(Bloomberg) -- The Shetland Islands, 110 miles north of the mainland UK, have been cut off from communications following what is believed to be an accidental break in their main submarine internet cable.

The incident is not suspected as malicious and is being attributed to a trawler boat fishing on the seabed, according to the UK’s biggest broadband network owner BT Group Plc.

The only cable linking the British mainland to Shetland is SHEFA-2, owned by Faroese Telecom. A representative for Faroese Telecom said by phone they believed the damage to be accidental from a passing ship. 

“Faroese Telecom spotted the damage via marine tracking being done by a trawler in the area and reported this to the UK Coastguard,” a BT spokesman said by email. “They are working with us on re-route options as a result of this accidental damage and to repair their cable as soon as possible.”

BT said some phone, broadband, TV and mobile services are affected, apologized for any inconvenience, and said that anyone who needs to call 999 should try their landline or their mobile “even if they don’t have signal from their own mobile provider.

 

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