Ship's anchor caused cut in Internet cable

That cut sliced two cables — the FLAG Europe-Asia cable, owned by FLAG, which stands for Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe, and another cable lying next to it, identified as SEA-ME-WE 4, or South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 cable, owned by a consortium of 16 international telecommunication companies.

It was still not known what caused that cut, on a very narrow route linking Egypt and Palermo, on the Italian island of Sicily. Egypt's telecommunication ministry said no ships were registered near the location when the cut happened north of Alexandria.

FLAG, in a statement posted on the company Web site, said it had completed a survey of the cable cut off Egypt that involved "tracking along the cable path and checking for cuts using remotely operated" submarine robots.

The results of the survey were not revealed, but FLAG added these repairs would also be completed Sunday.

Earlier, the FLAG spokesman said that a new undersea cable — the FLAG Mediterranean Cable — was being laid between Egypt and France, that would be "fully resilient" against cuts such as last week's and "provide a diversity in routes." He did not elaborate what that resilience entailed, but said it would take months to set up the new cable.

Also, state Telecom Egypt said it sealed a $125 million contract on Jan. 31 with French-American telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent, for a new 1,900 miles long undersea cable between Egypt and France.

That submarine cable, named TE North, will link Sidi Kerir on Egypt's northern coast to the French port of Marseille.

It will have multiple times the bandwidth capacity of existing cables and enable Telecom Egypt to "expand international connectivity, providing diversity from existing cable routes." Egyptian media have said that the new Telecom cable would take over 18 months to complete.

MORE FROM INTERNET

Internet Section Front

As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten growth Parental software is aid, not answer No music video needed for YouTube success Imdb.com allows free film, TV viewing Best Buy to acquire music-sharer Napster Wall Street Journal launches social network Yahoo's home page to get makeover Virginia court strikes down anti-spam law One in five bosses screens applicants' Web lives Facebook gets another facelift Internet Section Front   Add Internet headlines to your news reader: