Undersea cable incident affects internet service

January 13, 2019 - 20:00

The Intra Asia (IA) cable system connecting Việt Nam to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia encountered a power failure on the morning of January 10, affecting the speed of local internet connections.

The Intra Asia (IA) cable system. — Photo telepresenceoptions.com
Viet Nam News

HÀ NỘI — The Intra Asia (IA) cable system connecting Việt Nam to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia encountered a power failure on the morning of January 10, affecting the speed of local internet connections.

Internet service provider Viettel said on January 12 that the disruption had occurred at several points off the coast of Singapore.

The cable is being repaired but there is no confirmation on when the IA will resume full operation.

Several internet service providers said they had rerouted and transferred signals to other cable systems to minimize the impacts on users.

The 6,800 km (4,225 miles) undersea cable system was officially launched in November 2009, connecting Việt Nam, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.

More than 50 million people in Việt Nam, or over half of the country’s population, are online.

The IA, together with the rupture-prone 20,000km-long Asia-America Gateway (AAG) submarine line are the country’s two main cable connections. — VNS

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