Red Sea Cables Damaged, Impacting Global Internet Traffic

Global internet traffic has been impacted by damage to multiple undersea cables in the Red Sea, a region with intense conflict between Houthi rebels and Western forces. “Among 15+ submarine cables in the Red Sea, 4 of them (Seacom, TGN, AAE-1, EIG) are cut which we estimated impact 25 percent of traffic” in that area, Hong Kong telecom company HGC Global Communications said in a March 4 press release. “Around 15 percent of Asia traffic goes westbound, while 80 percent of that traffic will pass through these submarine cables in the Red Sea.” HGC claimed to have devised a plan to reroute the affected traffic, including diversifying it within the remaining 11 submarine cable systems in the Red Sea. The company did not reveal how the cables were damaged or if anyone intentionally damaged them....