Fiber optic cable cut during the Olympics in France

French police have revealed that sometime between the night of July 28th and the early hours of July 29th, 2024, an unknown assailant cut fiber optic cables belonging to several telecommunications companies, affecting internet lines in some areas.

French Internet Lines Cut in Latest Attack During Olympics - Bloomberg

Des 'dégradations' sur des réseaux de fiber optique dans six départements, le parquet de Paris se saisit de l'enquête
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/des-reseaux-de-fibres-optiques-coupes-dans-six-departements_6693414.html

Des réseaux de fiber optique de plusieurs opérateurs victimes de « sabotages nocturnes » dans six départements
https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2024/07/29/de-reseaux-de-fibres-optiques-de-plusieurs-operateurs-victimes-de-sabotages-nocturnes-dans-six-departements_6260956_4408996.html

According to foreign media such as Franceinfo, between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. on July 28, 2024, someone cut fiber optic cables owned by telecommunications companies such as SFR , Bouygues Telecom , and Free Mobile .

Nicolas Guillaume, CEO of Netalis, one of the affected companies, said in a statement: 'This is an unacceptable situation and we are working with other affected operators.'

Voici une photo de l'un des câbles coupés cette nuit...

Nous sommes pleinement solidaires avec nos confrères opérateurs touchés.

@lauredlr @Marina_Ferrari @GDarmanin pic.twitter.com/D8zqa2l72e

— Nicolas Guillaume (@nguillam) July 29, 2024

The cut in the fiber optic cable caused internet outages in the Bouches-du-Rhône, Oise and Aude regions. 'The fiber optic cable cut that occurred last night has affected several telecommunications operators,' said Marina Ferrari, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs. 'I strongly condemn these despicable and irresponsible acts.'

Des dégradations commises dans plusieurs départements cette nuit ont affecté nos opérateurs de télécommunications.

Elles ont des conséquences, localisées, sur l'accès à la fibre, la téléphonie fixe et la téléphonie mobile.

Sous ma supervision, le center pour les communications…

— Marina Ferrari (@Marina_Ferrari) July 29, 2024

In response to this incident, the Paris prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the incident, claiming that damage to property that could harm the fundamental interests of the state has been confirmed. However, no claim of responsibility has been made for this incident.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for SFR said that they were working on establishing alternative routes to resume service and that 'due to the measures in place, the impact to SFR customers has been minimized.' Free Mobile also reported a few hours after the incident that 'while some areas still have issues, all services for domestic customers have returned to normal.'

Network incident: return to nominal status
The situation has returned to a nominal status and all services for our national customers are operational. Only a few local difficulties persist, and our teams remain fully mobilized to return to a normal situation. (2/2)

— Free Pro (@FreePro) July 29, 2024

At the time of writing, the Olympics will be held in Paris, France from July 26, 2024. According to the foreign media Le Monde, the network of Orange, the communications service provider for the Paris Olympics, was spared from the damage caused by the fiber optic cable cut, so there will be no impact on the Olympics.