In September 2012, for the first time we explained to ESCAP the fragility of Internet in Asia. In response, the UN outfit had engaged Terabit Consulting to study the state of connectivity across Southeast Asia. The study found that Vietnam’s international connectivity is “Somewhat weak” at regional standard. It said more specifically: “Viet Nam’s submarine cable connectivity is significantly less than other Asian nations.”
Last Friday (December 20) Vietnam’s Internet connectivity was shaken when its branching unit to the Asia America Gateway (AAG) was severed by the anchor of a ship. Vietnamese carriers have immediately started rerouting their traffic through other cables. Yet, the Internet remains impaired keeping everyone at the edge.
Some analysts have commented that this is really a serious problem because it affects the national communication system. The analysts have called on the state management to sit down to discuss the problem.Binh also warned that the consequences caused by the cable accident might be more serious as initially thought. The accident occurred on a weekend, when the demand for Internet connections was low. However, things would be different on Monday, when people come back to work.
“The accidents remind Vietnam to pay more attention to the national information infrastructure,” Binh commented.
Viettel said about 25-30 percent of its Internet capacity has been affected. Meanwhile, NetNam said 30 percent of its service capacity goes through AAG. For the time being, Internet service providers can only try to ease the consequences by using provisioned systems.
Finally it has been estimated that it will take up to a week to repair the cable. We keep the fingers crossed along with Vietnam. Meanwhile, our quest for an open access pan-Asian terrestrial consortium is gaining momentum. Everyone will be invited soon.
2 Comments
Abdul Ravoof
Many thanks for information. Looks like it may take more than a week for restoration because of the festival season. Is fault is localized ? How many alternative cables to Vietnam ? 40% of Vietnam traffic is down ?
I beleive 2-3 submarine cable passes via Vietnam…
Abu Saeed Khan
Vietnam’s, as well as other ASEAN countries’, state of submarine and terrestrial connectivity has been discussed in this report.
Workshop: Digital Tools for Strengthening Public Discourse
Today, LIRNEasia hosted a workshop to launch digital tools created by Watchdog Sri Lanka, funded by GIZ’s Strengthening Social Cohesion and Peace in Sri Lanka (SCOPE) programme. Researchers, practitioners, activists and journalists attended to learn about these tools, and how they can potentially help them in their own lines of work.
Election Misinformation in Sri Lanka: Report Summary
Election misinformation poses a credible threat to Sri Lanka’s democracy. While it is expected that any electorate hardly operates with perfect information, our research finds that the presence of an election misinformation industry in Sri Lanka producing and disseminating viral false assertions has the potential to distort constituents’ information diets and sway their electoral choices.
Election Misinformation in South and South-East Asia: Report Summary
A powerful weapon in a time of global democratic backsliding, election misinformation may undermine democracy via a range of mechanisms. Election misinformation may influence an electorate to cast their ballots for candidates they otherwise might not have on the basis of incorrect information about a country’s economy, the candidates, or some other phenomenon.
Links
User Login
Themes
Social
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Contact
12, Balcombe Place, Colombo 08
Sri Lanka
+94 (0)11 267 1160
+94 (0)11 267 5212
info [at] lirneasia [dot] net
Copyright © 2024 LIRNEasia
a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific