DUBAI - Thousands of internet users across the Middle East and South Asia face at least three more days of service disruption after a key undersea cable was damaged earlier in the week.

The SEA-ME-We 4 cable linking Europe with the Middle East and South Asia was cut on Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea, the third breakdown in as many years.

The cut caused internet connection problems from the UAE to Bangladesh and had telecoms operators rushing to divert voice and data traffic to alternative routes.

Operators including the UAE’s Etisalat and India’s Bharti Airtel sent out warnings to subscribers that they might experience a drop in connectivity speeds.

A repair ship is expected to reach the site of the cut on Saturday and it will take around three days to repair the cable, according to Du, the UAE's second operator.

“The estimated time to restore the cut is approximately 3 days, therefore the segment of the cable affected by the cut is expected to be back in service by 20/4/2010, subject to weather, sea and cable conditions,” Du said in a statement on Friday.

Du said its services had been unaffected by the cut.

According to media reports, damage to the insulation around the cable caused it to come into contact with water and short circuit.

SEA-ME-We 4 is one of three links that carry the majority of internet traffic between Europe and the Middle East, the others being SEA-ME-WE 3 and FLAG FEA.

The cable is around 20,000 km long and links 14 countries with hubs in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India and Pakistan.

It has a chequered history with two cuts in 2008 that caused major telephony and internet problems across the Middle East and South Asia.

In January 2008 internet services were hit by damage to SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG FEA, resulting in disruption to around 70 percent of services in Egypt and 60 percent of services in India.

Services were again disrupted in December of that year due to breaks in SEA-ME-WE 4, SEA-ME-WE 3 and FLAG FEA. - maktoob