Cable Cut Disrupts Middle East Net Traffic

Damage to a pair of undersea telecom cables in the Mediterranean has disrupted Internet connectivity in the Middle East, Pakistan and India. The incident occurred just north of the port of Alexandria, Egypt, where cables operated by Flag Telecom and SEA-ME-WEA 4 were severed by a ship anchor. The ships may have been diverted from Alexandria and unfamiliar with the area.

The cable cut has had a dramatic impact on Internet service in Egypt and Pakistan, according to Renesys, which monitors Internet routing and has posted a detailed analysis of the countries and networks affected by the outage. More than 65 percent of all communications networks in Egypt and Pakistan were disrupted, according to Renesys, while Kuwait. More than 500 networks experienced outages in India, which has nonetheless fared better than other affected regions because it has more providers and networks.