DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Industry officials say Internet and telephone traffic in the Mideast has been further disrupted with the cutting of a third undersea cable in three days.
Two undersea cables were damaged Wednesday off Egypt and the third cable was damaged Friday off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, CNN reported Saturday.
The cables off Egypt likely were damaged by ship anchors, said Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography, a research company that consults on global Internet issues, the BBC reported. It was unclear what caused the damage to the cable off Dubai.
Repair crews hope to have the cables restored by the middle of this month, the BBC said.
Traffic from the cables, which collectively account for as much as 75 percent of the communications between the Middle East and Europe, are being rerouted around the globe on smaller cables, causing delays, CNN reported.
