Page 2 - Internet

Ship likely cut Red Sea cables that disrupted internet across Asia, Africa

A ship likely cut cables in the Red Sea that disrupted internet access in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, experts said Tuesday, showing the lines' vulnerability over a year after another incident severed them. The International Cable Protection Committee told The Associated Press that 15 submarine cables pass through the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern mouth of the Red Sea that separates East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. Over the weekend, authorities in multiple countries identified the cables affected as the South East AsiaMiddle EastWestern Europe 4, the India-Middle East-Western Europe and the FALCON GCX cables. On Tuesday, that list expanded to include the Europe India Gateway cable as well, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at the firm Kentik. Initial reporting suggested the cut happened off the coast of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, something authorities in the kingdom have not acknowledged, nor have the companies managing the cables. That disrupted ..

Undersea cable cuts in Red Sea disrupt internet across Asia, West Asia

Undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea disrupted internet access Sunday in parts of Asia including India, and West East, experts said, though it wasn't immediately clear what caused the incident. There has been concern about the cables being targeted in a Red Sea campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the Houthis have denied attacking the lines in the past. NetBlocks, which monitors internet access, said a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries, which it said included India and Pakistan. It blamed failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 cable is run by Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate. The India-Middle East-Western Europe cable is run by another consortium overseen by Alcatel-Lucent. Both firms did not immediately ...

Microsoft reports Azure service disruption due to Red Sea fibre cuts

Azure users may experience increased disruptions when traffic from the Middle East originates in or terminates in Asia or Europe, the company said in a service health status update

How Russia reins in internet by blocking websites, isolating it from world

YouTube videos that won't load. A visit to a popular independent media website that produces only a blank page. Cellphone internet connections that are down for hours or days. Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous. It's not a network glitch but a deliberate, multipronged and long-term effort by authorities to bring the internet under the Kremlin's full control. Authorities adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that won't comply. Technology has been perfected to monitor and manipulate online traffic. While it's still possible to circumvent restrictions by using virtual private network apps, those are routinely blocked, too. Authorities further restricted internet access this summer with widespread shutdowns of cellphone internet connections and adopting a law punishing users for searching for content they deem illicit. They also are threatening to go after the popular WhatsApp platform while rolling out a new national messeng

Starlink gets satellite internet permit, spectrum norms ready: Scindia

Elon Musk-led Starlink has received a licence to launch satellite service in India, and a framework for spectrum allocation is also in place for a smooth rollout, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. The announcement was made on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the first cellular call made in the country in 1995. "Starlink has been granted a Unified License to launch satellite internet services in India. Frameworks for spectrum allocation and gateway establishment are ready, ensuring smooth rollout," Scindia said. Along with Starlink, Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio SES are also awaiting spectrum allocation to roll out their satcom services. The minister said that over the last 11 years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's digital transformation has been nothing short of extraordinary. "From remote villages to bustling cities, digital access has empowered citizens, bridged divides, and made India a global leader in .

AI's singular uncertainty reflects scope, speed, and unpredictability

The real issue, however, is that few technologies of the past created such uncertainty. It is true that nobody could predict what the internet would do to society

Policy clarity: Trai recommendations should pave way for satellite internet

The regulatory guidelines will help businesses get visibility on the timeline to start their India operations for high-speed and low-latency internet service

Satellite internet: Opportunities and challenges in Starlink's India outing

Despite the promise of wide coverage, there is the issue of pricing. Airtel and Jio could help there

Canada regulator to impose fee on Google for online law's operating costs

The imposition of the levy on the Mountain View, California-based search engine giant comes at a time of increased tension between Canada and the United States

Going dark: 296 internet shutdowns witnessed across 54 countries in 2024

Shutdowns were imposed 103 times due to conflict and 74 times across 24 countries during domestic protests

Chiranjeevi draws internet backlash over sexist remark, details inside

Telugu star Chiranjeevi spoke about not having a grandson to carry his legacy forward at the Brahma Anandam pre-release event. This has left his fans disappointed and sparked criticism on social media

