Egypt Gets Its Internet Back

Good news: According to reports and analyses, the Internet has returned in Egypt after a blackout of several days. Web intelligence firm Renesys, which offered one of the first data-supported reports confirming the Internet shutdown on January 28th, offers the above chart, with the note that “The rebooted Egyptian table is smaller than it was a week ago, but that’s mostly because of a normal process called “reaggregation” … That’s to be expected: the Egyptian table had gotten pretty dense with redundancy in the week leading up to the takedown, and it’s been cleaned up in the process of being brought back.” Twitter and Facebook have apparently been unblocked as well.

The resumption of Internet service coincides with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s announcement that he will not seek another term in office. While the Army has asked protesters “to go home to help provide security and restore stability … We ask you to go home not because we are a superior power. We ask you kindly,” thousands of people reportedly remain in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demanding Mubarak’s prompt resignation.

(via WSJ, ComputerWorld. Title chart via Renesys)