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Internet failure hits several continents
Internet has undoubtedly changed the way we communicate, travel, think, and even live. So what happens when there is an all out Internet failure? A good bit of chaos.
That's exactly what happened today across large parts of the Middle East, Asia and North Africa, when tens of millions of Internet users were without a connection. India's bandwidth was cut in half, posing problems for not only the outsourcing industry that is dependent on Internet connections, but also the stock exchanges in Delhi and Bombay. The United Arab Emirates was also hit hard, as the outage affected telephone and television services. Dubai's businesses, notoriously known for their billion dollar a day transactions, were also stuck without a way to conduct affairs. Basically, things got messy.
As for travelers? Although sources from Emirate Airlines denied that the Internet failure would lead to flight delays, Dnata, a government group in charge of air travel services in the Middle East, admitted that they would most likely be facing some problems. So if you are traveling in that area today or through the weekend, I would recommend to be flexible and prepared for anything.
Filed under: Africa, Asia, Internet Tools, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mika Jan 31st 2008 1:56PM
Well, sometimes there is a internet failure on my neighbors 'linksys' network... so I can't connect to the web... Smaller scale, but very annoying, 'cause I can't read your latest posts !
Cheers !
Anna Brones Jan 31st 2008 1:58PM
Ah yes, the problems of bumming internet off of your neighbors... :)
Tri Jan 31st 2008 3:50PM
Mika, surely you don't have just one neighbor with the 'linksys' network do you? If not, then surely they don't 'fail' all @ once do they? :) For me, the advantage of living in an apartment complex = free internet + multiple backup sources :P.
Mika Jan 31st 2008 4:13PM
Well, for you to know, there is only one non-secured network, and also only one named 'linksys'... I think I should start looking for an apartment complex with free internet + multiple backup sources... do you have free beers as well ??
Tom Jan 31st 2008 9:42PM
It's because of scumbag freeloaders like you that I made my home network wired. More work perhaps, but a hell of a lot more secure.
nzm Jan 31st 2008 10:49PM
For people who live in the UAE, the local internet provider, Etisalat, has used the cut/damaged cable excuse a lot of times to "explain" the ridiculously slow connection speeds.
At one stage, they blamed a ship sinking off India for cutting the cable!
This time, they actually have a genuine excuse for their abysmal service and it's genuine because it's taken out more than just the UAE.