nixCraft Linux Sys Admin Blog

Internet Fiber-Optic Link SEA-ME-WE 4 / FLAG Damaged- Bandwidth Crisis Hits India and Middle East

Posted: 01 Feb 2008 12:02 AM CST

Not just one but two undersea links are cut and totally out of service. 60% of Indian home and business are experiencing disruption. My home 8Mbps ADSL connection only working at 512K speed It could take up to one week to repair the damaged cables and resume full service. The cause of the damage (SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG cables in the Mediterranean Sea) has not been declared, but a number of news sources speculate that the damage was caused by a ship’s anchor near Alexandria. However, my works place has no effect as traffic immediately routed using Atlantic ocean cable / gateway (hell we have 5 level redundancy and multiple ISPs).

Operations outsourced to India from the UK and US are badly hit and my friends working with those organizations are totally stressed out. Many of my friends worked all night to restore service for home users. I feel sorry for them. I consider my self lucky for not working with any ISP teach support department.

[ Fig:01 Cuts in two international submarine cable systems in the Mediterranean Sea (image credit, TOI) ]

Update: A third submarine internet cable is severed in the Middle East, compounding global net problems.

News Coverage

DD News Cable breakdown in the Mediterranean sea affects internet
BCC News: Severed cables disrupt internet
SEA-ME-WE 4 link site and FLAG (Reliance group company) telecom website

Have you been affected by the disruption to internet services?

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