Robot dives in to find internet sea break

The cables, which carry more than 75 per cent of all communication traffic between Europe and the Middle East, were broken last week in what experts said was an illustration of the vulnerability of modern communications. “Undersea cables connect the world,” Alan Mauldin, research director of TeleGeography, a telecommunications analysis firm, said. “But they are subject to external events. If three of them break, that causes a severe problem.”

Internet capacity to Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia was reduced by more than 50 per cent, according to France Télécom, the French operator which is responsible for maintenance of the two damaged Sea Me We cables in the Mediterranean. Sudan and the Maldive Islands lost all internet connections, officials said..