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发表于 29-12-2006 10:43:00|来自:新加坡
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<span>SINGAPORE: Internet users in Singapore and across Asia got back online but continued to face slower connection speeds as the disruption caused by the earthquake in Taiwan entered its second day. <br/><br/>Although there have been improvements, service providers say they are working to restore affected services as soon as possible. <br/><br/>The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) says full restoration may take a few weeks, and calls on the public's continued understanding. <br/><br/>Tuesday's quake in Taiwan caused undersea cables to be damaged, resulting in internet disruptions which affected several industries. <br/><br/>Budget carrier Jetstar Asia said its online booking system was badly hit. <br/><br/>Chong Phit Lian, CEO, Jetstar Asia, says the organisation is quite badly affected as online bookings are down 30 percent from the usual and the call centre has to take more calls. The payment gateway is also down. <br/><br/>Singapore Airlines also saw a decline in online booking immediately after the quake but the situation has improved. <br/><br/>Others like Tiger Airways reported business as usual. <br/><br/>As for international freight-forwarding company DHL, it said operations were not affected but customs and processing work in Taiwan were disrupted on Wednesday. The situation is now back to normal. <br/><br/>Service providers are working round the clock to tackle the problem. <br/><br/>SingTel, Southeast Asia's biggest telco, has set up a Command Centre to monitor and manage the situation. <br/><br/>The aim is to restore affected services and rectify disrupted private data network for corporate customers. <br/><br/>It also mobilised four cable ships to carry out repair work on the damaged cables. <br/><br/>StarHub, Singapore's biggest broadband provider, said 80 percent of its Internet bandwidth has been successfully diverted to other undersea cables. <br/><br/>Most Asian and local sites are not affected. The problem crops up when you access some US-based sites like MSN or hotmail. <br/><br/>In a statement, IDA said the country, being a telecomms hub, strives to ensure that communication links are always "on" through diverse offerings such as alternate submarine cable and communications systems. <br/><br/>It added it will continue to monitor the current situation. <br/><br/>The last time such a major disaster affected online users in Singapore was in 1999, when an earthquake in Taiwan also hit undersea cables. - CNA/so <br/></span> |
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