I was thinking the same thing earlier today. I was listening to some analysis of this, and the interviewee (from TeleGeography, don't remember the name) didn't exactly convince me that this was an extremely unlikely possibility.
I work in an industry that is facing intense competition from Indian outsourcing providers, and there is much rejoicing in that industry today...sort of... Richard Cuff On Feb 1, 2008 6:21 PM, Curt Phillips W4CP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast > (story below) > > Don't get me wrong. As some of you know, I was teaching about the Internet > at community colleges back before most people knew it existed, and I like it > and use it on a daily basis. > > But as Scotty said, "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is > to stop up the drain." (Trust a nerd to give you a Star Trek quote.:-) > > Whether these cables were cut on purpose or by accident, it highlights the > vulnerability of this very complicated system that requires infrastructure > around the world. As we all know (and we hams prove every Field Day), give > us a generator, a tent and some trees to string up some antenna wire, and > we'll have a shortwave station on the air quickly. And the intended > recipients will only need a small portable battery-powered radio. To get a > more reliable, larger coverage area takes a bit more work on the transmitter > site, but it's still a system that is much tougher to stop than the > Internet. > > We all know this, but you might want to pass along this story to those who > say, "What is the need for shortwave radio when we have the Internet?" > > Hope to see you at the Fest. > > 73, > Curt W4CP > > > > Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast > > (CNN) -- An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian > Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line > carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days. > > Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparently caused by a cut > undersea cable. > Ships have been dispatched to repair two undersea cables damaged on > Wednesday off Egypt. > > FLAG Telecom, which owns one of the cables, said repairs were expected to be > completed by February 12. France Telecom, part owner of the other cable, > said it was uncertain when repairs on it would be repaired. > > Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography, a research company that > consults on global Internet issues, said the cables off Egypt were likely > damaged by ships' anchors. > > The loss of the two Mediterranean cables -- FLAG Telecom's FLAG Europe-Asia > cable and SeaMeWe-4, a cable owned by a consortium of more than a dozen > telecommunications companies -- has snarled Internet and phone traffic from > Egypt to India. > > Officials said Friday it was unclear what caused the damage to FLAG's FALCON > cable about 50 kilometers off Dubai. A repair ship was en route, FLAG said. > > Eric Schoonover, a senior analyst with TeleGeography, said the FALCON cable > is designed on a "ring system," taking it on a circuit around the Persian > Gulf and enabling traffic to be more easily routed around damage. > > Schoonover said the two cables damaged Wednesday collectively account for as > much as three-quarters of the international communications between Europe > and the Middle East, so their loss had a much bigger effect. > > Without the use of the FLAG Europe-Asia cable and SeaMeWe-4, some carriers > were forced to reroute their European traffic around the globe, which could > cause delays, Beckert said. > > Other carriers could use SeaMeWe-3, an older cable that remained the only > direct connection from Europe to the Middle East and Asia. Because this > cable is older, it has a smaller capacity than the two damaged cables, > Beckert said. > > Still, Beckert stressed that although the problem created a "big pain" for > many of carriers, it did not compare to the several months of disruption in > East Asia in 2006 after an earthquake damaged seven undersea cables near > Taiwan. > > FULL STORY: > http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/01/internet.outage/index.html > > > Curt Phillips, CEM CMVP > W4CP ex-KD4YU; WB4LHI > ARRL Life; QCWA; SKCC; NASWA > Tar Heel Scanner/SWL Group > WTSB AM1090- Sat. Mornings 6AM-9AM > Raleigh, NC USA > curt<at>nerdster.net > -- > "If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." - Mario > Andretti > > > ________________________________ > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. > _______________________________________________ > Swlfest mailing list > [email protected] > http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown > above. > > For more information on the Fest, visit: > > http://www.swlfest.com > http://swlfest.blogspot.com > > -- Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA International broadcasting / shortwave blog: http://www.intlradio.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
