Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast

[Canuck_Buck]

An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/01/internet.outage/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography, a research company that consults on global Internet issues, said those cables were likely damaged by ships' anchors.

.....ships anchors right?....

anyone else wonder why this hasn't happened before ?

[Aught Six]

It probably hasn't happened before because global telecommunications infrastructures are still relatively new in many parts of the world.

[ipscshooter]

Yes, but, three in three days seems to defy the odds.

[Aught Six]

What, do you think divers went and cut them? Certainly very possible, but considering that these cables are usually coming onto land in heavily trafficked waterways, anchor cuts are not unheard of.

[kevin1]

Extensive Internet failure has affected much of Asia, the Middle East, north Africa

Terrorist strongholds Afghanistan and Pakistan are located in Asia, Somalia and Sudan are located in Africa, and we all know who's located in the Middle East. Sounds to me like the dip****s cut their own lines of communication, which can only hamper their ability to communicate with each other planning strikes against other countries.

Boat to sabotage internet cable - $2,000
Gas to power the boat - $100
Shooting yourself in the foot because you're stupid - priceless!

[Aught Six]

Maybe they did it to keep others out...

ORIGINAL: Canuck_Buck

An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/01/internet.outage/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography, a research company that consults on global Internet issues, said those cables were likely damaged by ships' anchors.

.....ships anchors right?....

anyone else wonder why this hasn't happened before ?

Happens all the time. In fact, I designed the route for flag telecom going thru those exact cables in 2002 on contract.Fiber breaks happen all the time. Especially with new fiber lays. The ships pick up the wrong cable and it automatically snaps.

3 times in 3 days is odd, unless another fiber laying ship is putting in an overbuild. I know of most breaks that affect the equip I work on, and admit never heard of that many at once.

[TimberCreek]

Sharks!