Internet cut a ‘rare’ occurrence

Tom Gara

• Last Updated: December 20. 2008 3:10PM UAE / December 20. 2008 11:10AM GMT

Internet connections have slowed to a crawl across the Middle East after the three main fibre-optic communications lines connecting the region to Europe were severed on Friday.

A similar incident in January was blamed on ships dragging their anchors along the sea floor during a storm. No explanation has yet been given for how the three cables, which run from Egypt to Europe, were cut this time.

“For three cables to all be cut simultaneously like this is pretty unlikely, it is certainly a rare event,” said Alan Mauldin, the research director for TeleGeography, a research group specialising in the global communications system. “For this kind of event to happen twice in one year is crazy.”

The UAE’s two telecommunications companies have responded to the cuts by redirecting traffic eastward, using connections to East Asia to make up for the lost capacity. But internet users still complained of slow, unreliable connections.

France Telecom said its marine cable division would repair the damaged lines, but warned that service would not be back to normal until December 31.

Finding the severed cables will be a primary challenge for the repair boat, which will reach the area within days. Although the precise location the cables is known, their severed ends are likely to have moved significantly following the cut. These ends, little thicker than a garden hose, are now flailing across hundreds of square kilometres of sea floor, and will need to be located by remote-controlled submarines.

France Telecom released estimates showing the UAE has lost almost 70 per cent of its traffic capacity, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia were also down by more than 50 per cent. The island nation of the Maldives is in total blackout, while India, home to a call centre and outsourcing industry that is dependent on international communications, has lost 80 per cent of its international connections.

Cable operators and telecommunications companies have responded swiftly to the cuts, using knowledge gained from the almost identical situation that occurred in late January. Then, cables were severed off the coast of both Egypt and the UAE, leading to major communications disruptions for more than a week.

Connections between Europe and Asia are being redirected through the US, while Middle Eastern operators are sending their Europe-bound traffic around the globe, first to East Asia, across the Pacific Ocean to the US and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

The three cables that were severed lie hundreds of kilometres apart, meaning it is unlikely that a single ship could have damaged all three. Mr Mauldin said a simultaneous cut would more likely be caused by an undersea earthquake or landslide.

Hundreds of cable cuts happen each year around the world, but few lead to internet and telephone disruptions for end users. While scores of undersea cables connect the continents of Europe and North America, just a handful link the Middle East to the outside world. The small number of backup options mean freak occurrences like Friday’s cut have a disproportionate impact.

“If there were other cable options,” Mr Mauldin said, “you wouldn’t even be hearing about these problems.”

A host of new cables linking the Middle East to Europe and Asia are currently being developed. A 15,000 kilometre cable connecting the UK to India will stop off in Fujairah, with the telecommunications company du contributing US$50 million (Dh183m) to its $700 million construction price.

The Egyptian companies Telecom Egypt and Orascom Telecom are both investing in new links between Egypt and Europe, with Orascom’s new line to run through to Saudi Arabia. Etisalat is part of a $400 million cable project that will link India to the Middle East and Africa.

tgara@thenational.ae