France Telecom sent a ship on Saturday to repair broken cables under the Mediterranean disputed Internet and phone communications across the Middle East and Asia, a French source said.

With this "very rare situation," a spokesman from France Telecom said a ship had been sent by the company in order to fix the lines between Sicily and Tunisia, and services were expected to return to normal by the end of December.

Three submarine cables, owned by different operators including France Telecom, were damaged on Friday. The cause of the cut remains unclear.

Egypt was affected worst among countries involved in the accident. Singapore, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were also affected by the disruption but most reported services were restored Saturday.

According to the French source, many operators said web services had improved as alternative routes had been used.