Internet resumes full speed service in Vietnam after cable repair

A local internet service provider confirmed that internet connections in the country have resumed full service after the technicians’ team of the Asia America Gateway (AAG) finished repair work on the faulty cable section, which had started April 17, at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The provider also said the problem was caused by a "fault location" between Repeater 1 and 2 on the branch connecting Vietnam and Hong Kong, which experienced a technical problem on April 2.

The disruption had affected international bandwidths connected to Vietnam, especially at a time when millions in the country were studying or working from home amid the nationwide social distancing campaign launched to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Vietnam has six submarine cable systems and a 120 gigabit channel that runs overland through China.

Connected in November 2009, the $560-million AAG handles more than 60 percent of the country’s international Internet traffic. The cable runs more than 20,000 kilometers (12,420 miles), connecting Southeast Asia with the U.S., passing through Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

But it has experienced frequent ruptures and repairs, affecting services in Vietnam, where more than 64 percent of the population is online.

According to the figures collected from Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC), the average fixed broadband download speed in the first quarter reached 61.39 Mbps. For mobile networks, the download speed was 39.4 Mbps.