Vandalism causes internet disruption
“Cut pipes” would have damaged the fiber optic network on Wednesday, causing slowdowns and connection cuts.
KEYSTONE/DPA/SILAS STEIN
Slowdowns and cuts in internet access were reported Wednesday morning in several major French cities including Grenoble and Strasbourg, following acts of vandalism affected the fiber optic network, according to concordant sources.
“This kind of incident of this magnitude never happens,” a source familiar with the matter told AFP. “It’s the first time, and we don’t know who it is, at the moment,” she continued, indicating that monitoring devices had been put in place to prevent this from happening elsewhere. .
The operator Free, largely affected, reported on Twitter “multiple acts of malicious intent” on the fiber infrastructure that occurred overnight and are now “limited”.
“The attacks took place tonight at 4 a.m. Since this morning, the teams have been mobilized,” the operator told AFP, hoping that the network will be “restored during the day”.
Vandalized network
The operator SFR, also concerned, confirmed “several fiber cuts” around Lyon and in Ile-de-France, the origin of which “is unknown”. “Teams are on deck” and “work is in progress,” the company continued.
On the other hand, their competitor Bouygues Telecom “does not use the links affected by these malfunctions and mobile and fixed services are provided normally,” the group told AFP.
“Three of Free’s four arteries, which form the backbone of their network, have been vandalized,” other sources said. On Twitter, several of the operator’s customers in Grenoble and Strasbourg complained of no longer having any internet speed via their Freebox following a cut that occurred overnight.
In Strasbourg, the “cloud” service provider (dematerialized computing), Agora Calycé had also announced at 7:25 a.m. on Twitter that it was “currently suffering from a national multi-operator incident” which affects customers “connected to fiber”.
“It’s a bit like if highways were cut off, and traffic had to be redirected to national ones,” commented Sami Slim, managing director of Telehouse, one of the hubs of internet traffic in France.
By building new “roads” to circumvent the disruptions, “it works, there may be small cuts here and there but the internet works”, he added.
Posted today at 12:58 p.m.
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