Mumbai, September 7: Internet services have been impacted across South Asia and the Middle East due to the Red Sea cable outage. It has affected India, Pakistan and other countries. The disruption was traced to the cable by Tata Communications and the cable by the Alcatel-Lucent group of companies. The affected countries are facing slow internet issues and disruption.

Earlier, it was reported that the Microsoft Azure cloud service was disrupted by multiple Red Sea cable cuts, slowing down internet activities. Microsoft confirmed that its Azure cloud services were experiencing disruptions. The tech giant warned the users of "increased latency" on routes passing through the Middle East, saying, "Network traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted. We’ll continue to provide daily updates, or sooner if conditions change.” SBI Down? State Bank of India Says All Its Services Including YONO App, Net Banking, UPI and IMPS Restored After Brief Outage.

Internet Down Confirmed Due to Cable Cuts

The internet disruption was linked to the cuts in the SMW4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4) cable operated by Tata Communications. Alcatel-Lucent operated IMEWE (India-Middle East-Western Europe) cable was also linked to the problems with the internet. However, as per a report, neither of the companies first responded. As per the official X post by Pakistan Telecommunications (@PTCLOfficial), the cable cuts occurred in Saudi waters near Jeddah. As a result, the partial bandwidth capacity of SMW4 and IMEWE systems was measured.

Why Is the Internet Down in India and Other Countries?

Global internet connectivity is possible due to the subsea cables. They form the backbone of the internet for multiple countries, as per a report by Associated Press (AP). These cables can be damaged by human activities or the sea, such as ship anchors, or deliberately targeted by people. The subsea cable cuts can be repaired, but it takes weeks and requires a trained crew and specialised ships.

The subsea cable cuts incident has been reported at a time of rising tension in the Red Sea. Reports said that Yemen's Houthi rebels protested against Israel's war in Gaza and attacked the commercial shipping of the country. Previously, the exiled government of Yemen accused the Houthis of planning to strike undersea cables; however, the group denied taking responsibility. On Sunday, the Houthis’ al-Masirah TV reported that the cable cuts happened; however, the rebels did not claim any involvement. Meta Hiring Contractors in US To Develop Hindi-Language AI Chatbot Designed for Indian Users: Report.

Houthis previously targeted over 100 ships and sank four of them. They killed eight mariners - all around the Red Sea. These incidents occurred between late 2023 and 2024, and in response, retaliatory strikes have been carried out by the United States and its allies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2025 05:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).