Internet services slowly returning to normal

? Internet access in India improved Friday as international service providers shifted their Internet traffic to cables under the Pacific Ocean to bypass two undersea cables damaged earlier this week.

Repairs, however, will take longer.

The two cables deep under the Mediterranean Sea snapped Wednesday, disrupting service since then across a swath of Asia and the Middle East.

India took one of the biggest hits, and the damage from its slowdowns and outages rippled to some U.S. and European companies that rely on its lucrative outsourcing industry to handle customer service calls and other operations.

Bandwidth providers in India said they were working to restore service to about 80 percent of its usual speed Friday.

In Egypt, Internet access remained sporadic or nonexistent Friday, the first day of the official Muslim weekend in the Middle East when all government offices and most businesses are closed.

Workers will not know for sure what caused the cuts off the northern coast of Egypt until they are able to get repair ships and divers to the area, though there was speculation a ship’s anchor was to blame.