Cable damage in the Red Sea is disrupting internet services in the region
Residents in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE may notice slower internet speeds and patchy connectivity over the coming weeks.
This is following significant damage to submarine internet cables in the Red Sea; a critical global data route.
The disruption has already affected online services across the Middle East, India, and Pakistan, and experts warn that full repairs could take up to six weeks to complete.
Submarine cables are the primary infrastructure powering global internet traffic, handling up to 99 per cent of all international data transmissions.
The Red Sea is a vital artery in this network, linking Europe, Africa, and Asia through Egypt. Any damage in this region has the potential to cause widespread connectivity issues across multiple countries, including the UAE.
Repairing these undersea cables is a complex, time-consuming process.
It involves the deployment of specialised cable repair ships, which must locate the exact point of damage on the seabed, retrieve the broken cable, perform delicate splicing operations, and then test the line before restoring service.
Factors such as weather, regional security risks, and ship availability can all delay this process.
While internet traffic is being rerouted through alternative pathways, this workaround often results in slower speeds, increased latency, and reduced reliability.
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Many users in the UAE have already reported longer load times for websites, buffering on streaming platforms, and interrupted access to cloud-based services and apps.
The situation highlights the vulnerability of the global internet infrastructure, particularly in politically volatile regions like the Red Sea.
Although satellite internet systems, such as low-Earth orbit constellations, are emerging as potential alternatives, they currently carry less than 1 per cent of global internet traffic and are not yet widely deployed in the UAE.
As repairs are underway, users in Abu Dhabi and beyond should prepare for intermittent service degradation.
The disruption serves as a reminder of the critical role that subsea cables play in daily digital life, and the need for greater resilience and redundancy in the systems that support them.
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