Internet Slowdown To Be A Pain For At Least Three Weeks

[george]

Internet slowdown to be a pain for at least three weeks

Taiwan quake cripples Thai Internet

BANGKOK: -- Telecommunications across Asia have been severely disrupted because of damage to undersea cables caused by Tuesday's earthquake near Taiwan.

Banks and businesses in Taiwan, South Korea, China and Japan reported telephone and internet problems.

In Thailand, Internet access slowed to a crawl, with up to 90 per cent of e-mail and web access impossible. There was no word from CAT Telecom, the government monopoly which supplies all Internet service to Thailand.

Taiwan's largest telephone company, Chunghwa Telecom Co, said damage to an undersea cable had disrupted 98% of Taiwan's communications with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Repairs could take three weeks, Vice-General Manager Lin Jen-hung said, but quality would improve daily.

Telecommunications companies in Hong Kong, Japan and China also reported problems.

China's biggest telecoms provider, China Telecommunications Group, said that communications cables to the US and to Europe had been damaged.

"Internet connections have been seriously affected, and phone links and dedicated business lines have also been affected to some degree," it said.

Repairing the cables harmed by Tuesday's 6.7-magnitude quake could take three weeks but "quality will improve day by day," said Lin Jen-hung, vice general manager of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan's largest phone company.

The company said damage to a cable off Taiwan's southern coast has interrupted 98 percent of Taiwan's communications capacity with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.

The damaged lines knocked out Internet service for some Hong Kong customers, who were unable to access Web sites in parts of Asia and the U.S.

Hong Kong telephone company PCCW Ltd., which also provides Internet service, said several undersea data cables were damaged in the quake.

"Data traffic to Taiwan, Korea, Japan and the United States are affected," PCCW said in a statement.

The company also warned customers that they may experience congestion for several days on the Internet because of an upsurge in use as people surf the Web for more information about the quake.

Financial traders in Hong Kong _ one of Asia's biggest business capitals _ complained they lost their connection to Bloomberg LP, a key provider of news and data about stock markets. Bloomberg declined to immediately comment on the outage.

Internet access has been cut or has become extremely slow in Beijing, said an official from China Netcom, China's No. 2 phone company.

The official, who would not give his name, said the cause was thought to be the earthquake, but he had not further details.

Businesses in various parts of the city also said they were experiencing Internet access problems.

CCTV, the state-run television network, said the earthquake had damaged undersea communications cables from China to the United States and from Asia to Europe.

It said China Telecom Corp., China's biggest phone company, was contacting counterparts in the United States and Europe about using satellites to make up for the shortfall.

KDDI Corp., Japan's major carrier for international calls, said Thursday that its fixed-line telephone service has been intermittently affected following the quake.

KDDI spokesman Haruhiko Maeda said that the quake damaged several undersea communication cables in southern Taiwan shared among international communication companies.

He said that customers are having trouble making calls to India and the Middle East, which are usually routed through cables near Taiwan. Maeda said the company is rerouting calls to go through the U.S. and Europe and the company does not know how long it will take to repair the cables.

Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that international roaming service provided by Japan's major three telecommunications _ NTT DoCoMO, KDDI, and Softbank, has been affected. Ministry official Akira Yamanaka said that some customers were unable to make calls using their mobile phones in countries including Taiwan.

The quake, which hit offshore from the town of Hengchun near Taiwan's southern tip, came on the second anniversary of the tsunami that killed more than 200,000 lives in southern Asia.

Tuesday's quake was felt throughout Taiwan. It shook buildings and knocked objects off the shelves in the capital, Taipei, in the northern part of the island. Two members of one family were killed Tuesday in Hengchun when their four-story home collapsed. The quake injured 42 people, three homes collapsed and 12 fires broke out, the National Fire Agency said.

--Bangkok Post 2006-12-27

ADMIN NOTE:

Thaivisa.com is NOT experiencing any outage, as we have asked the Thai ISP's to optimize routing connections to our servers. Thaivisa.com servers are hosted direct on the main high-speed internet backbone in Singapore.

