Cable repair delay slows internet speed in Vietnam

Repair work on the S2 branch of the Intra Asia (IA) cable connecting Vietnam with Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, which experienced technical problems last December, would be finished this Sunday instead of January 29 as initially planned, the cable operator said.

No reason was given for the delay.

Problems on the S1I branch of the cable were completely fixed on January 31, the operator said.

Meanwhile, issues with the Asia Africa Europe (AAE-1) cable, which faced disruptions last December, is expected to be completed on February 12, nine days behind the original schedule.

Vietnam currently has six submarine cable systems, as well as a 120 gigabit channel that runs overland through China. The undersea cables have had a very high risk of rupture and been under frequent repair, affecting all service providers in Vietnam.

The AAE-1 is a 25,000 km submarine communications cable system running from Southeast Asia to Europe across Egypt, connecting Hong Kong, Vietnam and other parts of Asia.

The 6,800 km (4,225 miles) IA cable was installed in November 2009, connecting Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Vietnam's average broadband speed is 10 times slower than Singapore's 70.86 Mbps, a third of Malaysia's 23.86 Mbps and half that of Thailand's (18.21 Mbps).

Around 64 million people in Vietnam, or over half the population, are online.