As protests begin to erupt in Algeria, rumors abound that Internet is beginning to be blocked. So far it stills seems that despite centralized regime there, Internet still works. Yes it is true that certain sites seem to be inconspicuously having issues, there are ways around them through using direct IP connection. It seems though the lock down Egyptians experienced with their Internet won’t happen.
Internet providers in Algeria receive their international Internet connections by way of cables submerged in the Mediterranean from Europe. ALgerian boasts a long list of service providers: Level3, Cogent, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, France Telecom, and Tinet. A pretty wide range of Algerian providers (Telecom Algeria, Wataniya Telecom Algeria, SPA Anwarnet, Smart Link, Orascom/Djezzy, etc.) have direct international connectivity. This is seen in the BGP routing table. This whole situation makes a “kill switch” strategy way more difficult to succeed in Algeria than it was in Egypt. Of course this doesn’t make the Algerian government very happy.
Below are scenes of Saturday’s protests in Algeria: