The rupture of two undersea cable lines Asia-America Gateway (AAG) and Intra-Asia (IA) in waters off Hong Kong’s coast on August 28 has insignificant impacts on Internet traffic in Vietnam, said domestic Internet service providers.

A young woman is seen using the Internet. International Internet traffic in Vietnam is hardly affected by AAG and IA ruptures

When the problem is fixed remains unknown but such incidents often take several weeks to handle.

Before the Asia-Pacific Gateway (APG) submarine cable system was put into operation in late 2016, 70% of international Internet traffic of Vietnam relied on AAG, while IA, Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3 (SMW3) and overland cable systems were only responsible for the remaining 30%. Therefore, Internet traffic in Vietnam was badly affected every time AAG broke.

However, after APG, whose bandwidth is many times bigger than AAG’s, was put into service, the rupture of AAG and IA at the same time has put little impact on Vietnam’s international Internet traffic.

To meet the increasing demand for Internet services, in addition to APG, major Internet providers like Viettel Group, Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and FPT Telecom have invested heavily in the Asia-Africa-Euro 1 (AAE-1) undersea network.

According to Le Dang Dung, deputy general director of Viettel Group, AAE-1 is a backup cable line for the existing ones. While AAG and AI connect Vietnam with Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and the U.S., AAE-1 connects the country with Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan, and European and African countries. Therefore, AAE-1 can operate independently and ensure Internet traffic even if AAG and IA are down at the same time.

The project’s contractor, NEC Corporation, said it has successfully brought the AAE-1 cable line to the shore of Vung Tau City in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, and the whole project will be completed and put into service soon.

AAE-1 has a total investment of US$820 million with the participation of 20 investors from 18 countries which the line passes through. Domestic Internet service providers Viettel and VNPT contributed US$10 million to the project.

SGT