There are reports this morning that Internet service is returning in Egypt, ending an unprecedented week-long blackout of Internet services in the country.
Ostensibly aimed to shut down protests, the actions seemed to do no such thing as crowds continued to grow on the streets, demanding that President Hosni Mubarak step down – something he now says he’ll do later this year.
The Wall Street Journal cites Hassan Kabbabi, CEO of cellphone service provider MobiNil, saying that this was a government sanctioned return, coinciding with the military’s urging today – via television – that protesters return home and end their anti-government demonstrators.
Nonetheless many are still on the streets. And while those outside Egypt may be able to reach Egyptian websites (I can bring up the page for the Suez Canal Authority, for example) the Internet seems to only be available within Egypt in pockets. However, as you can see via the statistics from the monitoring service RIPE below, connectivity is slowly coming back to the country.
