Uruguay fiber cuts disrupted Antel internet

Uruguay recorded a connectivity outage observed on October 13, 2026 at 19:10 UTC, while Antel reported four cuts in its fiber-optic transport network that affected internet, mobile telephony and Wi‑Fi. The company said the damage affected connectivity to the international network, and services began to come back online gradually.

What was reported about the cuts?

Antel reported two breaks on Route 9, one on the Interbalnearia highway near Atlántida and another on Route 12 between Minas and San Ramón, according to coverage published by la diaria. Prensa Latina added that the failures hit access to the international network, which Uruguay reaches through submarine cables landing in Maldonado.

What was the scope of the impact?

FM Gente reported, citing data the outlet itself described as not definitively confirmed, that the cuts on Route 9 and the Interbalnearia affected Maldonado, Rocha, Lavalleja, Cerro Largo and Treinta y Tres between 16:30 and 19:00, with 145,000 services affected. That figure differs from the one reported by other media, according to the same coverage.

What did Antel say caused the breaks?

Antel later attributed the failures to external causes linked to roadworks and, in the case of Atlántida, to a private project, according to El Observador. That communication did not report a cyber cause, and the available material also does not allow the episode to be linked to ICS or OT infrastructure.

What do the traffic data show?

La diaria cited Cloudflare data showing traffic fell by about 40% during the two hours after the failure began, with drops in several departments and the largest decline in Montevideo. That behavior matched the disruption observed by Voidly, which reported an active status and said IODA had detected a significant drop in connectivity in the country.