Transcontinental Internet Outage as Three Undersea Cables Severed - Again.

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Read more:

»  Plot Thickens as FIFTH Undersea Internet Cable Outage Reported and Iran Taken Offline

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»  As More Undersea Cables are Gashed - Disrupting Internet Access to Middle East, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - Investigation Reveals Cuts Not Accidentally Caused by Anchors - Cause “Unknown”

»  Massive Internet Outage in California No Accident Say Authorities

For additional similar stories check out our archives on Around the World, Internet Providers

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2 Comments »

  1. “once is bad luck, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action”.
    “gunner”

    Comment by "gunner" — 12/19/2008 @ 2:34 pm

  2. This is just absurd, twice in a year? I mean really, didn’t anyone learn from the outage early this year and take preventive measures to offset this predicament?

    Comment by Kyle Flanagan — 12/20/2008 @ 12:46 am

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 This article first appeared on 12/19/2008
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