Finland says latest fiber-optic cable break was an accident, not sabotage

Finland's police confirmed on Tuesday that the damage to two fiber-optic cables running across the country’s land border with Sweden was caused by excavation work rather than sabotage.

In an official statement, the police said they have no ongoing criminal investigation into the recent cable break, dismissing previous reports that the incident was allegedly caused by malicious activity. As of the time of writing, the cables had been repaired — a day after they were damaged at two separate locations in rural areas.

The incident caused a major internet outage in Finland, affecting 6,000 private customers and 100 businesses using the services of the local Global Connect and Elisa telecom operators. Most customer services linked to the cables have already been restored. No sea cables were affected, according to an Associated Press report.

This week's incident follows recent breaches — intentional or not — of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea. Finland's authorities are currently investigating the damage to the cable that connects Finland and Germany. Earlier last month, another cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania was also damaged.

Sweden, Germany and Lithuania have all launched criminal investigations into a Chinese ship that allegedly damaged those cables. It is not yet clear whether the incident was an accident or intentional.

German authorities said earlier in November that they assumed the damage to cables in the Baltic Sea was an act of sabotage. Last week, Sweden formally asked China to cooperate with an investigation into damage to the cables. Beijing has denied any involvement in sabotage and said it was willing to work on the investigation.

Other European countries have also been affected by similar incidents. Earlier in July, fiber-optic networks of several French telecommunication service providers were sabotaged, disrupting some fixed and mobile services.

Following recent reports of cable breaches, the United Nations and other international agencies have created an advisory body focused on the protection of submarine cables.

According to internet cable protection authorities, there are an average of up to 200 incidents causing damage to submarine cables each year, requiring about three cable repairs each week. Most incidents are accidents, with damage typically caused by ship anchors, fishing, or natural disasters.