CROPfm Forum

European telecommunications providers reported Friday that three out of the four telecommunication cables connecting Internet traffic between the Middle East and Europe had been cut.

In a statement, France Telecom reported that the "Sea Me We 4" cable was cut at 7:28 AM local time, the "Sea Me We3" was severed at 7:33 AM, and the FLAG cable was severed at 8:06 AM. While a repair boat is en route, full service is not expected to be restored until Dec. 31.

A France Telecom report listed 14 countries affected by the current problem. The Maldives are 100 percent down, followed by India, which has 82 percent disruption. Qatar, Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates were the next most widely affected areas with about 70 percent service interrupted. Disruptions for Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan range from 51 percent to 55 percent.