Undersea cables slow Internet traffic
- TAGS:cable, Persian Gulf, undersea
- IT TOPICS:Internet
It seems odd to me, but for some reason I wouldn't have thought undersea cables would be so susceptible to damage from ships at sea above them. Not only was an underwater fiber-optic cable damaged Friday, but that occurred just two days after two underwater cables were cut on Wednesday. Maybe these cable cuts happen all the time and I've just never heard about it, but for three cables to be cut within three days seems high. Perhaps I'm naive, but I would expect that vessels large enough to cause this type of damage would be aware that such cables are in their path. Wednesday's breaks were off the Mediterranean coast and Friday's was in the Persian Gulf. Did I hear someone saying conspiracy theory?
Well, whatever the reason, the cut cables required carriers to use alternate routes for Internet traffic. Having traffic detoured across the Pacific caused some delays, and all three cuts slowed Web performance for many users. I'm not sure if it was the result of the cable cut, but my wife did mention that the time lag delay was longer than usual in her telephone call from here on the U.S. East Coast to her cousin in Belgium. It does happen from time to time, as does an irritating echo.
No worries though, all the cables are expected to be repaired within 8-10 days. I wonder if the ship(s) will be identified and whether or not they'll have to pay some sort of fine.
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