Cloudflare Q4 Shutdowns Decrease Despite Ongoing Outages
Cloudflare has announced a notable decrease in government-directed internet shutdowns during the fourth quarter of 2025. While the firm identified a total of more than 180 internet disruptions throughout the year, only one government-ordered shutdown occurred in this final quarter.
Overview of Outages and Shutdowns
The company attributed ongoing disruptions to various factors. These include damage to cables, extreme weather conditions, and power outages resulting from conflict. Cloudflare’s global network spans over 330 cities across more than 125 countries, allowing them to leverage traffic patterns and routing data to pinpoint significant service impairments.
Government-Ordered Shutdowns
- Country Highlight: Tanzania experienced the sole government-directed shutdown during the quarter.
- Impact: Internet traffic in Tanzania plummeted by over 90% amidst unrest linked to the presidential election.
- Timeline: A sudden decline began around midday local time, with a brief restoration following the next day. However, a near-complete outage persisted until early November.
Significant Cable Disruptions
Several severe outages resulted from cable cuts and subsea damage. Notable incidents were reported in the following countries:
- Haiti: Two outages affecting Digicel Haiti saw traffic drop near zero mid-October, with another complete outage in late November.
- Pakistan: In October, traffic sharply declined due to a cut on the PEACE submarine cable near Sudan.
- Cameroon: Late October disruptions attributed to the West Africa Cable System led to traffic drops of 90% to 99%.
- Dominican Republic: In December, outages linked to fiber optic disruptions impacted Claro Dominicana significantly.
Weather-Related Disruptions
Severe weather events also caused substantial internet connectivity loss. Key occurrences include:
- Hurricane Melissa: This hurricane struck Jamaica in late October, leading to a 70% traffic decrease.
- Cyclone Senyar: The cyclone inflicted catastrophic flooding in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, with traffic drops ranging from 80% to 95% in affected regions.
Conflict-Related Connectivity Issues
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine resulted in significant disruptions. In Odesa, Russian drone strikes affected energy infrastructure, reducing internet traffic by as much as 57% temporarily.
Technical Outages at Telecom Providers
Cloudflare noted several technical outages at telecom providers. Notable instances included:
- Vodafone UK: Experienced a brief outage in October, during which traffic dropped to zero for about two hours.
- Fastweb (Italy): A reported DNS issue in October caused traffic volumes to fall by more than 75%.
Cloud Platforms and Observations
During the quarter, Cloudflare introduced a Cloud Observatory page within its Radar service. This tool monitors availability issues across major cloud platforms, including:
- Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Cloudflare remains committed to tracking disruptions and publishing verified anomalies through its outage reporting tools. The company emphasized the critical role of real-time data in sustaining global connectivity.
