UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : Submarine cable resilience

International panel set up to help protect undersea cables

An international panel has been set up to protect undersea communications cables that are crucial for international trade and security, the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said on Friday.

The creation of the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience comes amid an ongoing investigation into the severing of two fibre optic cables in the Baltic Sea, in less than 24 hours between 17 and 18 November.

Beijing has denied any involvement but expressed its readiness to cooperate with Sweden in an investigation, after reports that a Chinese vessel was in the vicinity at the time both incidents occurred.

The international body - created by ITU and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) - is “an important milestone in protecting the global digital infrastructure, ensuring its resilience and that it serves well our global economy,” said Tomas Lamanauskas, ITU Deputy Secretary-General.

Submarine cables carry around 99 per cent of global internet traffic. That means that “anything we do today in the digital world depends on submarine cables, from our emails and text messages to financial transactions, critical government communications, cloud services, social media, our video streaming services, and so on,” Mr. Lamanauskas told journalists in Geneva.

Damage to submarine cables happens regularly, with an average of 150 to 200 breaches occurring globally each year and requiring about three cable repairs per week, according to ICPC.

It usually takes a few weeks to fix, but this depends on various factors such as the type of break, depth, or weather conditions. The volcanic eruption in the southern Pacific Ocean triggered by a tsunami in 2022 disconnected Tonga for several weeks. It took nearly 18 months to repair the damage fully.

This, in turn, limited essential emergency response and support for disaster management and recovery in the archipelago. “This critical infrastructure is vulnerable to disruptions, from accidental human activity, from natural hazards, from ageing infrastructure,” explained Mr. Lamanauskas.

The new advisory body will aim to improve cable resilience by promoting best practices and principles for all governments and industry players. It is tasked with ensuring the timely deployment and speedy repair of submarine cables, to reduce the risk of damage and enhance the continuity of affected communications.

Asked about the cause of the most recent incident in the Baltic Sea, Mr. Lamanauskas noted that ITU does not attribute “the causes of the disruptions. What our partners, international or some international cable protection committees say is that around 80 per cent of the cable disruptions are caused by accidental human activity or natural hazards.”

The advisory body’s 40 members include government ministers, heads of regulatory authorities, industry executives and senior experts in the field of telecommunication cables from all over the world. The body will meet at least two times a year. The first virtual meeting is scheduled next month, December 2024. The first physical meeting is scheduled to take place during the Submarine Cable Resilience Summit, planned for late February 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria.

Ends

Submarine cable resilience – ITU - 29 November 2024

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