Save the date for Vietnam Internet's expected return to normal speed   An internet cable is seen at a server room in this picture illustration. Reuters It may not be as early as we hoped, but the date for the snail-paced Internet speed in Vietnam to be fixed has been set, finally. The submarine cable incident that has been slowing down your Internet connectivity since Thursday last week will be repaired by May 13, VNPT, Vietnam’s leading telecom firm, said Friday. Internet speed for users in the Southeast Asian country will then be restored 100 percent, asserted Lam Quoc Cuong, director of VNPT-I, the international unit of VNPT. The AAG (Asia – America Gateway) system encountered a problem, which had been earlier thought by many as yet another cable disruption, on April 23, and has since irked Internet users with snail-like speed, particularly when they access websites hosted overseas. VNPT-I said a day after the incident was detected that it was caused by a leakage power, which had been identified on the section between the Vietnamese province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Hong Kong in the AAG system, which links Vietnam and the U.S. The tentative schedule for repairs had previously been reported as from May 6 to 11, according to VNPT-I. Cuong said VNPT-I had contacted its partners shortly after the leakage was found so that the latter would dispatch ships to fix the issue. Vietnam has also allowed these vessels to enter its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf to carry out the repairs, he added. VNPT has deployed a back-up plan to ensure Internet quality for its subscribers, according to a company representative. Other major Internet service providers in Vietnam, namely Viettel and FPT, also took similar moves to protect customers’ rights. The seemingly delicate AAG cable system is infamous for repeated ruptures. Disruptions have occurred to the system four times on different sections since 2014, with one break hitting the cable in January this year. In all cases, Internet connection to overseas servers of all service providers in Vietnam was affected, slowing down the Internet speed of their subscribers whenever they utilize services hosted abroad. Users of domestic services, however, are unfazed by the incidents. Vietnam is connected with four international Internet submarine cable systems, namely the AAG, SMW3 (Southeast Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3), TVH (Thailand-Vietnam-Hong Kong), and IA (Intra Asia).  But Internet traffic in Vietnam is greatly affected whenever the AAG cable ruptures, as the system has the largest capacity out of the four. The AAG is a 20,000-kilometer-long submarine communications cable system, connecting Southeast Asia with the U.S. mainland, across the Pacific Ocean via Guam and Hawaii. VNPT, Viettel, and FPT are reportedly participating in a trans-Asia Pacific cable system that will connect Asia with the U.S. and is scheduled to go online in 2016. TUOI TRE NEWS