W Asia Crisis, Internet Disruption Possible?

The West Asia crisis is heading in a strange direction. All countries involved or not are trying to bargain for peace. The attack on Iran appears to be proving costly for the region and the world.

Iran has disclosed that it has sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and has threatened to disrupt Internet connections if further attacks happen.

Iran has also responded to Trump’s threat that if their power grid is destroyed, it will close the SoH till all repairs are done.

Back to Internet, there are 21 undersea cables in the region that provide internet to Asia, Europe and Africa. The American tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Google have invested billions on data centers in the Gulf. Incidentally, Indian internet cables are connected to those in Gulf. Tata TGN undersea cable connecting the Gulf with Mumbai and the world onwards is also under threat. Any damage to the cables could mean financial crisis and diplomatic crisis. For the common man, it could mean no emails, video calls, banking transfers and AI disruption.

Already, Iran and the Houthis have control over the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb. The crucial 3 companies’ cables pass through these areas. If the cables are disrupted, it is not possible to send special ships for repair as Iran and rebel Houthi groups guard the region.

Then, what’s the solution? Well, the tech giants too are smart. Foreseeing such problems, they have alternate points to send information. However, this is bound to reduce the speed of internet. Fingers crossed!