What’s Happening with Internet Cables?
Posted by Ben Worthen
Four undersea telecommunications cables have been cut in the last week, disrupting Internet service in the Middle East and parts of Asia. Cable damage is rare, and the sudden epidemic raises the question: What the heck is happening?
You know this guy has a wild theory
We wrote last week about the first such incident, which disrupted Internet connectivity in Egypt, India and several Persian Gulf states, calling it a stark reminder
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that the world is still round. Sure, it’s now possible to send information anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds, but that ability is dependent on tubes and wires several miles beneath the ocean. An incident there can disrupt global business, at least for small and medium-sized businesses in these countries that depend on the public Internet. That’s been the case this week, the Washington Post reports. The largest businesses appear to be unscathed: S. Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest outsourcing firm, tells the Business Technology Blog that the cut cables haven’t had any impact on TCS, which owns its own backup connections.
Meanwhile, questions remain about what’s causing the recent cable problems. Initial reports suggested that the first two cables, both located in the Mediterranean, were damaged by errant ship anchors. Egyptian officials dispute this. No one has any idea what damaged the third cable, located off the coast of Dubai, and a fourth cable, which runs between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Let’s put on our tinfoil hats, hop on the bus and start throwing out conspiracy theories. Is the CIA cutting the cables in an attempt to knock Iran offline or in a wiretapping attempt gone wrong? Are well-funded protectionists lashing out against globalization? Are the dolphins, or worse Mermen, finally rising up against humans and asserting their dominance of the sea? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence.
Business Technology : What’s Happening with Internet Cables?
