Cable Cut Issue to Persist for weeks - Telecom Grid Pakistan

Message from discussion Cable Cut Issue to Persist for weeks

Tee Emm

More options Jan 31 2008, 4:18 am

From: "Tee Emm" <tariq.must...@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:18:34 +0500

Local: Thurs, Jan 31 2008 4:18 am

Subject: Cable Cut Issue to Persist for weeks

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As always, DW has an excellent coverage and details on the current SMW4 and
FLAG cuts. As pointed out in the report, it is strange how the two cable
cuts happened miles apart in quick succession. For now, Murphy's the only
explanation. The issues are expected to last for weeks, not days.

From Daily Wireles<http://www.dailywireless.org/2008/01/30/oceanic-fiber-cut/>
:

<http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/01/mediterranean_cable_break.shtml>

Two oceanic cable systems in the far East were severed
yesterday<http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/01/mediterranean_cable_break.shtml>,
greatly impacting both Internet and voice traffic to the region. The
broken submarine
cables<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_submarine_communic...>are
operated by Flag
Telecom <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-Optic_Link_Around_the_Globe> and
SEA-ME-WEA 4 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEA-ME-WE_4_%28cable_system%29>.
Repair time may be measured in weeks, not days.
<http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/01/mediterranean_cable_break.shtml>

The countries highlighted in red (above) are those whose Internet
connectivity is being disrupted the most by this event. As you can see,
there are several cable systems that connect Europe, the Middle East and
Asia, via the Suez Canal.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable-laying_ship>According to
Bloomberg<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aWe706hsLNdY>,
six ships were diverted from Alexandria port because of bad weather, and one
may have severed the cables with an anchor, said a spokesman for Flag
Telecom Group <http://www.flagtelecom.com/>.

The FLAG cut is reported to have taken place 8.3 kilometers (5.2 miles) from
Alexandria beach in northern Egypt.
Flag<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-Optic_Link_Around_the_Globe>(for
Fiber-optic Link Around the Globe), runs from Britain to Japan.

In Cairo, much of the capital city was without access to the
Internet<http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=20610...>for
the bulk of the day, frustrating businesses and the professions. "It's
a
national disaster," said Joseph Metry, network supervisor at Orascom Telecom
Holding SAE, the biggest mobile- phone company in the Middle East and North
Africa.

The SEA-ME-WEA 4<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEA-ME-WE_4_%28cable_system%29>cable
was damaged
in the waters off Marseille,
France<http://www.news.com/Two-communication-cables-in-the-Mediterranean-are...>,
reports C/Net. The two cables, which are separately managed and operated,
were damaged within hours of each other.
<http://www.vsnlinternational.com/map/>

How is it that both Flag
Telecom<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-Optic_Link_Around_the_Globe>and
SEA-ME-WEA
4 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEA-ME-WE_4_%28cable_system%29> cables
(above and below) were severed within hours of each other, although
Marseille, France and Alexandria, Egypt, are hundreds of miles apart? At
this point, details are sketchy and the cause is still unclear.
<http://www.vsnlinternational.com/map/>

VSNL has a terrific interactive global cable
map<http://www.vsnlinternational.com/map/>(above), while the
SEA-ME-WEA 4 map <http://www.seamewe4.com/> (below) shows the distance to
France. VSNL <http://www.vsnlinternational.com/map/>, the Indian telecom
giant that bought FLAG, also bought Tyco's 6 Terabit transpacific cable for
a relative song in
2004<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/02/business/02tyco.html>.
Now they planning a new TGN-Intra Asia submarine cable linking Singapore,
Hong Kong, and Japan<http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=137928>with
an additional connection to the Philippines, and potentially Vietnam.
<http://www.seamewe4.com/>

On 26th December, 2006<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Hengchun_earthquake>,
a powerful earthquake shook the seabed off southern
Taiwan<http://www.dailywireless.org/2006/12/27/taiwan-earthquake-knocks-out-...>(
pdf<http://www.iscpc.org/information/ICPC_Press_Release_Hengchun_Earthqua...>
).
The magnitude 7.1 earthquake was followed by one of the largest disruptions
of modern telecommunications history.
<http://www.dailywireless.org/2008/01/14/fiber-crosses-the-pond/>

Nine submarine cables in the Strait of Luzon, between Taiwan and the
Philippines, were broken thus disabling vital connections between SE Asia
and the rest of the world. China
Telecom<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Telecom>reported that
several international submarine communications cables had been
broken, including:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable-laying_ship>By the end of 2007, 25
oceanic fiber contracts totaling 112,000
route-kilometers<http://www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/News-Now.htm>were
awarded.

Both of Portland's cable ships<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable-laying_ship>,
the Tyco Durable<http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=V7DI8>and
Global
Sentinel <http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=WRZU>,
are expected to have plenty of work throughout the
Pacific<http://www.thetribonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=21770>as
the telecom industry rebounds. Here are Research
Ship Schedules <http://ships.cms.udel.edu/ship_gen.asp>.

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