MyAdhan Blog

Link: Middle East, India Suffer Internet, Phone Disruption

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Another undersea Internet cable damaged in Mideast
Third undersea cable cut in Middle East

India and countries across the Middle East experienced slow Internet connections and disruption to international calls to the U.S. and Europe after two submarine cable systems in the Mediterranean Sea were cut yesterday. Repairs to the break, which may have been caused by a ship’s anchor near Alexandria, northern Egypt, will start on Feb. 4, a spokesman for Flag Telecom Group Ltd., which operates one of the cables, said by phone from Mumbai today. Customers are being provided with alternatives through other cables, he said. The cable breaks have cut capacity by more than half for some Web access and telephones companies in the affected regions. They carry 70 percent of voice traffic to the West, according to Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, the biggest mobile-phone company in the Middle East and North Africa. Stock trading in Egypt and phone calls from as far away as the U.S. have been disrupted. `Everyone is trying to absorb the shock, and is trying to deal with it” by using alternatives, said Joseph Metry, network supervisor at Orascom Telecom. The two cables are 400 meters (1,312 feet) apart and the second is operated by SEA-ME-WE-4, according to Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., which is United Arab Emirates’ second-biggest mobile-phone company and is known as du.