Scramble to repair Asia's quake-damaged telecom lines

HONG KONG - Millions of people across Asia suffered a second straight day without full Internet service Thursday as telecoms operators raced to counter predictions of weeks without Web access.

At least eight boats headed to the waters between Hong Kong and Taiwan so that repairmen could tackle the complicated task of fixing underwater fibre-optic cables damaged in a huge earthquake off Taiwan on Tuesday.

Although stock markets across the region functioned normally, access to overseas websites remained spotty, as did the ability to dial telephone numbers in the United States and across Southeast Asia.

"Our system is gradually recovering," leading Japanese long-distance provider NTT Communications, said in a statement, explaining that it had re-routed much of its data transmission away from the troubled Taiwan route.

More details can be found here.