During the current Internet problems, readers in Thailand can access the Bangkok Post website more quickly and efficiently by using the Thailand-based server at: http://www.bangkokpost.co.th instead of http://www.bangkokpost.com

The Nation is hosted in Thailand, and is accessable at http://www.nationmultimedia.com as usual.

[britmaveric]

Wonder if this has caused mobile phone issues, tried reaching a few mates and get unable to connect call, try back later message.

[Roger_royal]

Wonder if this has caused mobile phone issues, tried reaching a few mates and get unable to connect call, try back later message.

Have been trying to contact friend in Thailand for last two days, can only get call back service.

[sjaak327]

Wonder if this has caused mobile phone issues, tried reaching a few mates and get unable to connect call, try back later message.

Have been trying to contact friend in Thailand for last two days, can only get call back service.

Have you considered the possibility that he has merely switched off the phone ?

I can reach mobile phones in Thailand from NL just fine, altough since yesterday I cannot reach any phone in thailand using the very cheap 0900 services here.

[LivinLOS]

My bank has been repeatedly trying to call.. Sometimes connects but garbled.. I suspect a lot of international links and mobile links are voip these days..

[Jorn]

Just called Norway by Skype. Works ok, but maybe traffic is low at this time.

--

[clevenp]

this meltdown on the internet is not good ... it seems that all international traffic is going through that one LINK... and now it is halfway down.

services such as skype are not affected immediately as it is a peer to peer connection and does not use any DNS to look up things but when you try to go to international websites it seems to halt ...as it cannot resolve the addresses and then when it does, it needs to share the bandwidth with all the other stuff (including skype ... but skype is intelligent enough to calculate the min bandwidth necessary before it starts the call)

VoiP services will certainly be affected for international calls or when the "providor" is located outside Thailand

I just cannot believe that an organisation such as TrueInternet only has 1 cable ....and this for a country with lots of trading and many international companies...

I only can say this is disrupting normal business in a big way

what is happening in this beautiful country ?

what is this country doing to its people and the many farangs who are supporting their Thai families ...

I only can shake my head and silently hope it will beter over time ?

travelbeast

[Reinter]

today in my tot i'm unable to login in msn and unable to viste any site in europe,especially italian-site

thaivisa only work good

Edited December 27, 2006 by Reinter

[deminister]

That is what you get, when you allow companies like CAT to monopolize the international backbones. It is criminal intend of the Thai authorities that they do not allow organisation like NECTEC to run an backup. They will never learn however. It is too cozy being made important. On top of that CAT is one of the least important customers as they have negotiated a very low price for the least optimized service. Who cares if Thailand stays at the bottom of the food chain, certainly not the current government.

[csroland]

Wonder if this has caused mobile phone issues, tried reaching a few mates and get unable to connect call, try back later message.

Have been trying to contact friend in Thailand for last two days, can only get call back service.

No, guys. Also I have not used any cheap services, but my mobile phone for calling Thailand, but I cannot reach any DTAC and AIS phone numbers. "The participant cannot be reached at the moment..." - as the text sounds. It is a bit ridiculous, but the voip service works well (not skype, I have not tried to use skype, but another one). So...Hutchison 3 is also...

[britmaveric]

Just for fun I tried quite a few numbers and same result. I'd say mobiles are affected least from overseas lines.

[sjaak327]

Just for fun I tried quite a few numbers and same result. I'd say mobiles are affected least from overseas lines.

I called a friend of mine several times already (AIS) no problem, the only thing is that it takes a while before the connection starts, sometimes even as long as 20 to 30 seconds, this also occurs to two Landlines I tried.

[popshirt]

Thank you Thai Visa for this information. I have been wondering all day why I can't access MSN and Yahoo.

[TLloyd]

Currently I am in the US. Called my girlfried in BKK last PM. Call went through the first time but she could not hear me. Second & third try I got a recording saying the call could not be completed as dialed. Called her this AM & got through OK, no problem with connection. I also got an e-mail from her last night. All seems OK for now.

