Vietnamese internet service customers began experiencing disruptions and slower speeds on the evening of July 15 caused by a severed submerged internet cable just off Vung Tau’s coast.

VHost Company on July 15 quoted the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) sea cable management centre as saying that the incident has caused widespread disruption in supplying telecommunications services throughout the region, including Viet Nam.

The disruption mainly affects the overall traffic between Viet Nam and other parts of the world, thus slowing down communications and data transfers between users in Viet Nam and the world, such the US, Japan, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Europe.

Fortunately, domestic transactions and communications have not been affected.

VHost affirmed that it is working closely with those in charge of managing the AAG to resolve the problem and will keep its customers updated.

FPT Telecom Director General Nguyen Van Khoa and CMC Telecom Deputy Director General Ngo Trong Hieu confirmed the incident and added that the sea cable was damaged approximately 18km off Vung Tau’s coast.

CMC Telecom services are not much affected and the Internet provider ensures services for customers. Meanwhile FPT Telecom has implemented back-up and provisional plans so Internet access is a bit slower than usual.

The AAG is a 20,000-kilometre long submarine communications cable system, connecting Southeast Asia with the USA mainland, across the Pacific Ocean via Guam and Hawaii.

The cable has encountered frequent breakages over the past five years, said Vu The Binh, Director General of Netnam.