Internet speed in Viet Nam has become extremely slow since Tuesday night due to an age-old reason: the infamous submarine cable system AAG, crucial to the country’s Internet connectivity, has broken again.

An Internet cable is seen in a server room in this picture illustration. Reuters

The break this time may have been caused by storm Nida, which passed the East Viet Nam Sea before making landfall in southern China, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The rupture happened around early Tuesday evening, VNPT, one of Viet Nam’s leading Internet service providers, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday.

While local Internet service providers said they are still waiting for an official notification from the AAG operator, users in Viet Nam have had to surf the Internet at a snail’s pace over the last day.

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

Viet Nam is connected to 4 international submarine Internet cable systems, namely the AAG, SMW3 (Southeast Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3), TVH (Thailand-Viet Nam-Hong Kong), and IA (Intra Asia).

But Internet traffic in Viet Nam is greatly affected whenever the AAG cable ruptures, as the system has the largest capacity out of the four.

Since operating in November 2009, the AAG has experienced repeated problems, with the latest in late June 2016.

Internet service providers said they are too used to the AAG issues and all have back-up plans to ensure quality connection for users.

But complaints about the slow Internet are continuing to flood social media in Viet Nam.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)