Maha Kumbh 2025: No call drops, internet streaming with record teledensity

An expected gathering of 40 crore people at the world's largest religious gathering for over a month and no call drops and seamless internet streaming. Telecom service providers and the Maha Kumbh Mela administration are on their toes to ensure smooth connectivity at the grand event set to witness record teledensity. Laying down of additional optical fibre, installation of new towers and Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and deploying Cells on Wheels (transportable towers), are among the various measures taken to ensure robust and uninterrupted connectivity in the mela area during the event. According to officials at the Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC), three disaster management centres have been established in the mela area to support emergency communications and ensure prompt response during any crisis situation. "Mostly, all telecom providers have augmented their services here to ensure seamless communication for the millions of devotees and visitors. "Three disaster

Pak ranks 1st in global financial losses from internet shutdowns: Report

The data, released on Thursday, focused solely on the financial impact of intentional internet shutdowns, including total blackouts, social media restrictions, and throttling, which occurred 167 times

57% schools have functional computers, 53% have internet access: Govt

Only 57 per cent schools in the country have functional computers while 53 per cent have Internet access, according to the Union education ministry's UDISE data. The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus is a data aggregation platform maintained by the education ministry to collate school education data from around the country. While over 90 per cent of schools are equipped with basic amenities such as electricity and gender-specific toilets, advanced facilities like functional desktop, Internet access, and ramps with handrails remain limited. Only 57.2 per cent of schools have functional computers, 53.9 per cent have Internet, and 52.3 per cent are equipped with ramps, the report noted, underscoring significant gaps in accessibility and technological readiness. The enrolment landscape has also seen changes, with the total number of students declining 37 lakh to 24.8 crore in 2023-24. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) revealed disparities across educational

Air India becomes first Indian airline to offer Wi-Fi on domestic flights

In July last year, Vistara became the first Indian airline to provide Wi-Fi services on international flights. Vistara was merged into Air India in November

Panchayati Ministry in 2024: Focus on more buildings, internet connectivity

Bridging infrastructure gaps in panchayats, the grassroots democratic bodies pivotal to the implementation of government schemes in villages, remained in focus for the Panchayati Raj Ministry in 2024, with funds being sanctioned for the construction of more than 4,000 Panchayat Bhawans. According to a senior official, the Panchayati Raj Ministry sanctioned funds for the construction of Gram Panchayat (GP) Bhawans in 4,604 locations. Once these buildings are constructed, all GPs having a population of more than 3,000 will have an office of its own. India has over 2.6 lakh GPs, with approximately 65 per cent of its population living in rural areas. Panchayats have been at the forefront of the implementation of sustainable development goals, and ensuring the reach of government programmes to people. The ministry sanctioned 661 Panchayat Bhawans for Arunachal Pradesh, 617 for Andhra Pradesh, 612 for Uttarakhand, 568 for Maharashtra, 500 each for Haryana and Punjab, 412 for Gujarat, 258

Airtel outage: Users report disruptions in mobile, broadband services

Airtel service outage: The outage caused major problems for mobile internet users, who made up 39 per cent of the complaints. It also affected businesses that rely on Airtel's broadband services

Manipur govt extends ban on mobile internet till Dec 7 in nine districts

The Manipur government on Thursday extended the suspension of mobile internet for two days in nine districts of the state till December 7. An order issued by the Home Department said the suspension was extended in Imphal West, Imphal East, Kakching, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Pherzawl and Jiribam till 5.15 pm of December 7. "The state government after reviewing the prevailing law and order situation and its correlation with the general operation of internet services has decided to continue suspension of mobile internet and mobile data services, including VSATs and VPN services..., it said. Internet services have been temporarily suspended since November 16, after violence broke out in the state following the recovery of the bodies of three women and three children in Jiri and Barak rivers in Manipur and Assam, respectively. The Manipur government had conditionally lifted the suspension on broadband services on November 19, considering the hardships faced by commo

Meta dives deep: $10 bn subsea global cable to dominate internet traffic

Meta plans to build a 40,000-kilometre global subsea cable connecting the United States, India, South Africa, and Australia

India's 80% data traffic growth is from 2-3 LTGs: GSMA DG Mats Granryd

Says 49% of Indians don't use mobile internet despite being covered by mobile broadband