MEDIA: Ruptured Cable Disrupts Internet Service in 5 Latin American Nations

Fri Jun 22 06:00:32 UTC 2007

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070621/colombia_internet_disrupted.html?.v=1
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AP - Internet Fails in 5 Latin Countries - Thursday June 21, 6:31 pm ET
Ruptured Cable Disrupts Internet Service in 5 Latin American Nations

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Accidental damage to an undersea fiber-optics 
cable left millions of people without Internet service in five Latin 
American countries, the cable's owner said Thursday.

In Colombia, as many as 45 percent of Internet users were left with 
limited or no connection. Problems were also reported in Panama, 
Venezuela, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

In a statement, Columbus said repair ships set sail from Mexico and
the company hoped the cable would be fixed on Friday.

The statement did not say what damaged the underwater cable. The company 
said it would investigate the cause.

The general secretary of the Colombian phone company, Empresa Telefonica 
de Bogota, Andres Perez, told The Associated Press that nearly half of 
this South American country's 5 million Internet users were left without 
service.

The Nicaraguan Internet service-provider Cablenet said a backup system 
kicked in after the cable's rupture delivering limited but slower service.

Costa Rica's state-run Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad also 
reported a slowing down of Internet service.

It is the second problem to befall the Arcos network this month. On June 
5, a cable off the coast of Venezuela was cut causing no interruption to 
service.