The repair of a major internet submarine cable, SE-ME-WE 3 (SMW-3), has been delayed again, meaning Vietnamese internet users will see slower speeds for longer.

The cable, broken since mid-October, is located deep under the sea and its repair has been repeatedly delayed due to bad weather. Originally slated to be fixed by October 20, it is now expected to be repaired between December 21 to 26, according to the Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunication Group (VNPT).

After processing the SMW-3 submarine cable, the repair vessel will travel to fix the Asia American Gateway (AAG) cable, which broke down on November 7, not long after an earlier breakdown was repaired on October 22. Since AAG will be repaired only after SMW-3, the repair date for AAG has also been delayed from December 14-18 to sometime after December 26.

This is the fifth time AAG has faced problems this year. It’s one of several international internet cables that connect Viet Nam to the world.

The SMW-3 submarine cable was completed in late 2000. It has a system capacity of 320Gbps connecting Viet Nam with 39 countries and territories around the world. In Viet Nam, SMW-3 has a landing site in the central city of Da Nang. It stretches across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe.

The AAG cable, with a capacity reaching 2T/s, is one of the four intercontinental internet cable systems of Viet Nam. It is used by major local providers, namely FPT Telecom, VNPT, Viettel and SPT.

AAG was put into operation in November 2009 with a total length of 20,191 km and capacity reaching 2T/s, connecting countries in Southeast Asia to the United States. The system’s frequent breakdowns and problems have caused internet disconnections between Viet Nam and other countries. — VNS