Internet services between Egypt, Europe, and Asia were disrupted Saturday for a second day after three undersea cables in the Mediterranean were damaged early Friday, according to dpa. Egypt's communication ministry said 80 per cent of the country's internet network was down. The reason for the cable breaks was not immediately clear acording to French Telecom, one of the providers. "The causes of the cut, which is located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia on sections linking Sicily to Egypt, remain unclear," the company said in a statement. A deliberate act of damage was however excluded by the company - contrary to earlier speculation. The ministry said it had transferred some broadband connectivity and was also using satellite traffic to help services. Repairs were continuing, and would take a few more days. The ministry appealed for users not to strain the back-up system with heavy downloads of films and music, as this would affect businesses which were more important. Information technology companies, software companies and call centres that provide online and telephone services to Egypt have all been hit. It was the second large-scale internet disruption in Egypt this year due to undersea cable damage. The first was last January.
