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Cairo, 30 January 2008 |
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel formed Wednesday an emergency task force to follow-up the consequences of a damage to a submarine cable in the Mediterranean causing cut off in internet services and international communications at contact centers in Egypt.
"A communication cable in the Mediterranean Sea was cut, which led to partial disruptions to internet and communications services in Egypt," Minister of Communication and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel told the press.
The emergency task force is working on finding alternative communication channels as well as operating the internet and communications of call centers through the SEAMEWE 3 marine cable in the Mediterranean, Dr. Kamel added.
A partial 70% internet disconnection has occurred nationwide, while international communications at offshore call centers have been affected by 30%. Slight problems also erupted with phone calls to Europe and the US.
Minister Kamel, meanwhile, held a meeting with Telecom Egypt (TE) Chairman Eng. Aqil Beshir, TE Deputy Chairman for International Communications, National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) Executive Chairman Dr. Amr Badawy, NTRA Deputy Chairman Eng. Mostafa Abdel-Wahed and other officials, reviewing the TE report on the sudden cut off of communications at 6 am today in the Mediterranean, 10 kilometers from Alexandria.
The cut off occurred in the cables of Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) and the South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4), which are managed in coordination with TE. The reason for the malfunction has not yet been determined as the two cables are more than two kilometers away from each other.
The break off may have occurred for natural or climatic reasons. The problem is likely to be solved with two weeks, according to officials.
TE and NTRA contacted MEMCA, an international company specialized in fixing marine cables, to head for the malfunction site with the companies owning the cables to start the repair process.
The international internet service provision companies, meanwhile, said the malfunction also included other Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Yemen, some of which suffered a total internet disconnection.
Similar incidents had took place in the past years in north Algeria, Taiwan and India, which led to a total isolation of these countries for days.
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