Three of Vietnam's five main undersea fiber optic cables are currently down, significantly slowing international internet connections.

Affected Cables and Current Status

As of mid-2026, the three undersea cables experiencing failures are the Intra Asia (IA) cable connecting to Singapore, the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), and the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) cable . The remaining two cables, Asia-America Gateway (AAG) and Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe (SMW-3), are still operational . These cables collectively carry the majority of Vietnam's international internet traffic, with undersea routes accounting for approximately 99% of domestic-to-international connections .

Causes and Challenges in Repair

Repairing undersea cables is complex due to several factors: the cables are located deep underwater, requiring specialized ships and equipment; international permissions are needed to access certain cable locations; and weather conditions can delay repair operations . Additionally, new faults may be discovered during repair, further extending downtime. Past incidents have shown that full restoration can take weeks, and no exact timeline has been provided for the current outages .

Impact on Internet Connectivity

The failure of these three cables has seriously affected internet speed and service quality for users accessing international websites and services . Internet service providers in Vietnam have implemented temporary measures, such as rerouting traffic through land-based cables and sharing capacity among operational lines, but users still experience slower connections .

Government and Industry Response

The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications has emphasized the need for more stable and sustainable digital infrastructure . Plans include:

• Expanding the number of undersea cables to at least 15 by 2030, with a focus on domestic ownership to reduce dependence on international alliances .
• Introducing new cables such as the Vietnam-Singapore Cable System (VTS), scheduled to be operational by Q2 2027, which will connect Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia .
• Increasing domestic cable capacity and sharing traffic among operators to mitigate the impact of future outages .

Future Outlook

Vietnam aims to strengthen its international connectivity by building more undersea cables, including at least three owned by domestic enterprises, to ensure resilience against similar failures . By 2025–2030, the country plans to add multiple new cables, nearly doubling its bandwidth and reducing vulnerability to international cable disruptions . In summary, while the current failures have caused significant internet slowdowns, Vietnam is actively pursuing infrastructure expansion and domestic cable ownership to improve the stability and reliability of its international internet connections.