Myanmar Telecommunications have announced that the country has been relying on cross-border optical cables for Internet usage since an underwater cable was cut on July 22.
Chief Engineer Sai Saw Lin Tun from Myanmar Telecommunications Enterprise said that the SEA-ME-WE3 submarine optical cable was disrupted on July 22 at about 5pm. He said that the country was now relying on an overland optical cable which meant that the speed of Internet connections was cut in half.
The usual bandwidth used in Myanmar is up to 14 GB but was now reduced to 7 GB while the underwater cable was being repaired, he told Mizzima.
He said it may take a month to repair and that a team from Singapore had been called in to undertake the work which is 13 km offshore in the Andaman Sea, south of the Irrawaddy delta.
IT expert Ye Myat Thu from Alpha Computer said, “Despite the disruption, the Internet connection is not totally down. It is just the speed. This is a big relief for all of us who rely on the Internet.”
The SEA-ME-WE 3 submarine optical cable is used by 34 countries and 64 organizations in Asia and Europe. The total investment for this cable was US$ 1,434 million, of which Myanmar has paid about US$ 30 million. Negotiations are underway to share an alternate submarine cable in case of further disruptions to the SE-ME-WE 3.
