An Asia-America Gateway (AAG) submarine cable connecting international Internet traffic with Vung Tau, a coastal city in the south of Viet Nam, was found cut at 8:05 am on January 5.

Asia-America Gateway (AAG) submarine cable is found cut in the morning of January 5, FPT Telecom confirmed for local media (Photo: vneconomy.vn)

FPT Telecom Company, a member of the FPT Corporation, confirmed the information with local media. The firm said it is contacting AAG’s management centre to locate the spot where the cable, which was part of an undersea line, has been cut.

The cutting of the cable slowed down the Internet connection between Viet Nam and other countries, FPT said, adding that it is transmitting Internet capacity through mainland cables to limit the damage on its customers.

In 2014 alone, the undersea cable was found cut twice, in July and September, decreasing international Internet capacity by 40 to 70 percent.

Viet Nam currently has four undersea cables. Of these, the 20,000km AAG has the largest transmission capacity, at two terabytes per second.

The cable, which became operational in 2009, connects the Southeast Asian region with the US.