Do you have internet problems at home? Here’s why it might last

Important links on the fiber optic network have been severed according to several telecom experts. This may affect internet connections at home in different regions of France. The track of a malicious act is possible.

On the night of April 26 to 27, a major problem affecting network infrastructure in France alerted several experts in the sector. Concretely, the fixed Internet (fiber) of several people across the country risks being cut off or greatly affected for an indefinite period. Orange, Bouygues Télécom, SFR or Free… all operators are concerned.

What happened ? We must avoid hasty conclusions, but some information already shared makes it possible to understand a little better where the problem comes from.

Fiber cables a priori cut

At 5:34 a.m., Aurélien Poret, Infrastructure and Network Manager at Ikoula, shares a tweet in which he mentions a double fiber cut that occurred 10 minutes apart. He explains that the Bourgognes-Franche-Comté region “ is completely isolated and normally guaranteed recovery times will be exceeded.

Double fiber cut. East and South (2 different operators for me) lost 10 min apart. The BFC plate is completely insulated. According to a friend at a national INFRA operator, big bills. The GTRs will be exceeded.

— Poret Aurélien (@aporet) April 27, 2022

Same story on the side of Alexandre Corso, manager within the company F5 – in particular specialized in network optimization.

6 links down in Paris… Quite a great job @F5 by the team about the redundancy @pymaunier @rmaunier @benjamin_collet no impact!
– Apr 27 01:23:08.292
– Apr 27 01:40:41.078
– Apr 27 01:41:14.072
– Apr 27 01:42:06.272
– Apr 27 03:17:37.404
– Apr 27 03:18:08.806

— Alexandre Corso (@CorsoAlexandre) April 27, 2022

This evokes six links cut in Paris on April 27 between 1:23 and 3:18. Finally, Nicolas ‘GaLaK’, a telecom and network engineer recognized for the reliability of his information on Twitter, also shares a few messages on this subject.

Point #cequelonsay : around 3:20 a.m., 3:40 a.m. and 5:20 a.m., cables of several long-distance fiber networks were partially severed. From Paris towards Strasbourg, Lyon and Lille. https://t.co/fTqAzxk8Kb

— Nicholas ‘GaLaK’ (@_GaLaK_) April 27, 2022

According to his information,around 3:20 a.m., 3:40 a.m. and 5:20 a.m., cables of several long-distance fiber networks were partially severed. From Paris towards Strasbourg, Lyon and Lille.In other words, if you’re in one of these three cities and your internet connection at home is faltering, you’re probably affected by the issue described here. It remains to be seen how many other geographical areas are affected. In addition, the interventions to restore the lines are likely to last since the severed cables will have to be replaced.

A malicious act?

“We are talking about several cables from several operators in several distant infrastructures of several tens of km cut», Underlines Nicolas ‘GaLaK’ in another message. Some therefore fear an operation carried out by ill-intentioned and well-coordinated people. That said, it still seems too early to know if this assumption is true.

We contacted Nicolas ‘GaLaK’ to find out more. He made it clear to us that he had no more information to provide than what he has already shared publicly on Twitter.

At the same time, Nicolas Guillaume, boss of the operator Netalis – which specializes in solutions dedicated to professionals – confirms that an incident is taking place on the network. Although he is pleased with the responsiveness of his teams to keep the services provided by his company afloat (up to 90% at the latest news), he undertakes to carry out “all the necessary legal actions to find the culprits of malicious acts“.

Following the incident (still ongoing), we @netalisfr We will obviously, with our advice, take all the necessary legal action, alongside our partners, to find the culprits of malicious acts (one confirmed at a supplier).

— Nicolas Guillaume (@nguillam) April 27, 2022

The manager specifies that a malicious act has already been confirmed at an access provider. Case to follow. In the meantime, on DownDetector, we can see that Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Free appear in the first lines of the home page. Proof that several users seem to be having problems.

It should be noted, however, that Free is encountering network problems which seem specific to it on this Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

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