SENNA

Internet Blackout Cripples Businesses on Remote Italian Island of Lampedusa

ROME - Residents and businesses on the remote Italian island of Lampedusa have been left without reliable internet access for over a month, crippling commercial activity and public services in the latest infrastructure challenge facing this Mediterranean outpost.

The prolonged outage, which began in late November, has been caused by issues with the undersea cable that provides the island's internet connectivity, according to Lampedusa's mayor Filippo Mannino. In a Facebook post, Mannino explained that the cable, which runs from the nearby island of Licata, was in need of "urgent maintenance" and that repair work was underway.

However, as December arrived, the problem persisted, leaving Lampedusa and the neighboring island of Linosa cut off from the internet. Without a functioning network, businesses have been unable to process digital payments, public administration services have been disrupted, and residents have faced disruptions to their daily lives.

"Lampedusa and Linosa cannot be left without a connection - it is a right, a need, a necessity for the safety and daily life of our community," Mannino said in his social media appeal.

The remote location of these Italian islands, situated closer to the coast of North Africa than the Italian mainland, has long presented logistical and infrastructure challenges. Reliable internet access is particularly crucial given Lampedusa's reliance on tourism and its role as a gateway for migrants and refugees arriving from Libya.

Industry experts note that the lack of redundancy in the islands' telecommunications network leaves them vulnerable to such outages. While repair work is underway, the prolonged disruption highlights the need for investment in more resilient digital infrastructure to support economic activity and public services on Italy's far-flung territories.

As the repair effort continues, local authorities are working to minimize the impact, with the mayor stating that the situation is expected to gradually improve throughout the day on Tuesday. However, the episode serves as a reminder of the unique challenges faced by communities on the geographic periphery as they strive to keep pace with the digital demands of the modern economy.