New FLAG Internet cable on the way for Mediterranean

Details: Category: Optical & Fixed Networks; 29 March 2008; 7285 views

After a series of major - and sometimes spectacular - failures in Internet services in the Middle East and Indian regions, FLAG Telecom (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe) has undertaken the construction of a far stronger cable between Egypt and France. FLAG has also dispatched two repair ships, the second of which arrived at a point near Alexandria, Egypt, where two cables were cut on a link between Egypt and Italy. The cables have been identified as FLAG's Europe-Asia cable and South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 cable (SEA-ME-WE 4) owned by a consortium of 16 international telecommunication companies.

Even as the recent cuts were being repaired, FLAG said it was laying down a new line, the FLAG Mediterranean Cable between Egypt and France, that will provide a different route in the Mediterranean and be "fully resilient"' against this type of cut.

The new cable is intended to provide a diversity in routes and to be more resilient. What is clear is that several months would be needed to set up the new cable: Egyptian media reports state that Telecom Egypt has "'sealed a deal"' for a new 3,100 km-long undersea cable between Egypt and France that would take over 18 months to complete. The media did not say who Telecom's partner in the deal was.

As if the Mediterranean cuts were not bad enough, another FLAG vessel was called out to a site 56 km north of Dubai, between the Emirates and Oman, and begun repairs on the company's severed FALCON cable. The three unusual cuts to the Internet cables led to disruptions in services, slowed down businesses and hampered personal Internet usage.

It has been speculated that the cuts were caused by ships' anchors dragged along the bottom of the sea in stormy weather but Egypt's telecoms ministry has said that no ships were registered near the first cut, north of Alexandria. In fact, FLAG has declared that the company is still trying to determine how the cables were cut.

Most governments in the region appeared to have been operating normally, apparently because they switched to backup satellite systems. Large-scale Internet disruptions are rare but East Asia suffered nearly two months of outages and slow service after an earthquake damaged undersea cables near Taiwan in December 2006.

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