Two Internet Cables Between Sweden and Finland Damaged in Separate Incidents
Two fiber optic cables connecting Sweden and Finland experienced damage on Monday morning, disrupting internet service for approximately 6,000 homes and 100 businesses in the region.
The cables, operated by Global Connect, were severed in separate incidents on Finnish territory. While initial concerns about potential sabotage were raised by Swedish officials, including the Minister of Civil Defense, Finnish authorities quickly dismissed these suspicions.
Telecom operator Elisa confirmed that one cable break occurred due to accidental damage by an excavator at a construction site. However, the cause of damage to the second cable remains under investigation.
The incident comes just weeks after two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea - the BCS East-West Interlink between Sweden and Lithuania and the C-Lion1 connecting Finland to Germany - were damaged. Those cuts are currently being investigated by NATO, with suspicions centered on a Chinese vessel that may have deliberately dragged its anchor through the area.
While underwater cable damage typically requires complex repair operations, land-based cables are generally more vulnerable to both accidental and intentional disruption. Recent examples include widespread outages in France affecting thousands of subscribers after deliberate cable cutting incidents.
The latest cable breaks appear to be unrelated to regional tensions, with at least one confirmed as an accident. Global Connect is working to restore services to affected customers while investigations into the second cable damage continue.
Note: Only one link was inserted as it was the only one directly relevant to the article's topic of undersea cable damage. The other provided links about ransomware attacks were not contextually appropriate for this article about physical cable damage.