On Sunday, work commenced to repair submarine cables under the Mediterranean, which are suspected of being cut by a ship's anchor. As a result, it has hindered Internet and international telephone service in parts of the Middle East and south Asia.

On 21st December, at 1330 GMT, experts arrived at the site of the damage between Sicily and Tunisia on a cable ship.

A remotely operated submarine robot was sent with the aim to track down the cables.

While referring to the France Telecom Marine "Hector" vehicle, Louis-Michel Aymard said, "The robot has begun its mission."

A varying degree of disruption from Zambia to India and Taiwan was caused due to the damage at about 0730 GMT on Friday to the SEA-ME-WE3, SEA-ME-WE4 and FLAG cables, owned by different consortiums.

However, a France Telecom spokesman said that the situation had improved in India, Singapore and Reunion by Sunday at 1500 GMT.

"Over 80 percent of our Internet capacity had been restored, although there remained some tangible impact on call centers," reported the Egyptian government.

The spokesman also said, "It is unclear how long it would take the robot to locate the cables as the anchor suspected of causing the damage may have dragged those several kilometers (miles) from their normal positions."

The affected parts would be brought by the robot abroad the Raymond Croze" ship for repairs which would be carried out in a special facility before putting them back at the bottom of the sea.

It was expected by the France Telecom repair SEA-ME-WE4 by December 25 and SEA-ME-WE3 by the end of the year. It should be noted here that the French company is not part of the consortium owning the FLAG cable, which would be repaired by another cable ship.