Cable repairs begin
A 64-crew maintenance boat arrived on site, off the coast of Sicily, at 14:00 GMT on Sunday following a two-day journey from southern France, said a spokesperson for the telecoms operator.
An underwater robot has been sent down to locate the cables, which may have been dragged several kilometres off site in the incident on Friday, and lift them to the surface where they will be repaired fibre by fibre.
Phone and internet traffic between Europe, the Middle East and Asia remains badly disrupted by the cable damage, although most business-to-business traffic has been rerouted through the United States.
Three cables linking Sicily to Egypt are affected, as well as a smaller private cable linking Malta and Italy.
France Telecom said it would take until December 25 to repair a first cable, and until December 31 before normal service was restored.
The cause of the damage remains unclear, with France Telecom saying that trawler’s nets or an underwater landslide could be to blame.
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