[Reinter]

now for me in tot everythings back to normal,any websites it's ok

cable repaired allready?

Edited December 27, 2006 by Reinter

[dotcom]

That was smart to route all our traffic through Taiwan don't you think? T.I.T. Will never learn just about sums it up.

[hardy1943]

I have CSLOX iPSTAR Satellite DO NOT EVER GET THAT is only works 10% of the time , no service

the never answer their phone.THEY Charge me 2,700 a month.I am stuck on a 1 YEAR CONTRACT,

they sold me some thing that does not work.They are corrupt and crude and rude besides that.

I have TOT Satellite right next to theirs which is 2 times faster and works 99% at the time.

So right now I an paying for 2, both 2,700 Baht a month.

FOR ANYONE OUT THERE DO NOT GET CSLOX INFO IT ABSELUTLY SUCKS.

[basjke]

That was smart to route all our traffic through Taiwan don't you think? T.I.T. Will never learn just about sums it up.

I'm not the it expert but I think they have to route it through somewhere don't you.By the way at this moment my connection speed is better then ever.

[lecter]

for those who don't read....

thailand is "one" of the effected countries.

Taiwan, Japan etc. must also have corrupt stupid governments....

jeez.....

Lecter

//remove url//

[Greer]

It's not always about corruption, but it is certainly about stupidity. Redundancy is a MAJOR issue for people in my industry (broadcasting) and any single point of failure is not acceptable.

We go to great lengths to make sure that if a particular piece of equipment that is in the critical transmission path can fail, it has a hot backup that will take over immediately without allowing the viewer to see anything wrong, or at the very least to minimise any downtime... in our industry being off air costs big money.

In the IT world, being down for even a few minutes can cost enormous sums of money, but the communications and IT people don't seem to be capable of designing proper redundant sytems that protect themselves and their critical payload. Maybe they are capable of it, but don't think it will ever happen so why bother?

It's a standing joke in broadcasting that you never let the IT people near critical systems as they will always <deleted> them up. Here is a case in point... international high speed data telecommunications infrastructure brought to a grinding halt and then only slowly recovering a very partial service - all caused by ONE cable failure.

Hey guys... the world is ROUND... you can get there a different way... just think a bit when planning... oh... sorry.. "Planning" is when you work out what to do in advance and then figure out all the things that could go wrong and allow for them in the design...

Hmmmm? "design" ... well thats when...........

Gawd help us....

Edited December 27, 2006 by Greer

[Ngee Ngow]

"In Thailand, Internet access slowed to a crawl"

Is that somehow different from any other normal day??

"There was no word from CAT Telecom, the government monopoly which supplies all Internet service to Thailand."

Wow, that's a surprise...Not.

[mskiller]

International Link Down

Dear Valued customer,

Subject International Link Down

True Corporation Public Co.,Ltd was informed by CAT Telecom Plc. that there was a link failure, which caused by The Taiwanese earthquake on December 27, 2006, as a result, the International link has been damaged also effect unable to slow access of International Web, which is effect to all ISPs in Thailand. True has urgent coordinate with CAT Telecom Plc to fix this problem however they can?t to estimate resolve time. We are closely following up the progress of this problem to make sure that you can enjoy efficient Internet connection as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your continuing support us.

Yours sincerely,

Internet Broadband Contact Center

02 900-9000 [\QUOTE]

as True say...

[lecter]

In the IT world, being down for even a few minutes can cost enormous sums of money, but the communications and IT people don't seem to be capable of designing proper redundant sytems that protect themselves and their critical payload. Maybe they are capable of it, but don't think it will ever happen so why bother?

It's a standing joke in broadcasting that you never let the IT people near critical systems as they will always <deleted> them up. Here is a case in point... international high speed data telecommunications infrastructure brought to a grinding halt and then only slowly recovering a very partial service - all caused by ONE cable failure.

Here's two statements that scream of ignorance.

If you want redundancy, in the fashion that you outline, then you have to be prepared to pay for it.

