iconnect

[spannersatcx]

Is it me or is there a problem with it. I've been unable to 'contact the server' from home the last 2 days?

[D.B. Escapee]

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Internet and telecom services in Asia remained patchy following the powerful earthquake off the coast of Taiwan late Tuesday, with authorities saying that restoration of normal services may take up to a week.
As banking and other financial sectors were hit by loss of online transactions and the public clamoring for restoration of internet access, major telecom operators across the region are scrambling to carry out repairs to damaged undersea cables and resume normal operations as early as possible.
While they wasted no time in adopting remedial measures, including re-routing of traffic away from damaged submarine cables, most operators were however unable to provide a definite timeframe as to when they can fully normalize their operations.
Hong Kong's telecoms regulator, the Office of Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), provided the most detailed initial assessment of the problem, noting in a statement that nearly all undersea cables which passed through the earthquake zone were damaged and broken.
OFTA said the cables account for about 90 pct of total telecom services capacity, and principally affected Hong Kong's connections to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, the US and Canada.
The agency estimated that repairs to the severed submarine cables may take up to seven days, but warned that it could take even longer than expected as the situation would depend on the full extent of damage and conditions which could affect repair work.
"In general, it requires about five to seven days to repair the cables. However, due to the earthquake, the seabed may have been damaged and there may be further earthquakes that will affect the maintenance work," OFTA said. South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communications said the country's telecom firms are now in consultations with major undersea cable operators in China and Japan to reconnect damaged lines.
The ministry estimates that it will take more than 10 days for all telecom services in the country to normalize.
Information collated by XFN-Asia shows that telecom operators' ability to restore internet and other telecom services would vary from one part of the region to the other.
In Japan, NTT Communications Corp, the long-distance and international phone service unit of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), said it has restored most of its services to corporate subscribers.
NTT Communications said that as of 0200 GMT today, it had managed to restore 120 of its 146 dedicated lines, 16 of its 18 frame-relay services and 69 of its 70 IP-VPN lines by re-routing them.
However, the company said its global Internet protocol network and toll-free call services continued to experience troubles caused by the quake.
In South Korea, the information ministry said 98 exclusive business lines -- 80 run by Korean Telecom (KT) and 18 by LG Dacom -- remained out of action today, but other Internet and telephone services were normal.
KT Corp and LG Dacom, the country's major telecom operators, said they they are rerouting severed cable connections for transmission by satellite and other means in order to normalize communication services.
KT said 92 cable lines in the area were cut and it plans to complete rerouting for 90 of the disrupted service as early as today via satellite, ground-based lines and other alternatives.
It added that it expects complete repairs to international undersea cables by early January.
In Hong Kong, a spokesman for dominant fixed line telecom operator PCCW Ltd said 50 pct of services had been restored as of yesterday.
But he declined to provide a precise date when services can be fully restored pending determination of the full extent of damage inflicted by the earthquake to undersea cables.
"We still do not know the extent of the damage at the moment so it's very hard to say when exactly services can be fully restored," he said.
In Shanghai, a Shanghai Telecom spokeswoman Zhuang Li said the group is making all efforts to try and restore services fully for its customers.
However, she too could not provide details on the scale of the service outage or when full service is expected to be restored.
Taiwan's largest phone company, Chunghwa Telecom, has contracted three boats from Britain, Japan and Singapore to take workers to the zone where the damaged submarine cables are situated, said the company's deputy general managed Lin Ren-hung.
He said that while service would be gradually restored with re-routing of networks, fixing the widespread problems could take as long as three weeks.
In Thailand, traders and businessmen were able to access certain websites, but around 70 pct of the country's Internet users were without access, according to CAT Telecom.
In Manila, a spokesman for Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) and its mobile phone unit Smart Communications Inc said he could not say when their Internet services would normalize.
But PLDT, Manila's largest telecommunications firm, is maximizing the use of available international linkages and finding alternative routes to hasten restoration of normal service, he said.
Hong Kong's acting financial secretary Stephen Ip said the disruption of telecom services across the region following the Taiwan quake highlights the need for telecom operators to explore alternative ways and means of providing phone and internet services.
The problem also demonstrates the need for telecom services providers to work closely with regulators, he said.
"I think it is important for cable operators, internet service providers, the government, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), and telecommunications companies to consider what happened and see what we need to do to improve the situation," he said. He said there may be a need "to consider other alternatives and better back-up systems, such as satellite transmission."

[christn]

Same for me! Apparently due to earthquake off Taiwan severing fibre-optic cables. Phones and internet access disrupted around the region.

[spannersatcx]

Just found out about the earthquake here (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/249389/1/.html)

[cpdude]

Hmmm...can't get through by tel and no iconnect! So much for my reserve.:ooh:

[christn]

I was able to telephone CC but it took a few attempts!

[spannersatcx]

Of course there must be procedures in place to cover this type of event??

We have to use intracx to check on DD's, tech log inputs etc etc and of course all our manuals are electronic as well:eek:

Could be interesting.:rolleyes:

[moosp]

Yes, the whole web has been slow or down over the last few days, apparently due to the undersea cable's damage after the earthquake. The Taiwan link is a big pipe to NE Asia and across the pacific. Internal in HKG is OK but slow, whereas I have been unable to Google or Yahoo or access anything that might live on a trans pacific server for days. It's a bit better this morning.

I thought that the Darpa net, from which the web was built, was designed to be damage tolerant for this sort of occasion (or enemy action...)?

At least Pprune is back up and running :)

[Five Green]

Spanners:

Does this mean that the N American maintenance is cut off from Hong Kong tech info ? Back to the old fashion way of dispatch I guess !

It's a worry !

FG

[moosp]

Look for the headline in tomorrows Apple Daily; "Taiwan Communication links cut - Mainland Isolated."

:E

[HotDog]

No problem connecting from Sydney at 0930Z.

[cpdude]

Still no go from NA!:bored:

[Echo-Charlie]

Is it me or is there a problem with it. I've been unable to 'contact the server' from home the last 2 days?


Just got on from MUC .... Happy New Years!!