Internet access was disrupted early Wednesday morning in several major French cities, following acts of vandalism targeting the fiber optic network, French media report.
The operators point to acts of vandalism, malicious intent and sabotage, the press noted, adding that these vandalism operations affected SFR infrastructures, also used by Bouygues Telecom and Free, while those of Orange were spared.
Free, widely affected with some 100,000 customers who would have been affected, reported on Twitter “multiple malicious acts” on the fiber infrastructure that occurred overnight and are now “limited”.
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The main affected links of the operator SFR concern the “roads” between Paris and Lyon and Paris Strasbourg, and the Ile de France.
Connections gradually returned to normal at the end of the morning, especially since these telecom routes are duplicated, which makes it possible to overcome this type of difficulty, so redundant infrastructures took over.
On the ground, repair operations are in full swing. ” SFR’s technical teams are fully mobilized“, specifies the operator. “Big cables” have been cut, each comprising several pairs of fibers, which involves complex and time-consuming repairs.
With MAP