Microsoft Corp. is warning that Azure customers in the Middle East may face latency issues following undersea cables being cut in the Red Sea off Saudi Arabia.
The cable cuts started to affect traffic in the region from 5:45 a.m. UTC (1:45 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, Sept. 6. Azure network traffic was not interrupted as Microsoft rerouted traffic through alternative network paths, but the company is still warning as of Sunday evening that “we do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East.”
Microsoft network traffic that does not travel through the Middle East was not affected.
The cable cuts did not affect Microsoft services alone, with NetBlocks Ltd. reporting widespread disruptions across the Middle East and South Asia.
The outages degraded internet access in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and India, with varying severity depending on the routing paths. NetBlocks also noted that rerouted traffic was causing higher latency for services spanning Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
Telecom operators in the UAE, including Etisalat and du, also confirmed that they were suffering from disruptions and in Pakistan, major internet service providers warned of possible congestion during peak hours.
The cables that were cut included South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4), the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) and the FALCON cable system operated by Global Cloud Xchange Ltd. The cables form critical arteries linking South Asia and the Gulf with Europe.
Full repairs could take days to weeks, depending on weather, permit clearances and the availability of cable repair ships in the region.
The breaks occurred in the Red Sea near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but whether they were cut intentionally or accidentally is unclear as of the time of writing. The Associated Press noted that subsea cables can be cut by anchors from ships but can also be targeted in attacks.
Given issues in the region, the cables being cut intentionally cannot be ruled out and if they were, the likely candidate for doing so would be Houthi rebels in Yemen. The rebels in the country were accused of cutting subsea cables in 2024, although the cables in this instance were cut significantly north of Yemen, where the rebels operate.
Image: News/Ideogram
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