17-6-2024 (HANOI) Vietnam’s digital connectivity with the rest of the world has taken a severe hit as state media reports over the weekend revealed that three out of the country’s five active international undersea internet cables are currently down. This latest round of outages is the second major disruption to hit the Southeast Asian nation in just over a year, highlighting the vulnerability of its internet infrastructure.
According to the official Vietnam News Agency, the problems with the three cables, which link Vietnam to the United States, Europe, and Asia, have “significantly affected Vietnam’s internet connection with the world.” The country’s global internet connectivity is primarily facilitated through these five undersea cables, boasting a combined capacity of nearly 62 Tbps, as per data from FPT, one of Vietnam’s top internet service providers.
While it remains unclear whether the three affected cables are completely or partially down, their disruption accounts for a significant portion of the country’s total bandwidth capacity.
Internet service providers Viettel and VNPT, which have invested in these cables, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the situation.
The Vietnam News Agency further reported that internet users across the country are finding it particularly challenging to access services with servers located abroad, underscoring the far-reaching implications of the outages.
Alarmingly, no time frame for the repair of the cables has been provided, leaving businesses, individuals, and the broader digital ecosystem in a state of uncertainty.
Undersea internet cable disruptions are not an uncommon occurrence in Vietnam, with the country experiencing a similar crisis early last year when all five of its cables were disrupted for weeks, causing widespread connectivity issues.
