When Cables Snap: Decoding the Red Sea’s Internet Disruption
The Red Sea is a key hub for cables that carry a large part of global internet traffic, with over 90% of all Europe-Asia internet capacity passing through these cables.
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[Image source: Chetan Jha/MITSMR Middle East]
Powering global communication; access to vast amounts of information and services; facilitating remote work, social networking, streaming media, and the sharing of files and information; and countless digital interactions and services daily, the internet is what you call the digital arteries of the 21st century.
Nearly 17 percent of global traffic flows through cables laid in the shallow waters of the Red Sea, which links Europe and Asia. Over the weekend, citizens and companies saw internet connectivity across the Middle East, South Asia, and parts of Africa being disrupted due to a series of subsea cable (submarine cable) outages in the Red Sea.
With over 90% of Europe–Asia internet traffic funneled through this narrow maritime corridor, a few severed lines disrupted cloud services, slowed business operations, and exposed just how fragile the backbone of our digital economy really is.
Submarine cables are long fiber-optic wires placed on the ocean floor that carry internet, phone, and data between continents. They act like the main highways connecting the world’s communication systems.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks confirmed that the interference was attributed to the failure of the South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SMW4) operated by Tata Communications, and the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) managed by an Alcatel-Lucent consortium cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“Similar internet disruptions have been observed on Etilasat and Du networks in the United Arab Emirates, resulting in slow speeds and intermittent access as engineers work to resolve the issue impacting multiple countries,” NetBlocks said on X.
In Kuwait, authorities said the FALCON GCX cable running through the Red Sea had been cut, causing disruptions.
Among the affected, Microsoft shared that its Azure users may experience increased latency due to multiple undersea fiber cuts. “We do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East. Network traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted,” the IT giant said. Meanwhile, Cloudflare reported connection delays of up to 30% between India and Europe, with performance still not back to optimal.
While NetBlocks named India as one of the countries affected by the disruption, domestic telecom providers said they were yet to see any impact on internet and data connectivity services due to backup from several undersea cables. Meanwhile, Pakistan Telecommunications confirmed the cuts in a statement on Saturday.
Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik, a network intelligence platform, shared in the media that at least 10 nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East had been affected by the cable cut, including India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Subsea Economics
As per Markets and Markets, the global Submarine Cable Systems market size was estimated at USD 18.16 billion in 2024 and is predicted to touch approximately USD 33.75 billion by 2030. There are over 500 active undersea cables currently in operation, with the total number, including planned cables, being over 600 as of early 2025.
The Red Sea is a key hub for cables that carry a large part of global internet traffic, with over 90% of all Europe-Asia internet capacity passing through these cables.
Disruption and Repair
While the real cause of damage is yet to be ascertained, early independent analyses point towards the commercial shipping activity in the region. Damages from dragged anchors account for approximately 30 per cent of incidents each year. Such repairs are complex and expensive, with the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) estimating that one fix could cost $1m to $3m and can take weeks or even months, depending on external factors.
Earlier, Houthi rebels were speculated to have been involved in a similar disruption, particularly in the broader context of the Israel–Hamas war in the region. In March 2024, a Houthi missile strike sank the Belize-registered ship Rubymar, whose anchor dragged along the seabed and damaged several subsea cables such as Seacom, AAE-1, and EIG. The three collectively handled around one-fourth of regional internet traffic.
While speculations are rife, there is no official confirmation linking them to this episode of disruption.
