Highlights

− Service disruption to four submarine cables serving the Middle East and South Asia
− Cables are expected to be repaired in the coming weeks
− Companies should arrange for back-up connectivity in the event of massive failures

During this past week there have been service disruptions in four undersea cables that provide Internet connectivity throughout the Middle East and the South Asian subcontinent.

FLAG Europe Asia Cable

On Wednesday January 30, 2008, FLAG Telecom reported that its Europe Asia cable suffered a cut 8.3 kilometers from the port of Alexandria, Egypt. According to FLAG Telecom, the Europe Asia cable was designed to handle a maximum capacity of 10 gigabits per second.

SEA-ME-WE 4

The Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 cable (SEA-ME-WE 4) was also cut on Wednesday January 30, 2008. The SEA-WE-ME cable is owned and operated by a consortium of 16 telecommunication providers. The cable connects South East Asia to Europe via the Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East and provides a maximum capacity of 1.28 terabytes per second.

FLAG Falcon Cable

On Friday February 1, 2008, FLAG Telecom reported another cut in its Falcon cable. The Falcon cable was cut 56 kilometers from Dubai, UAE. According to FLAG Telecom, the new Falcon cable consists of a, “four fiber pair route linking the Gulf to Egypt and India.” The cable is designed to carry a maximum capacity of 2.56 Tbps.

Qatar-UAE Cable

The Qatar-UAE cable also reported a disruption in service on Friday February 1, 2008. Unofficial sources reported to ArabianBusiness.com that the disruption was not the result of a physical cut in the cable but rather a problem in the power system.

Service Disruptions

According to Renesys, an Internet Service monitoring company, Egypt and Pakistan lost the highest percentage capacity, while India lost the least. However, India had the third highest total number of networks disappear. Affected countries experienced slower Internet connections and in some cases degraded international phone services.

According to TeleGeography, a telecommunication industry research company, capacity to the region was reduced by approximately 75 percent. Telecommunications providers scrambled to re-route traffic to other undamaged submarine cables and satellite uplinks.

Home users and small business owners in the region suffered the brunt of the disruptions, as larger companies were able to quickly re-route their traffic through other providers. Many companies had established contingency plans after the 2006 earthquake of the coast of Taiwan severed cables connecting Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and North America. Moreover, telecommunications carriers also gave higher priority to voice traffic and traffic from larger subscribers.

Conclusions

It is believed that these cable cuts have caused significant economic damage, however the exact amount in unclear at this point. While these cuts should be repaired and full capacity should be restored in the coming weeks, the service disruptions again highlight the need for continued investment into increased capacity, as well as the individual businesses need for contingency plans in the event of future disruptions.