People play computer games at an internet shop in the central town of Hoi An.
Photo by Shutterstock/Minh Duy.
 

Internet connection to Vietnam via Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) undersea cable was cut off entirely after it encountered an as yet unidentified problem Saturday morning. 

Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country have rerouted connections from the APG to other cables instead, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing an ISP representative. The cause of the problem is being identified and plans to resolve it will be announced later, the representative said.

The disruption has added to Vietnam's recent internet woes. Another undersea cable, the Asia America Gateway (AAG), also experienced a technical problem earlier this month that affected international bandwidths connected to Vietnam. Repairs are expected to be completed on June 2.

International Internet connection from Vietnam is mostly handled by five undersea cables: SMW3, APG, IA, AAG and AAE-1, according to a representative of the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA).

The APG cable, officially launched in December 2016, is capable of providing bandwidths of up to 54 Tbps (Terabit per second). It runs for around 10,400 km, with connection points in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The cable is currently used by Vietnamese ISPs VNPT, Viettel, FPT Telecom and CMC Telecom.