If you are calling your Internet provider to complain about slow Internet speed or a service outage, you might want to hold on. It's not their fault (nor is it yours). The cyclone Vardah, which hit the shores of Tamil Nadu on Monday, is the culprit.
A Times of Indiareport suggests that the cyclone has affected some of the undersea cables that transmit Internet data. The service providers affected include big names such as Bharti Airtel.
"Due to the severe cyclone at Chennai coast, one of our international undersea cables has been damaged and Internet traffic has been partially impacted," an Airtel spokesperson told TOI. "As a result, customers in some locations may be experiencing slow Internet/data speeds."
Vodafone's services were also affected by Vardah and a statement by the company said, "Almost all services in these locations are almost back to normal, the voice and data services in and around some areas are being progressively restored and we should soon be in back to normalcy. We at Vodafone apologize for the inconveniences being caused to customers due to this force majeure. We are rapidly getting the network back in place."
The affected companies have dispatched expert teams to investigate the cause, the extent of the damage, and to rectify the problem. Many users had complained that Google services were not reachable online as well.
"We are experiencing network issues affecting some Google services in India and are working to resolve this for the affected users," a Google spokesperson told HuffPost India over email.
While the situation is being analysed, the service providers are trying to route the traffic to other servers so that customers do not face any problems.