Proxy strangles UAE internet

[Magnus]

A bit off the usual topics but it affects us all. From AMEInfo:

UAE telco authorities have admitted that a technical problem with the proxy filter is to blame for severely affecting internet use since Sunday, Gulf News reports. It left many users unable to access sites such as Google or Yahoo. The problem has now been fixed, according to UAE state monopoly ISP Etisalat. The UAE is renowned for having some of the heaviest internet censorship in the world.

[Appleholic]

i see no point of this censorship, its rubish.. let tem censore whats going on in the country before they put too much effort on the proxy... i cant stand them...

[Magnus]

From Emirates Today:

The second major internet disruption to hit the UAE since the start of the new year was resolved after a few hours in what state-run telecom giant etisalat called “record time”. “We are pleased to announce that the problem has been identified and an effective solution has been implemented. This demonstrates etisalat’s strength and expertise in handling any problem. We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused, but also congratulate the team for their efforts,” Ahmed Abdulkarim Julfar, Chief Operating Officer of etisalat said in a statement.
The incident occurred yesterday morning and affected not only the UAE, but also the entire Middle East, causing slow browsing and an inability to download dataheavy pages.
The telecom giant sent a team from its Security, Network and Service Operations along with its vendor partners and international service providers to pinpoint the cause of the problem, which the company did not share with the media.
Observers, however, speculate the slowdown could be related to the series of earthquakes that hit off the coast of Taiwan on December 27.
The first tremor measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale reportedly knocked out parts of the South East Asia Middle East Western Europe 3 (SeaMeWe 3) and Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 undersea cables.
The loss of the SeaMeWe 3, an arterial hub for the Middle East’s internet connections, has been slowing internet data transfer throughout early January. Switching the net traffic to alternative routes is a likely cause of yesterday’s disruption, as other routes are now congested.
The Taiwan cable cut is likely to be repaired in the next two weeks.
Yesterday’s disruption is the second major nationwide problem to hit over 100,000 internet users in the UAE in the past few weeks. While experts say it is just a matter of bad luck, residents and businesses want it to be the last.
Stock market consultant, Jabbir Turaibi, said: “Here in Dubai we are trying to be a business hub. How can we do that if we the entire country’s internet goes on the fritz? I’ve lost my entire day’s productivity from the internet being so slow. And with all the other businesses who were hit by the problem, it’s a huge loss.”

[MacUAE]

i can understand that "things happen"... but Etisalat have to offer better prices and some compensation for lost time.

For the Dh.350 I pay... I expect nothing but miracles.

[inurv2]

Perhaps, Du will b better. Hopefully.....

[Magnus]

More today in Emirates Today:

Etisalat is working to ensure that further disruption of the country’s internet services do not occur, while residents say they still wait for the internet speed to pick up.

“We are working closely with the company responsible [for our filtering software] to ensure that all reasons behind the anomaly are identified and ensure preventative measures put in place,” an etisalat spokesperson said.

On Tuesday morning internet speed in the country slowed drastically. Explaining the situation, etisalat said: “At 8.30am we began receiving complaints and started investigations into our network and services infrastructure.” By 1.40pm the telecom giant found out the culprit behind the slow data transfer – the proxy filter used to block inappropriate net content throughout the Gulf.

Etisalat has since reverted back to its older filtering software to counter the bottleneck, but residents say the net speed is still not up to par.

“If the problem was fixed on Tuesday, why do I still have to try 10 times to open my e-mail before it finally goes through?” asked Ajman resident Afsheen Mahmoud.
Telecom industry insiders explained that an overall slowdown in the internet speed was also linked to the disconnection of the internet cables off the coast of Taiwan on December 27.

When asked if that obstruction was behind the continued bottlenecks in the UAE’s internet use, an etisalat source said they could only comment on the filter-related slowdown and inform that internet speed was returned to “as it was before” the content filter software problem.

Amazing...

[ultrablue662]

i see no point of this censorship, its rubish.. let tem censore whats going on in the country before they put too much effort on the proxy... i cant stand them...

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

A very very cool guy once said that.