Damaged Undersea Cables In Red Sea Affect 25% Data Traffic Between Asia And Europe
Houthi Rebels Allegedly Cut Key Red Sea Submarine Internet Cables Disrupting Global Internet Traffic
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2024-03-05 18:46 GMT
US officials claim that undersea cables were cut in the Red Sea on Monday affecting 25% of the data traffic between Asia and Europe. Several undersea fibre optic cables also termed as submarine internet cables have been allegedly cut by Yemen based Houthi rebels. These cables carry a significant chunk of the internet traffic between the two continents.
Submarine internet cables laid along the seabed act as conduits for global communication and data transmission. This includes internet traffic, data exchange and telephone calls. Damage to these can result in significant downtime affecting businesses, governments, and individuals.
Indian telecom companies have not encountered any major disruptions to their services so far. Tata Communications which manages the TGN cable said in a media statement that the network backbones and protected services remain unaffected.
“Our team at Tata Communications has been keeping a close watch on the situation and initiated immediate and appropriate remedial actions. Our capabilities are underpinned by our global network which encompasses one of the world’s largest wholly owned subsea fibre backbone and a Tier-1 IP network. We invest in various cable consortiums to increase our diversity and hence in such situations of a cable cut or snag we are able to automatically reroute our services, thereby ensuring our customers have a stable, reliable and scalable connectivity," the company said in a media statement.
SEACOM headquartered in Mauritius confirmed damage to cable and has anticipated delay to the repair efforts until second quarter of 2024, in view of the instability in the Yemen region impeding the repair efforts.
HGC communications based out of Hong Kong has disclosed damage to four key Red Sea cables – Europe India Gateway, SEACOM, TGN and Africa Asia Europe-One leading to 25% reduction in internet traffic. The traffic presently is being rerouted through China and US.
Submarine internet cables laid along the seabed act as conduits for global communication and data transmission. This includes internet traffic, data exchange and telephone calls. Damage to these can result in significant downtime affecting businesses, governments, and individuals.
Indian telecom companies have not encountered any major disruptions to their services so far. Tata Communications which manages the TGN cable said in a media statement that the network backbones and protected services remain unaffected.
“Our team at Tata Communications has been keeping a close watch on the situation and initiated immediate and appropriate remedial actions. Our capabilities are underpinned by our global network which encompasses one of the world’s largest wholly owned subsea fibre backbone and a Tier-1 IP network. We invest in various cable consortiums to increase our diversity and hence in such situations of a cable cut or snag we are able to automatically reroute our services, thereby ensuring our customers have a stable, reliable and scalable connectivity," the company said in a media statement.
SEACOM headquartered in Mauritius confirmed damage to cable and has anticipated delay to the repair efforts until second quarter of 2024, in view of the instability in the Yemen region impeding the repair efforts.
HGC communications based out of Hong Kong has disclosed damage to four key Red Sea cables – Europe India Gateway, SEACOM, TGN and Africa Asia Europe-One leading to 25% reduction in internet traffic. The traffic presently is being rerouted through China and US.