In recent days, while domestic services and applications are functioning normally, some Internet users in Vietnam have encountered intermittent connectivity issues, making it difficult to use international services such as downloading content, sharing images on Facebook, slow Gmail responses, or experiencing lag while watching YouTube…
Explaining the cause of these issues, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Vietnam have confirmed to ICTnews that 2 out of 5 undersea cables that account for a large portion of the Internet connectivity from Vietnam to the international market are currently experiencing service interruptions.
APG and AAE-1 are two of the five undersea cables that account for a significant portion of the Internet connectivity from Vietnam to the international market, along with three other cables: AAG, IA, and SMW3. (Illustration)
As of now, ISPs in Vietnam have not yet received a repair plan for the AAE-1 undersea cable. Specifically, the Asia Africa Europe 1 (AAE-1) cable experienced an issue on the morning of May 26. The managing unit detected a voltage drop on the S1H branch of the AAE-1 cable. According to initial assessments, a fault has caused a partial break in the optical fiber on segment S1H.1 of the cable.
The AAE-1 cable, which was put into operation in July 2017, plays a crucial role in enhancing quality toward Europe and the Middle East, as well as providing additional capacity and redundancy towards connections to Hong Kong (China) and Singapore.
The AAE-1 cable utilizes advanced technology; it has an optimally planned network, landing stations, and connection points, allowing telecom providers more design options to reroute traffic.
While the issue on the AAE-1 undersea cable that occurred on the morning of May 26 has not been resolved, according to a representative from an ISP in Vietnam, another undersea cable, APG, is undergoing maintenance for the cable direction to Hong Kong (China) starting at midnight on June 5 and is expected to be completed by 10 PM on June 10.
The Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) international undersea cable was officially put into operation in mid-December 2016, after four years of investment. With the participation of four domestic telecom providers, APG is regarded as a cable that contributes to providing a stable connection with greater capacity for Internet users in Vietnam.
Capable of providing a maximum bandwidth of up to 54 Tbps, the APG cable is approximately 10,400 km long and is laid under the Pacific Ocean. The cable has connection points in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
With both AAE-1 and APG undersea cables experiencing service interruptions, in recent days, telecom providers in Vietnam have implemented load balancing and rerouted connections to other undersea cables as well as some land cables to ensure the quality of service provided to customers.
For instance, CMC Telecom has increased capacity through the Southeast Asia cross-cable (A-Grid), connecting the Internet from Vietnam through countries like Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
VNPT has proactively rerouted and balanced loads on other stable cables currently in operation such as CSC, AAG, IA, SMW3…
Additionally, in a notice sent to customers, VNPT also stated that they are actively coordinating with relevant units and partners to thoroughly check and resolve international Internet connectivity issues.
Previously, in a discussion with ICTnews at the end of last year, a representative from VNNIC stated that, in accordance with the task assigned by the Ministry of Information and Communications, VNNIC has essentially completed the construction of a plan to ensure the continuous operation of the Internet in Vietnam in the event of a loss of international connectivity. Part of this task was executed by VNNIC in 2020, which involved bringing the root DNS server system back to Vietnam to help ensure that the operation of the Internet in Vietnam does not depend on the international network.
“We recognize that the Internet must be integrated. We must connect globally but still need a certain degree of independence in some situations. Therefore, there needs to be a plan to build a technical system to ensure that the Internet can operate independently, not relying on the international network. For example, a break in the undersea cable is an objective situation, our network can operate independently,” the representative from VNNIC analyzed.