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 cable was damaged, but Yemeni government officials reportedly warned that the Houthi rebels could target the undersea cable. CNNThis has forced internet providers to divert up to 25% of internet traffic between Asia, Europe and the 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 the largest Wi-Fi providers in Hong Kong, Said Four of the more than 15 submarines connected to Red Sea cables were severed, causing “significant” disruption to an estimated one-quarter of traffic, it said.
Among the affected networks is Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1), a more than 15,500-mile cable system connecting Southeast Asia and Europe via Egypt, CNN reported, citing HGC. Also included. statement Power outage.
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, while Amazon is the major capacity buyer for the cable, called Hawaiki, according to the telecommunications industry data firm. telegeographyHowever, none of them were affected by Monday’s outage.
