3 out of 5 submarine cables linking Vietnam to global networks experience failures

Three out of five submarine cables connecting Vietnam to international networks have malfunctioned, significantly disrupting internet connectivity for users across the country.

According to information from an internet service provider, the latest to suffer an issue is the IA (Inter-Asia) cable, which had a malfunction early on Thursday, VTV reported.

It was damaged while the other two cables, APG (Asia-Pacific Gateway) and AAE-1 (Asia-Africa-Europe), are also experiencing difficulties.

The fact that three out of five submarine cables connecting Vietnam to international networks are having issues has severely affected the internet traffic from Vietnam to international destinations.

As a result, users in Vietnam may face difficulties accessing websites and services hosted on servers abroad during this period. However, this issue does not affect access to websites and services with servers located in Vietnam.

Nguyen Lam, an internet user in Ho Chi Minh City, reported that from the evening Thursday, he had noticed unstable internet access at home.

« Vietnamese websites still load very quickly, but it takes around 20 seconds to open foreign pages, » he said.

This issue also affects some services that require large amounts of data from abroad, such as movie platforms and games. In some gaming communities in Vietnam, many have reported being unable to access games.

Roblox, a gaming platform from abroad, confirmed that this issue « may lead to situations where connections or logins are impossible. » The company recommends users switch to mobile connections or contact their service providers for assistance in resolving the issue.

The repair schedule and the time for resolving the issues with these cables have not yet been announced.

There are five submarine fiber optic cables connecting Vietnam internationally: AAG (Asia-America Gateway); APG; SMW-3 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe); IA and AAE-1. Additionally, there is a smaller cable, TVH, which is only 3,367 km long, connecting Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.

Besides the submarine cables, there are also some terrestrial fiber optic cables connecting Vietnam internationally. Most of the Internet traffic from Vietnam to international destinations is transmitted through these submarine cables.

By Luu Quy – VnExpress.net – June 14, 2024