CROPfm Forum

Is information warfare to blame for the damage to underwater internet cables that has interrupted internet service to millions of people in India and Egypt, or is it just a series of accidents?

When two cables in the Mediterranean were severed last week, it was put down to a mishap with a stray anchor.

Eine Störung des unterseeischen Glasfaserkabels im Mittelmeer führte vergangene Woche dazu, dass in großen Teilen der arabischen Länder das Internet komplett ausfiel. Die ursprüngliche Erklärung, dass ein Schiffsanker das Kabel gekappt habe, stellte sich jetzt als falsch heraus. Nachdem mittlerweile weitere Kabel beschädigt wurden, gibt es immer mehr kritische Stimmen zu den Hintergründen der angeblichen Unfallsserie.

Egypt's Communications Ministry reported Sunday that damage to the undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean was not caused by ship anchors, as previously speculated. In fact, the Egyptian transport ministry said that onshore video cameras at the location of the damaged cables did not show any ship traffic in the area when the communication cables were damaged.

The trouble began on 30 January 2008 with CNN reports that two cables were cut off the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, initially severely disrupting Internet and telephone traffic from Egypt to India and many points in between. According to CNN the two cut cables “account for as much as three-quarters of the international communications between Europe and the Middle East.“ CNN reported that the two cut cables off the Egyptian coast were “FLAG Telecom's FLAG Europe-Asia cable and SeaMeWe-4, a cable owned by a consortium of more than a dozen telecommunications companies”.