Hong Kong telecommunications company Hutchison Global Communications said undersea internet cables could be “severed” in the Red Sea, causing “serious” damage to communications networks in the Middle East. Cables have been cut by the four major operators, which could affect internet traffic in parts of India, Pakistan and East Africa. HGC Global claimed that at least 25% of traffic was affected, and the operator is currently rerouting traffic to minimize disruption and “provide assistance to affected businesses.”
In a separate statement, the company said it was “extremely rare” for all four cables to be damaged simultaneously.
It must be noted that there are more than 15 undersea Internet cables in the Red Sea. After the war between Israel and Hamas, shipping in the Red Sea region was severely disrupted due to attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Reason for cuts
No operator has yet disclosed the reasons for cost reductions. Yemen also denies its role in the alleged sabotage, saying it “aspires to keep all telecommunications submarine cables … away from any possible risks”.
However, Yemen’s Western-backed government has warned in previous weeks that Houthi rebels may try to sabotage the cables to show support for Hamas and force the world to pressure Israel to halt its attacks on Gaza.
Yemeni rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has denied the accusations. “We have no intention of targeting submarine cables that provide internet to countries in the region,” he said.
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The Houthis, on the other hand, have accused British and American military units operating there of being behind the alleged sabotage.
When is it expected to be fixed?
CNN quoted South Africa’s Seacom, which owns one of the affected cable systems, as saying repair work won’t start for at least another month because it needs a license to operate offshore.
Meanwhile, the ongoing security crisis in the Red Sea may also lead to further delays in repair work.
Underwater cables are the backbone of the internet, often funded in recent years by tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta. Disruption of these undersea networks could lead to widespread Internet outages, as was seen after the 2006 earthquake in Taiwan.
(Based on input from each agency)