KPNQwest blames 11-hour downtime on fishing boat

NEWS KPNQwest, the joint venture between KPN and Qwest which operates a high-capacity pan-European network, explained how a fishing trawler severed one of its two cross-channel cables, leading to 11 hours of downtime. The boat sliced through the submarine connection at about midday yesterday - an event that was all the more serious because a similar accident ruptured the company's other cross-channel link last week. A KPNQwest spokesman said the company is re-routing traffic through the US as a stopgap measure. The recently floated company is now in negotiations with customers, and said it is discussing possible compensation on a case-by-case basis. KPNQwest plans to run one of its upcoming cables through the channel tunnel.