AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, technology briefs column

Feb 06, 2008 (AME Info - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- TEGPF | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- INTERNET CUT IN EGYPT CAUSED BY LOW FLYING PLANE: After four submarine cables were cut this week causing major Internet outages across the Middle East, the situation has worsened with reports that wireless connections have been damaged as well, reported BBspot. According to the Egyptian Minister of Information, Aziz Khoroush, wireless Internet outages were caused by a low-flying plane which cut a major wireless Internet connection entering the country. Egypt has two major wi-fi connections, which handle most of the wireless Internet traffic in and out of the country. When the plane severed one, all the traffic had to be routed to the remaining connection, causing outages and degraded performance.

ALCATEL WINS EGYPTIAN CABLE CONTRACT: Alcatel-Lucent has won a contract to deploy a new submarine cable network between Egypt and France, reported communication express. The $125m deal -- dubbed TE North -- has been signed with Telecom Egypt and will see Siki Kerir in Egypt linked to Marseille in France. Through the deal, Telecom Egypt will be able to expand its international connectivity. Alcatel-Lucent says TE North will be able to deliver a capacity of 128 by 10Gbit/s on eight fibre pairs.

INTERNET CABLE REPAIRS BEGIN: A repair ship began work Tuesday at the site where an Internet cable was cut last week in the Persian Gulf, and a second vessel was to arrive later that day at the spot north of Egypt where two other cables were cut, reported AP. The cuts have disrupted Internet services across a large swath of the Middle East and India, slowing down businesses and hampering personal Internet usage. U.K.-based FLAG Telecom said its repair ship arrived Tuesday some 35 miles north of Dubai, between the Emirates and Oman, were the company's FALCON cable was damaged Friday.

FLAG, which stands for Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe, said the second repair ship would reach the cut in its FLAG Europe-Asia cable later Tuesday.

That cable was cut last Wednesday some five miles off the Egyptian coast, along a segment between Egypt and Italy.

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