Paris: A number of fibre optic cables carrying broadband service across France’s southern and eastern regions were cut overnight in the latest attack on the country’s infrastructure during the Olympic Games.
SFR said five lines were cut overnight and teams are working on repairs, a spokesman for the French telecommunications carrier said. Other carriers, including Iliad SA’s Free and Netalis, also said they were impacted in social media posts. Netalis Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Guillaume said that the telecom company had successfully moved traffic to backup networks early on Monday.
Grapling with attacks
Connections serving Paris, which is hosting the Olympic Games this week, and the games themselves weren’t affected, a spokesman for Olympics telecom partner, Orange SA, said. Still, the country is grappling with attacks on its infrastructure this week as the world converges on the capital. Coordinated fires on French rail lines disrupted trains ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday.
Agence France-Presse reported the damage earlier, citing a police source.
A similar incident in 2022 led to a criminal investigation after long-distance cables connecting areas of Paris to Lyon, Strasbourg and Lille were cut in several places, causing internet outages.
