repaired two miles below the surface of the Atlantic.

The fault caused problems to telephone users in Bermuda on Sunday, May 23, until Cable & Wireless re-routed calls via satellite.

Hundreds of calls may have been affected when the fault first struck during that evening.

The Private Transatlantic Telecommunications (PTAT) fibre-optic cable is capable of carrying 17,000 simultaneous calls before it is usually necessary to use a satellite.

Spokesman Mr. John Instone said: "The Cable & Wireless ship Sir Eric Sharp has succeeded in repairing the cable to which Bermuda is connected. The problem was located in a portion of the cable some 1,700 km. off the UK coast and the cableship put to sea immediately from her base at Avonmouth.

"The crew of the Sir Eric Sharp having grappled the cable from a depth of 3,800 metres, or 2.3 miles, completed the final splice on the cable on Wednesday.

"Following extensive testing the service was being restored from yesterday.

The problem was caused by chafing of the cable ... which caused a leakage to the power core.''