Three international submarine cables, the Asia-America Gateway (AAG), the Intra Asia (IA) and the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe (SMW3), have broken down, affecting Vietnam’s external internet connection.

The route of the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe (SMW3) cable

The Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) said telecom service providers are investigating the cause of the problem.

Some experts attributed the incident to a recent storm that swept through the area surrounding China’s Hong Kong.

Aside from cables crossing the northern border, Vietnam’s external internet connection depends on four submarine cables, namely IA, AAG, SMW3 and the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG).

IA and AAG, two major internet gateways for Vietnam, are linked with southern Vung Tau city, while SMW3 and APG are connected with central Da Nang city.

The 20,000km AAG cable has designed capacity of 2 terabits per second, linking Southeast Asia with the US.

Meanwhile, the 6,800km IA cable connects Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.

VNA