Local press reports indicate that undersea cable repairs on three internet cables connected to Vietnam are soon to conclude, enabling faster internet connectivity after a number of breakdowns and disruptions.
Repair work on a section of the Asia America Gateway (AAG) connecting to Ho Chi Minh City, about 163 kilometres from the shore off Vung Tau City, was completed last week. Another section, connecting Vietnam and Hong Kong, is expected to be completed this week. The developingtelecoms.com reports.
Problems with the Asia Africa Europe (AAE-1) cable should also be solved later this month, while issues with branches of the Intra Asia (IA) cable, connecting Vietnam with Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, are expected to be resolved by early February.
Vietnamese news services have said that problems with the three cables caused a loss of 30 percent of Vietnam’s international internet transmission capacity in December.
Connected in November 2009, the AAG handles more than 60 percent of Vietnam’s international internet traffic. The system runs more than 20,000 kilometres, connecting Southeast Asia and the US, passing through Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The AAE-1 is a 25,000 km submarine communications cable system from Southeast Asia to Europe across Egypt, connecting Hong Kong, Vietnam and other parts of Asia.
The 6,800 km IA cable was installed in November 2009; it connects Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.
Vietnam currently has six submarine cable systems, as well as a 120 gigabit channel that runs overland through China.