Several Internet users in the City complained of slow browsing and cyber cafes faced connectivity problems. The problem, which surfaced in the wee hours of Thursday, continued till evening.

“Internet connectivity was poor as it was on and off for most part of the day before limping back to normalcy by around 8:30 pm. The service providers put the blame on damage to undersea cables,” said Zulfikar, owner of an Internet parlour on Brigade Road.

The Internet Service Providers Association too confirmed that there was a slowdown and a 50 to 60 per cent cut in bandwidth.

The Internet connectivity in the entire Asian region is said to have slowed down since Wednesday night by about three hours.

“The Sea Me We 4 and Fibre-Optic Link Around Globe cables have been damaged and as a result, there is a slowdown,” said a VSNL Customer Care executive.

Several BPOs too said there had been a slowdown and that the voice quality was poor for outbound calls. However, many companies are said to have overcome the crisis.

KNOTTY NET

Fallout spread from a cut in two undersea internet cables off Egypt’s coast, with India reporting half of its bandwidth disrupted. Officials said it could take a week or more to fix the cables. Users in Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain were also affected.