Another Broken Internet Cable in the Middle East - The UpStream

In 2008 the Middle East suffered a crippling blow to their Internet, with multiple cuts on the underwater wiring system that rendered them without web service for almost a week. Last week, the Middle East was struck with another outage, when cable SeaMeWe-4 had a "shunt fault" and made contact with the sea water somewhere in the Mediterranean.

This cable that just runs over 12,000 miles long, which gives Internet connectivity between Europe and Egypt, had a disruption that affected areas from Pakistan to the Gulf states. A segment of the cable running to Singapore, however, appears to still be functioning properly. A repair vessel is already on the scene and the fix should take place within the next 48 hours.

There is some good news, however, and it is that the SeaMeWe-4 will no longer be needed in the next year. Five new cables have been prepared to enter service between Europe and Egypt in 2010. These cables will allow up to a 4 tbps capacity each, where the SeaMeWe-4 was only able to sustain a maximum of 2 tbps.