April 1, 2009 - 8:50PM
The Internet is running at a snail's pace in Myanmar, costing travel agents and exporters much-needed business and forcing computer cafes to turn away customers.
The military-run government on Wednesday blamed the slowdown on maintenance it has been doing since March 21 on an undersea cable in the Bay of Bengal.
State-owned Internet service provider Teleport initially said work would be finished on March 25 but now says it will not be completed until at least April 3 because of "unexpected difficulties."
The junta in Myanmar aggressively censors the Internet and routinely blocks politically sensitive Web sites such as those promoting democracy. During the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September 2007, it cut all access to the Internet and shuttered many cybercafes.
But this time around, there is no indication that government meddling is behind the slowdown. While hard to confirm, business owners said they believed the problem was technical since Teleport went out of its way to announce the repairs and expected slowdown.
Whatever the cause, travel agents say they are seeing a rising number of cancelations for trips to the impoverished country, including tourists who have changed their plans and headed to Vietnam and Cambodia. Exporters and importers also said they were missing deadlines because of the slowdown.
"This is the Internet age and every customer, especially from overseas, makes their travel inquiries and reservations online," said a travel agent who identified herself as Wunna. "Erratic Internet connections affects the efficiency and credibility of our operations."
Among the hardest hit have been Internet cafes. Some have shut their doors.
"It takes ages to load Web pages," said La Pye, a cybercafe owner who claims he has lost 70 percent of his business. "It is still possible check Gmail, but young, regular customers who normally chat online and play Internet games can no longer use Internet at this slow speed."
Source: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/internet-service-disrupted-in-myanmar-20090401-9jpo.html
The Internet is running at a snail's pace in Myanmar, costing travel agents and exporters much-needed business and forcing computer cafes to turn away customers.
The military-run government on Wednesday blamed the slowdown on maintenance it has been doing since March 21 on an undersea cable in the Bay of Bengal.
State-owned Internet service provider Teleport initially said work would be finished on March 25 but now says it will not be completed until at least April 3 because of "unexpected difficulties."
The junta in Myanmar aggressively censors the Internet and routinely blocks politically sensitive Web sites such as those promoting democracy. During the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September 2007, it cut all access to the Internet and shuttered many cybercafes.
But this time around, there is no indication that government meddling is behind the slowdown. While hard to confirm, business owners said they believed the problem was technical since Teleport went out of its way to announce the repairs and expected slowdown.
Whatever the cause, travel agents say they are seeing a rising number of cancelations for trips to the impoverished country, including tourists who have changed their plans and headed to Vietnam and Cambodia. Exporters and importers also said they were missing deadlines because of the slowdown.
"This is the Internet age and every customer, especially from overseas, makes their travel inquiries and reservations online," said a travel agent who identified herself as Wunna. "Erratic Internet connections affects the efficiency and credibility of our operations."
Among the hardest hit have been Internet cafes. Some have shut their doors.
"It takes ages to load Web pages," said La Pye, a cybercafe owner who claims he has lost 70 percent of his business. "It is still possible check Gmail, but young, regular customers who normally chat online and play Internet games can no longer use Internet at this slow speed."
Source: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/internet-service-disrupted-in-myanmar-20090401-9jpo.html
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