Red Sea Cable Cuts Cause Azure Cloud Latency Across Asia and the Middle East Regional internet and cloud services took a major hit after several undersea cables in the Red Sea were cut, disrupting connectivity for Azure users in Asia and the Middle East. Starting September 6, users began noticing slower speeds and higher latency, especially for traffic routed through the Middle East. What Happened? Multiple international cable systems, including SMW4 and IMEWE near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, experienced outages, which quickly led to degraded service across India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. NetBlocks and regional telecoms confirmed slow speeds and intermittent access were affecting consumers and businesses night and day. While these cable cuts are often accidental, there have also been concerns about possible intentional sabotage, given recent regional tensions and incidents. Impact on Azure Cloud Microsoft warned customers that Azure traffic running through the affected region would face increased latency and, in some cases, service interruptions. Engineering teams responded by re-routing data through alternative network paths so that global outage was avoided, but latency still increased on many critical workloads for hours. Why Is the Red Sea So Important to Global Connectivity? The Red Sea is one of the busiest and most strategic subsea cable corridors in the world, linking Europe, Africa, and Asia. Nearly 17% of the world’s internet traffic flows through this route, making any disruption here a major problem for enterprise, cloud services, and millions of everyday users. Fixes and Ongoing Concerns Microsoft has since resolved the main Azure issues, confirmed by updates on their service status page. But undersea cable repairs are complex and slow, with outages sometimes lasting days or weeks. Local operators and international partners are still working to restore normal speeds, while experts warn that more network redundancy and cable security is needed to weather future incidents in this region. In summary, the Red Sea cable cuts show just how tightly our world relies on complex digital infrastructure. Even a single break can cause ripple effects for major cloud providers, businesses, and regular users across several continents.
