Pakistan's internet link crippled

BBC ^ | 28 June, 2005

[Altair333]

A fault in an undersea cable has crippled many of Pakistan's internet and mobile phone links overseas. The fault occurred late on Monday and systems are still down. One internet official said it could take two weeks to repair.

The fault has been traced to a point in the Arabian Sea 35km (21 miles) south of Karachi and technicians from Dubai are travelling to make repairs.

Pakistan has more than 10 million internet users.

Disruption could also occur in India, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti and Oman, which are also linked by the cable, Pakistani telecommunications officials said.

Ground to halt

Shahid Ahmed, chief engineer of Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL), which operates the link, said of the repair work: "This is a highly sophisticated operation and only specialised companies can undertake such a delicate task under the sea.

"Pakistan has no such ability."

Mr Ahmed said the consortium of 92 countries that owns the cable had asked operating agent Singtel of Singapore to fix the fault.

He said Singtel had called in Dubai-based E-Marine but its ship could take a day just to reach the site.

Internet Service Providers Association general secretary, VA Abdi, said: "I fear it could take two weeks to repair because it will require the removal of the faulty portion of the cable.

"The cable provides Pakistan's major outer communication means and its fault has disrupted almost all communications with the rest of the world."

In Pakistan, much internet-based work ground to a halt.

Rahim Kothari, a foreign exchange dealer in Karachi, told the Reuters agency: "We're sitting here idle doing nothing. Trading volume has fallen by almost 80%."

[nw_arizona_granny]

ping

[cinives]

Agreed. We used to use microwave in Kuwait and it was extremely unreliable, especially when a sandstorm would start up.

[Jim Noble]

Our submarines are amazing!

[Naomi4]

I find this highly unlikely. Only Pakistan? Not India too?

Something is up. Some entity does not want people in Pakistan to communicate via the Net.

Osama, anyone?

[Gengis Khan]

Was it RAW?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Supposedly the NSA or other US agency has the ability to tap into underseas cable by placing a large box full of equipment beside the cable via submarine and then somehow splicing into the fiber.

But if something goes wrong, the user can lose use of the cable for up to two weeks.

[ScreamingFist]

I remember reading when the US tapped the USSR's phone cable in the Aleutians (IIRC), we didn't know where it was until a recon sub saw a sign on shore that said "No dragging, cable". The information off that tap was amazing, and done with non intrusive means that had to be physically removed and returned to the US for recovery.
Apparently we use intrusive means now.........

[Arthalion]

Nail. Head. Whack.

FYI, this break is causing huge problems for outsourced call centers using IP telephony (most of them). I was reading earlier that a number of banks and other large companies that have outsourced their backroom operations and web services to Pakistani companies and that they're entirely offline at this point. Some credit card processors can't handle transactions, there are airlines that can't take reservations, and there's at least one bank that can't even tell you what your account balance is. There are companies that have effectively shut their doors because of this (one airline lost their entire reservation system...the backend databases, the online interfaces, AND their telephone based service reps are all located in Pakistan).

For all practical purposes, if a company has outsourced anything to Pakistan, they're losing serious money right now.

[Arthalion]

Nope. Fiber-optic cables can relay a data signal around the world at the speed of light. Wireless connections with satellite relays would have to bounce your signal through hundreds of wireless relays to make the same trip, introducing huge delays. You can't get any faster than the speed of light, and fiber cables are the only method we have for funneling light beams around the planet.

Wireless is a decent technology for the endpoint connections, but we're not likely to see anything faster than fiber cables in our lifetimes.

[Arthalion]

Undersea cables have electrically charged cables or sheathing built in to power their inline repeaters. If something broke the sheathing...like a rockslide, a fish, or some kind of sea worm...sea water would leak in and could short the cable out, killing the repeaters. Since all of the articles describe some kind of electrical problem, I'm assuming that this is what happened.

[armymarinemom]

I've been wondering the same thing.

[Types_with_Fist]

I wonder if this isn't some kind of blackout for political purposes.

There was another report on yet another thread that mentioned cell phone service was also out.

[punchamullah]

Most of these noodles are buried, usually 1 -2 metres below the mudline, from the 1000 metre contour to the beach manhole. 80% of faults are caused by ship's anchors or bottom trawling gear, most of the balance by chafing or seismic activity.

[NY Attitude]

Sounds like a page out of "Blind Mans Bluff" ;-)

[ChadGore]

Hmmm I hope our CIA is busy installing bugging equipment while they fix it :)

[Windsong]

You mean child right? They are, after all, trying to imitate Mohammed at his finest.

[Agnostic]

India seems to be doing okay, at least the southern part of it.

Whatever happens the Islamomaniacs will blame Bush for it.