Japan assesses subsea cable damage

Repairs to submarine cables off Japan’s coasts are underway as operators unveil the full extent of the damage caused by a massive earthquake and resulting tsunami last week.
 
Several subsea cables were damaged during the natural disasters, posing a threat to global communications because Japan acts as a hub for 20 major cables connecting the region to the US and beyond.
 
Pacnet’s chief technology officer Wilfred Kwan told Telecoms Europe.net the disaster had impacted the company’s EAC cable near Ajigaura, which was near the quake’s epicenter. “Restoration across alternative paths is continuing with significant portion of services restored,” Kwan said, adding cable ships had been mobilized.
 
NTT Communications subsidiary Pacific Crossing has lost service on its PC-1 and PC-1 W cables, and is currently assessing the damage.
 
Korea Telecom has reported a segment of its Japan-US Cable Network damaged near the Ajigaura and Kitaibaraki landing stations, WSJ.com reports.
 
A Telstra International spokesperson said that the earthquake had resulted in “some infrastructure and service disruption in Japan.”
 
Singaporean operator StarHub was also affected by subsea cable damage, vice president of integrated network engineering Leong Peng Ham said, but has restored web connectivity with overseas sites to normal levels after re-routing traffic.