A report says undersea cables in the Red Sea have been damaged, causing “significant” disruption to global communications networks.
It was not immediately clear how the cables were damaged, but according to CNN, Yemeni government officials warned that Houthi rebels could target undersea cables, leading to internet Providers were reportedly forced to divert up to 25% of their internet traffic between Asia and Europe. middle east.
The Iranian-backed terrorist group has already attacked commercial ships sailing in the Red Sea since Israel’s ground attacks on the Gaza Strip in November, forcing ships to reroute and raising shipping costs by more than 600%. There is.
Yemeni rebel leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi He denied the charges. “We have no intention of targeting the undersea cables that provide internet to countries in the region,” he said, according to CNN.
The Yemeni government later claimed, without providing any evidence, that U.S. and British military forces operating in the area may also be behind the damage, CNN reported.
HGC Global Communications, one of Hong Kong’s largest Wi-Fi providers, said four of the more than 15 submarines on the Red Sea cable had been disconnected, causing “significant” disruption to an estimated one-quarter of traffic. announced that it had been caused.
Among the networks affected are more than 15,500 miles of cable system connecting Southeast Asia and Europe via Egypt, Asia, Africa and Europe, CNN reported, citing an HGC statement on the outage. 1 (AAE-1) is also included.
The Europe-India Gateway (EIG), which connects Europe, the Middle East, and India, was also damaged.
According to CNN, most of these major carriers rely on multiple undersea cables, which allow them to reroute traffic and ensure uninterrupted service.
In recent years, American technology giants such as Microsoft and Facebook parent company Meta have co-founded and financed a high-speed cable called MAREA that will snake across the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Bilboa, Spain, since 2016. . .
Google also has ownership in seven undersea cables and Amazon is a major capacity purchaser on a cable called Hawaiki, both of which are affected by Monday’s outage, according to telecom industry data firm Telegeography. I didn’t take it.
