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Fourth Undersea Cable Taken Offline In Less Than a Week

Posted by Zonk on from the bad-week-to-be-a-backbone-cable dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Another undersea cable was taken offline on Friday, this one connecting Qatar and UAE. 'The [outage] caused major problems for internet users in Qatar over the weekend, but Qtel's loss of capacity has been kept below 40% thanks to what the telecom said was a large number of alternative routes for transmission. It is not yet clear how badly telecom and internet services have been affected in the UAE.' In related news it's been confirmed that the two cables near Egypt were not cut by ship anchors." Update: 02/04 07:13 GMT by Z : A commenter notes that despite the language in the article indicated a break or malfunction, the cable wasn't cut. It was taken offline due to power issues.

17 of 499 comments (clear)

  1. Could be war -- or an attempt at self-isolation by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds like a concerted effort to isolate muslim nations, to me. Singapore, Pakistan, Qatar, UAE. We're looking for airplanes aiming for buildings and they're attacking the world under the sea with a pair of clippers and a web cam.

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    1. Re:Could be war -- or an attempt at self-isolation by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Funny

      >effort to isolate muslim nations, to me. Singapore, Pakistan, Qatar, UAE.

      Yeah, take that Islamic Republic of Singapore!

      Christ, even our tin-foiled conspiracy nuts cant be bothered to do the basic research, guess thats why they're conspiracy nuts.

  2. Undersea cables. . ? by fanhack · · Score: 1, Funny

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop

  3. Oh no. by ChePibe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Underwater backhoes.

    The last safe spot for the network admin has been found - and destroyed.

  4. Re:The cable was not cut - Bad summary, bad! by SEWilco · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't interrupt us with facts!

  5. Re:Cue... by fohat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cue: Vogon Contsructor Fleet
    "People of Earth, Your attention please..."

    --
    Is there heaven? Is there Hell? Is that a Tuna Melt I smell?-Primus
  6. Re:Testing the system.. by Chris+Kamel · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think you are severely overestimating the technological level of "terrorists".

    --
    The following statement is true
    The preceding statement is false
  7. I guess this means... by afabbro · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...that the Old Ones are finally stirring. Must be part of that Cthulhu For President 2008 campaign.

    --
    Advice: on VPS providers
  8. Re:deliberate? still don't think so by Stealth+Potato · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...it's not the U.S. government behind it. It would more likely be some incompetent, rogue group that doesn't know what it's doing.
    So, like the United States Government then? :-D
  9. Cloverfield Promo? by GaryPatterson · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's not an overly elaborate promotional thing for a Middle-East release of Cloverfield is it?

    I mean, we're all getting bored of the alternate reality web thingies these films do to hype themselves before release, so it sort of makes sense to kick it up a notch (bam!)

  10. Re:Cue... by kestasjk · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...the bombs in 3... 2... 1...

    Seriously, is there anyone who doesn't think this is either a precursor to military action, or a direct attack on Iran's about-to-launch Euro-based oil market?

    4 cuts, as far as I am concerned, is no co-incidence. I literally expect to turn on the TV and see bombs falling any day now. Economy down, turn up the war machine. It really is a common historical sequence.

    I think it's going to be the end of the world. The four horsemen draw near. OMG FOUR horsemen?! Coincidence? I don't think so.
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    // MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
  11. Re:Cue... by rucs_hack · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd appreciate any comment with a logical basis...

    You do know where you are, right?

    it doesn't even have to agree with me.

    Ah, I see the answer may be yes.

  12. Re:Also in terms of any intelligence related actio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    As a precursor to military action, something like this makes sense only if idiots are running the show. Which is precisely why everyone is speculating on the US is involved.
  13. Re:Cue... by pipatron · · Score: 5, Funny

    Their president is a belligerent idiot, [...] , and they continue to pursue nuclear weapons

    Hm, remind me again, which country are you talking about here?

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    c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
  14. Re:Scrap metal? by MPAB · · Score: 2, Funny

    then wrapped in armor plating to protect against most of the common undersea hazards.
    Are they CTHULHU-proof?
  15. Re:Cue... by aproposofwhat · · Score: 2, Funny
    Four horsemen?

    No - among the horsemen are Famine, War, Pestilence and Death.

    Nobody expects...

    --
    One swallow does not a fellatrix make
  16. Re:Cue... by HAKdragon · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..the Spanish inquisition!

    --
    "Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."