Gadling

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