Cairo - Internet users in Egypt experienced a considerable improvement in internet services on Sunday two days after nearly 80 per cent of the country's internet network went down when several submarine cables in the Mediterranean Sea linking Europe and the Middle East were cut.

The Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said in an earlier statement that by Sunday nearly 85 per cent of internet services are recovered as internet traffic has been shifted from the damaged Mediterranean cables to alternative service providers.

The statement also explained that "in an unprecedented incident" six undersea cables were damaged, including three cables linking Italy to the Middle East, one to North Africa and two to Malta.

The reason for the cable breaks was not immediately clear, according to French Telecom, one of the providers.

A deliberate act of sabotage was however ruled out by the company, which rejected earlier speculation.

It will however take several days to repair the damaged cables, the ministry statement quoted Italian authorities as saying.

It was the second large-scale internet disruption in Egypt this year due to undersea cable damage. The first occurred last January. (dpa)