Airlines do it (For ticketing and other systems), Oil Companies do it (at Terminals and Refineries) and I am sure Broadcasting would be doing it. Typically there are trade offs where outages are acceptable in some areas (not those you mention of course). Total redundancy, where you don't notice when an incident occurs, is expensive. Most ignorant "Management" don't like to pay for IT systems that deliver this at the price point they come in at.

The standing joke in IT is that "dumb arse management want the Taj Mahal, but are only prepared to pay for a pack of cards."

Jeez

Lecter

www.schoocher.com

[lung]

thanks again THAIVISA...

just been cutted again...

and checkbin again ...

good i not been today in the tt&t-shop.

now i know more

i must pay this ??

it's "only" 100baht a day ,but normaly 3baht

[FlightRisk]

Was able to call my TGF from Amerika (she's in BKK) via SkypeOut to her cell phone on her Wednesday morning. Connection was fine, very clear.

- FlightRisk

[llothar]

Thaivisa has an extremely slow access from Germany.

And this is timely releated to the earthquake.

Don't know what the admin is talking about - hopes, dreams, whishes - but not reality, maybe just marketing denial.

[yankee-expat]

this meltdown on the internet is not good ... it seems that all international traffic is going through that one LINK... and now it is halfway down.

services such as skype are not affected immediately as it is a peer to peer connection and does not use any DNS to look up things but when you try to go to international websites it seems to halt ...as it cannot resolve the addresses and then when it does, it needs to share the bandwidth with all the other stuff (including skype ... but skype is intelligent enough to calculate the min bandwidth necessary before it starts the call)

VoiP services will certainly be affected for international calls or when the "providor" is located outside Thailand

I just cannot believe that an organisation such as TrueInternet only has 1 cable ....and this for a country with lots of trading and many international companies...

I only can say this is disrupting normal business in a big way

what is happening in this beautiful country ?

what is this country doing to its people and the many farangs who are supporting their Thai families ...

I only can shake my head and silently hope it will beter over time ?

travelbeast

You are exactly correct. I am almost running at 100 percent from Pattaya as I am SSH'd into a server in the US and running everything including DNS through that server. However, if I try to reach a Thai Website through SSN I am Shit out of luck. I have to exclude it from the proxy.

I have found that before this using another DNS was faster, even if it was in the USA.

Check out http://www.opendns.org

Amazing that one link connects this country.

Mickey Mouse.

[yankee-expat]

It's not always about corruption, but it is certainly about stupidity. Redundancy is a MAJOR issue for people in my industry (broadcasting) and any single point of failure is not acceptable.

We go to great lengths to make sure that if a particular piece of equipment that is in the critical transmission path can fail, it has a hot backup that will take over immediately without allowing the viewer to see anything wrong, or at the very least to minimise any downtime... in our industry being off air costs big money.

In the IT world, being down for even a few minutes can cost enormous sums of money, but the communications and IT people don't seem to be capable of designing proper redundant sytems that protect themselves and their critical payload. Maybe they are capable of it, but don't think it will ever happen so why bother?

It's a standing joke in broadcasting that you never let the IT people near critical systems as they will always <deleted> them up. Here is a case in point... international high speed data telecommunications infrastructure brought to a grinding halt and then only slowly recovering a very partial service - all caused by ONE cable failure.

Hey guys... the world is ROUND... you can get there a different way... just think a bit when planning... oh... sorry.. "Planning" is when you work out what to do in advance and then figure out all the things that could go wrong and allow for them in the design...

Hmmmm? "design" ... well thats when...........

Gawd help us....

As Archie Bunker elequently put it - "Crapola".

The thais are too cheap to create a second BIG backbone. I did a traceroute earlier, my trip to the USA went through France.

[yankee-expat]

For what it is worth, my Vonage never went down. I've been on the phone all day.

[Jockstar]

ThaiVisa is very painfully slow today. I'm in Oz and have a decent internet speed. Seems to be only TV thats slow. Related?