[Updated] Slow Internet? Broken Cable Might Not Be Fixed Until February

[Update Below] If you've been experiencing internet problems since Friday evening, you're not the only one. The $560 million Asia America Gate Way cable, Vietnam's international internet connection, has been severed and might not be fixed until February.

The 20,000km cable, the only one which connects SE Asia to the US, suffered a break in the 314km section that connects Hong Kong to Vung Tau for unknown reasons.

Since the disconnect has hit all of Vietnam's major telecos, access to international websites such as Facebook, Gmail and Twitter have been sporadic at best. According to local internet service providers (ISPs), it will take between 4 - 7 weeks to fix the problem.

You may still be able to connect to international websites, albeit slowly through ISP back-up cables.

Vietnam's connection to the Asia America Gate Way cable has been broken several times since it went online in 2009.

Yup, this sucks. 

[Thanh Nien // Photo via photosteve101]

Update 1 - 26/12: On Monday, Lam Quoc Cuong, director of VNPT International, told Tuoi Tre that the AAG cable will not be fixed for at least another 2 weeks.

“The system still cannot figure out the reason for the cut, and all we know so far is that the defect is some 278km off the coast of Vung Tau.”

Speaking from my experience, it will take around two weeks at the soonest, while the normal time is three weeks,” he said.

International websites still seem a bit slow though significantly better than last week. We just want to watch Youtube videos without having them buffer every 30 seconds…

[Tuoi Tre]

Update 2 - 30/12: According to 2 Vietnamese internet service providers, the undersea cable will be back in service on January 9.

Not a moment too soon!

[Tuoi Tre]