More than half of internet outage incidents since 2013 caused by cable cuts: MCI

SINGAPORE — Slightly more than half of the 26 serious Internet service disruptions here since 2013 were caused by underground cables being cut, Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim told Parliament on Monday (May 8).

Most of these 14 incidences resulted from contractors not following established standard operating procedures, he added, in response to questions from Member of Parliament (Jurong GRC) Ang Wei Neng, arising from an outage last month in Jurong, caused by works on an HDB project.

Dr Yaacob said the incident, which left parts of Jurong West, Boon Lay and Corporation Road without internet and fixed voice service for over 28 hours, affected over 3,800 subscribers.

The rising trend of cable cut incidents, in general, had been flagged by Dr Yaacob during a parliamentary sitting in February last year. At that time, the minister told the House that in tandem with a higher number of road works and construction projects, the number of cable cut incidents rose from four each in 2013 and 2014, to seven in 2015. The figure, as of February last year, was three cases. Not all these cases resulted in internet service disruptions.

Dr Yaacob said cable cut incidents lead to disruptions in telecommunications and media services — including internet service — affecting operators, consumers and businesses. Telcos’ repair costs alone can sometimes exceed S$500,000, he noted.

To minimise such incidents, the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) has been holding regular dialogue sessions with government agencies and their contractors on preventive measures when undertaking earthworks, said Dr Yaacob.

The Telecommunications Act requires any contractor intending to carry out earthworks near telecommunication cables to take precautions. These include giving prior notice to the telcos before the proposed works, and engaging licensed cable detection workers to detect such cables so that contractors can avoid them when carrying out works.

A contractor who fails to observe these precautions and damages any telecommunication cables can face prosecution — to the tune of a fine amounting to S$1 million, and a jail term of five years.

On Monday, Mr Ang also asked if errant companies behind cable cut incidents could compensate affected users.

In response, Dr Yaacob said these companies would face criminal prosecution. It is up to these companies to decide if they want to compensate affected users “as a gesture of goodwill”, he added.