Internet traffic was disrupted across several countries, including India and Pakistan, following disruptions on submarine cables near Alexandria, Egypt.

The disruptions on the cables also impacted Internet services in the Far East, West Asia and North Africa.

The subsea cables that were disrupted include South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SMW-4), India-Middle East-Western Europe (I-ME-WE) and Europe India Gateway (EIG) systems.

In an e-mailed response, Tata Communications confirmed that the system suffered a cable cut, and that there was interruption of services to some customers on March 27.

Tata Communications, formerly Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), is the network administrator of South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 system.

The majority of the company’s major customers were re-routed automatically via its South Asian and Pacific routes and customers who have subscribed protected services have been restored onto a rapidly configured fourth India to Europe route.

‘Full restoration of the cable is under way and will be completed as soon as possible,” it said.

“There has been multiple fibre cuts on SMW4, IMEWE & EIG cable systems affecting the overall traffic between India and Europe. Bharti Airtel is working with the cable consortium for restoration of services. The voice traffic has been completely normalised. All necessary steps are being taken to ensure data services are available to our customers by routing traffic on alternative routes,” a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said.

I-ME-WE (India-Middle East-Western Europe), the cable system was funded by a consortium of nine companies from across the world, including Bharti Airtel from India.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

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