Two fiber optic cables for data traffic in the Baltic Sea, one between Finland and Germany and one between Sweden and Lithuania, have failed or been damaged in a short time. However, when individual cables are damaged, much of the traffic is rerouted through alternative routes.
That's how Sweden's internet traffic is structured. If many were to fail simultaneously, it would lead to a lot of traffic on the routes that function. Then, in the worst case, it would lead to congestion and slow speeds, says Roger Gustafsson, deputy head of department at the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority.
Anchors can cause damage
In total, there are approximately 30 international submarine cables from Sweden, and it is not uncommon for them to be damaged by mistake.
It can absolutely happen that submarine cables fail. A ship can, for example, drop its anchor in the wrong place.
The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority does not own cables but sets safety requirements for operators through regulations.
We ensure that operators have a systematic safety work. They should identify their risks, work to reduce them, and report serious disruptions to us, says Gustafsson.
"Ready next week"
According to the Swedish company Arelion, data and telecommunications will first be affected if multiple cables were to fail simultaneously.
If you start cutting five to six cables, it starts to get messy. Then it's also very dependent on which cables are cut. There's relatively little traffic going to Lithuania. Sweden is more dependent on cables south- and westbound, says Mattias Fridström.
It is still unclear whether the cable has broken in the middle or just been damaged.
We have a boat that's leaving tomorrow (Thursday) if the weather permits. If the cable is in two pieces, we'll see when we'll repair it. Hopefully, we'll be ready sometime next week, says Fridström.
He also doesn't think it's unusual for cables to be damaged.
What's weird is how it broke. But I'll leave that to the police.
