Microsoft links Red Sea cable cuts to global internet slowdown affecting 17% of traffic — latency spikes across Asia and Middle East

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It’s rumored that Microsoft may be connected to a cable cut in the Red Sea that occurred on September 6, 2025, causing disruptions in internet traffic. Notably, their Azure cloud platform, which heavily depends on underwater cables for global connectivity, acknowledged encountering issues. This incident severed links responsible for approximately 17% of the world’s internet traffic flow between Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

The company advised its customers to anticipate longer response times due to traffic being redirected via different routes (according to Tom’s Hardware). This incident serves as a poignant reminder of the delicate nature of digital infrastructure, especially considering our increasing reliance on cloud services and artificial intelligence, which heavily depend on such connections.

Microsoft diverted traffic via alternate routes not around the Red Sea to maintain service continuity, but response times were slower in critical regions such as India, Pakistan, and the UAE. Microsoft has warned that complete recovery might take anywhere from several weeks to several months.

What happened in the Red Sea?

As a tech enthusiast, I’m sharing some exciting news from the world of telecommunications. Last September 6, 2025, right around 5:45 UTC, a cable incident took place near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This incident affected several key systems, including the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 (SMW4), India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE), and FALCON GCX.

1. The submarine cable system known as SMW4 spans approximately 18,800 kilometers, connecting Singapore to France. It plays a significant role in transporting massive amounts of internet traffic between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

2. IMEWE is another submarine cable system that links India to Europe via the Middle East. This system is approximately 12,000 kilometers long and remains vital for maintaining India-Europe connectivity.

3. FALCON GCX, a regional cable owned by Global Cloud Xchange, extends from Gulf states such as Kuwait through the Red Sea and beyond.

Instead of simple wires, they are digital thoroughfares, handling almost all international internet data flow – including streaming services, cloud operations, financial transactions, and global business activities. A recent network analysis by Cloudflare revealed noticeable delays (due to processing), with traffic between Delhi and London becoming approximately 20% slower, and that between Mumbai and Frankfurt increasing by roughly 30%.

While the precise reason is yet to be fully determined, preliminary findings suggest a possible accidental anchor drag by commercial vessels could be involved. Despite this, geopolitical tensions persist due to the sensitive context of the area.

What comes next?

It’s said that Microsoft estimates it might take several weeks, or even longer, to fix the damage. Special ships will be required to identify and lift the cables before new ones can be connected – a challenging task given that fewer than 80 repair vessels are available globally (as reported by GSIS).

Currently, we’ve implemented short-term solutions. The traffic flow has been redirected, however, this may lead to ongoing latency and performance challenges in the near future.

The Red Sea continues to be one of the busiest zones for underwater communication lines globally, increasing the chances of future incidents, either due to accidents or geopolitical conflicts. Recent reductions in these cables have rekindled conversations regarding alternate pathways, encompassing new land-based connections, Arctic cables, and satellites. These options could potentially lessen our dependence on this congested single point of access.

At the moment, the majority of us find ourselves in a position where we simply need to be patient and maintain optimism, as progress in funding for alternate transportation methods is encouraged. Such deliberations can span over multiple years, with final decisions taking even more time, followed by the implementation of these new systems.

Embracing my inner tech enthusiast here: I’m thrilled about Microsoft’s $80 billion investment in cloud infrastructure, AI, and related services! These aren’t just passing trends, they’re shaping our digital future. As these sectors expand, ensuring the security of our digital lifelines becomes even more crucial-a challenge I’m excited to be part of!

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2025-09-09 17:10