‘International link’ issue the cause of internet outage in Qatar

Photo for illustrative purposes only.
Photo for illustrative purposes only.

Updated at 8pm with a statement from Ooredoo

If you had trouble accessing WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook and certain websites this afternoon, you weren’t alone.

It appears internet service in Qatar slowed down or became non-existent for many people around town, starting at around 3:30pm.

https://twitter.com/KhusrooPasha/status/747415788097781760

https://twitter.com/a_e_hassan/status/747420637161992192

However, some said that they regained access to websites, apps and services like WhatsApp once they connected to a virtual private network (VPN).

This allows users to get online via a remote or international server. Because VPNs are working, this suggests that there was a local issue at play.

Shortly before 6pm, Ooredoo tweeted its apologies and said it is working to resolve a “technical issue.”

In a statement to Doha News this evening, a spokesperson added:

“Today’s Internet difficulties, which were caused by an issue with an international link, are now fully resolved.

Our technical team were able to trace the problem and resolve it in under one hour, and have taken steps to prevent any reoccurrence. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank our customers for their patience.”

Resolution

About an hour after the outage, or 4:30pm, some users said their internet had been restored, though others complained that they were still offline.

On Facebook, many residents expressed relief that they weren’t the only ones whose internet was offline.

Some said they had begun to doubt their relationships after not getting responses from their partners, while others were worried their routers or phones were broken.

Were you affected by the outage? Thoughts?

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