Egypt cuts off internet with unexpected consequences

Scholars and social commentators alike have speculated about how the Egyptian government was able to shut down the internet almost completely during the recent political upheaval.

The move had some unanticipated consequences. For example, students at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington County, Virginia, USA, temporarily lost their long-distance, online Arabic teacher, stationed in Cairo. Said networking firm Renesys, the shutdown involved the withdrawal of more than 3 500 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes by Egyptian ISPs. Only one ISP out of 10 – Noor Data Networks – appeared for some time to be largely unaffected. It connects to the outside world via an undersea cable operated by Telecom Italia.