Dubai: An estimated 68 per cent of voice traffic capacity from Europe went out of service in the UAE on Friday when telecom cables were severed, according to France Telecom, Europe's third largest telephone company.
In the Mediterranean Sea, three cables connecting the Middle East, Europe and America were cut, reducing internet cap-acity to 85 per cent, according to etisalat, UAE's telecom operator.
A similar incident occurred earlier this year, off the coast of Egypt and the UAE, and was said to have resulted from ships dragging their anchors.
While no official reports have been issued yet stating the cause of the current cable cuts, speculation is rife that it could have been a result of under-water earthquakes or landslides.
France Telecom sent ships to repair the damaged cables yesterday, and they estimate that the situation should be back to normal by December 31.
The cables that run from Egypt to Italy carry more than 75 per cent of traffic between the regions, with some redundant cables in place to shoulder the load during downtime.
An etisalat spokesperson said the redundant cables linking the region to Eur-ope and the US had allowed for the internet to remain operational, albeit at low speeds.
Meanwhile, much of the traffic has been re-routed by the UAE's two telecom operators.
du, the second telecom company said in a statement that they are using cables in the Far East and western United States to continue their linkage.
"The top 50 voice destinations are now unaffected and only 15 per cent degradation overall remains. Internet capacity is reduced but again additional capacity is being activated to the East which will restore performance," du said.
