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'Long weekend down the drain': How UAE internet slowdown affected residents
The temporary dip in speeds came amid a series of undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea, affecting internet services across the Middle East
- PUBLISHED: Sun 7 Sept 2025, 3:53 PM
The UAE is known to have the world’s fastest Internet speeds. But when a temporary slowdown hit the country over the weekend, residents quickly felt the impact, whether at work or at play.
The slowdown came at a time when many residents were enjoying the three-day weekend, hoping to relax with streaming services or online games. Instead, social media lit up with complaints as people reported interrupted downloads, buffering videos, and sluggish browsing.
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For gamers like Ahmed Al Mansoori from Dubai, the slowdown was a major disruption. “I was trying to stream my gameplay to friends online, but the video kept freezing and my voice chat kept cutting out,” he said. “It wasn’t just annoying; it made the whole experience impossible. I had to pause my sessions repeatedly, and I couldn’t enjoy my weekend like I planned.”
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Remote workers also felt the effects. Some residents had planned to use the long weekend to catch up on work or attend online meetings. Elizabeth Mark in Abu Dhabi experienced repeated disruptions during a scheduled video meeting with colleagues in the UK. “Every few minutes, the call would disconnect,” she said. “I had to keep reconnecting and it really stressed me out.”
The temporary dip in speeds came amid a series of undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea, affecting internet services across the Middle East. According to Downdetector, reports of issues came from across the UAE, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Jebel Ali, and Umm Al Quwain. Most complaints were related to landline internet, TV streaming, and mobile networks.
Even casual users felt the pinch. Khalid Saeed from Sharjah planned to unwind with his favorite streaming service but found videos buffering repeatedly. “I just wanted to watch a movie, but the slow speeds made it impossible. It was annoying, especially since it was my day off,” he said.
Microsoft issued a statement: “Starting 05.45 UTC (9.45am UAE time) on September 6, 2025, network traffic traversing through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea. Network traffic is not interrupted as Microsoft has rerouted traffic through alternate network paths. We do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East. Network traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted. We’ll continue to provide daily updates, or sooner if conditions change.”
Waad Barakat is a Special Correspondent covering security topics, from law enforcement to local courts. With a keen eye for human interest stories, she hopes to blend it all with unique Gen Z-inspired content.
