Microsoft has confirmed that its Azure cloud services are back online after subsea cable cuts in the Red Sea disrupted internet connectivity across several countries in the Middle East and Asia.
The company said its engineering teams worked to reroute traffic through alternate network paths, reducing disruptions and restoring services. “We do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East,” Microsoft noted, adding that all other traffic remains unaffected.
Impact of the Cable Cuts
The outages were traced to failures in the SMW4 and IMEWE subsea cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. According to network monitor NetBlocks, connectivity issues were reported in India, Pakistan, and the UAE, where users experienced slower speeds and intermittent access.
In a post on Mastodon, NetBlocks confirmed: “A series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries… impacting SMW4 and IMEWE systems.”
Why It Matters
The Red Sea is a critical telecommunications corridor connecting Europe with Asia and Africa via Egypt. Repairs in the region are expected to be challenging, particularly amid ongoing security risks to vessels near Yemen.
Microsoft’s Response
While acknowledging that repairs may take time, Microsoft assured customers that it would continue to “monitor, rebalance, and optimise routing” to minimize impact. The company’s service status page now shows Azure services in the Middle East and Asia are fully operational.
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