Olympics: France Faces Internet, Phone Services Disruption

Fibre-optic cables are said to have been “sabotaged” in several French regions.

This is happening three days after attacks on the rail system caused trains all over the nation to stop.

Report claimed that there was no impact on connections serving Paris, the location of the real games.

This is, however, not the first attack on French infrastructure in recent days; train movement was hampered before last week’s opening ceremony by “coordinated” burns on rail lines.

Telecom firms informed Bloomberg that while they worked on repairs, customers would experience slower speeds while the carriers looked for other routes.

The impacted regions were Oise and Meuse in the north, Bouches-du-Rhône, Aude, Hérault, and Drôme in the south.

“Damages committed in several departments last night affected our telecommunications operators,” confirmed Marina Ferrari, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, in a post on X.

AFP report stated that nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the telecom sabotage.

“What frankly makes us furious is that we feel the state has not realised the importance of these potential attacks on France’s

“We’ve already seen it with what happened to (rail operator) SNCF,” said Nicolas Guillaume of Netalis, a specialised operator.

Authorities were working with the operators to restore service, she said.

SFR, one of the impacted providers, notified France Télévisions that at least five locations’ entry gates had been destroyed and very large wires had been cut, most likely using a grinder, according to France Info.

The disruption of broadband connections is the second significant event affecting France’s infrastructure as it prepares to host the 2024 Olympics.

It is unclear whether the two instances are connected.

Earlier report stated that a tech company’s decision to pull its advertising from the 2024 Paris Olympics has sparked debate following a contentious opening ceremony performance.