On December 2, the telecommunications company Global Connect reported that a terrestrial optical cable linking Finland to Sweden had suffered two ruptures, one in the vicinity of the city of Espoo, the other in those from the locality of Vihti. That's about 30 km away, as the crow flies. And this led to disruptions within the Finnish fiber optic network, with around 6,000 households being deprived of an Internet connection.
Obviously, a cable cut in two different places can only raise suspicions of sabotage. However, the origin of the rupture observed near Espoo was quickly found. Indeed, according to Jaakko Wallenius, head of security at the Finnish telecommunications operator Elisa, an excavator accidentally cut the cable during a construction site.
“Elisa has no reason to assume that the damage was intentional because it occurred in the course of normal construction work and the culprit reported it on his own initiative,” Wallenius explained.
On the other hand, no explanation could be given for the rupture observed at Vihti. “Cables break for many different reasons. But it is certainly unusual for two ruptures to occur at the same time,” commented Niklas Ekström, head of public relations at the Swedish subsidiary of Global Connect.
Also concerned, Sweden said it had “taken note” of the incident. “We take this seriously. […] Finnish police are investigating what happened and, given the circumstances, sabotage is suspected,” said Carl-Oskar Bohlin, its civil defense minister.
“The authorities are investigating this matter in collaboration with the company,” said Lulu Ranne, the Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications, via the social network X.
However, the Finnish police were much more cautious. In a press release released on December 3, it indicated that no “criminal investigation” into the damage suffered by the cable had yet been opened at this stage.
However, reports public media YLE, the police are currently seeking to “establish what happened, in collaboration with other authorities” while the Finnish cybersecurity center has taken up the case.
This incident occurred two weeks after the rupture of two submarine telecommunications cables in the exclusive economic zone [ZEE] from Sweden. For the moment, the hypothesis of sabotage has not yet been formally established… but heavy suspicion falls on the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3, due to its behavior. Currently, this ship is still immobilized in Cattégat [ou Kattegat]on the edge of Danish territorial waters.
Photo : Pudeo – CC BY-SA 3.0
