Slower internet in UAE, wider region amid Red Sea cable cuts

Map displaying the subsea cable network in the Middle East. (Source: ITU)

Two major subsea cables were damaged near Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, disrupting internet connectivity across the Middle East, South Asia and parts of Africa.

Global internet observatory NetBlocks confirmed failures affecting the SEA-ME-WE 4 (SMW4) and IMEWE cable systems, two critical links in the region’s digital infrastructure. The incident forced operators to reroute traffic through alternative paths, leading to widespread slowdowns.

⚠️ Confirmed: A series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries including #Pakistan and #India; the incident is attributed to failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 📉 pic.twitter.com/cLsO3cxKbI

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) September 6, 2025

In the UAE, customers of Etisalat by e& and du reported difficulties loading websites, streaming video and using messaging apps. Complaints surged on outage tracker Downdetector, peaking at around 9pm on Saturday.

Read more – Internet slowdown: Why the Red Sea’s SMW4 and IMEWE cables matter

Cloudflare Radar data confirmed shifts in internet routing during the incident, which impacted international traffic. Microsoft also warned that its Azure cloud customers could experience increased latency for traffic passing through the Middle East, particularly on routes linking Asia and Europe.

“Undersea fibre cuts can take time to repair; as such, we will continuously monitor, rebalance, and optimise routing to reduce customer impact,” Microsoft said.

Key data corridor

The Red Sea is a vital global data corridor, carrying around 17 per cent of the world’s internet traffic, according to telecom research firm TeleGeography. A dense web of fibre-optic cables runs through the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and Arabian Sea, with key landing points in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Djibouti.

Even localised damage can ripple out across continents, disrupting services such as cloud applications, financial platforms and airline systems that rely on real-time connectivity.

Past incidents have underscored the vulnerability of the region. In early 2024, three cables were cut after a vessel struck by Houthi rebels drifted and dropped anchor in the Red Sea, causing weeks of service disruption.

Analysts say the region’s shallow waters, heavy shipping traffic and geopolitical tensions make it especially prone to both accidental and deliberate damage.

Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd confirmed a reduction in capacity and said it had arranged alternative bandwidth to mitigate the impact. Similar disruptions were reported in Kuwait, where authorities said the FALCON GCX cable had also been damaged.

Fixing undersea cables is a complex, costly process requiring specialised vessels, trained crews and favourable weather conditions. The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) estimates repairs can cost between $1m and $3m per incident.