Fiber-optic lines under Mediterranean believed snagged by ship's anchor
Matthew Rosenberg, Associated Press:
At least for a while, the World Wide Web wasn't so worldwide.
Two cables that carry Internet traffic deep under the Mediterranean Sea snapped, disrupting service Thursday across a swath of Asia and the Middle East.
In India, home to a lucrative outsourcing industry that handles customer service calls for U.S. and European companies, experts were still assessing the damage Thursday.
By PAKINAM AMER, Associated Press Writer:
A telecommunications expert at the Egyptian communications ministry, Rafaat Hindy, cautioned that "solving this could take days."
TeleGeography, a U.S. research group that tracks submarine cables around the world, said the severed lines account for 75 percent of the capacity connecting Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries to Europe.
It would take "a few days up to one week before submarine cable operators deploy ships to bring the cables up and fix the fault," said Eric Schoonover, senior research analyst at TeleGeography.
It was not clear what caused the damage to the cable.
Schoonover said there has been speculation by others that an illegally or improperly anchored ship caused the problem. Cables get damaged all the time but Schoonover believes this was the first time two undersea cables near each other were cut at the same time.
By ME:
This was an accident. Can you imagine what might happen if there was intent?
