The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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
Story: “Submarine cable resilience – ITU” – 29 November 2024
Speakers:
- Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
TRT: 01’58”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 29 November 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley.
- Wide shot of the podium with speakers at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU): “We're launching the international advisory body for submarine cable resilience that is an important milestone in protecting our global digital infrastructure, ensuring its resilience and ensuring that it serves well our global economy.”
- Medium shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU): “Submarine cables carry around 99 per cent of the global internet traffic. So, that means that anything we do today in the digital world is dependent 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.”
- Wide shot of the press conference room and control room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU): “We see this critical infrastructure is vulnerable to disruptions, from accidental human activity, from natural hazards, from aging infrastructure. We usually identify around 150 -200 faults that occur globally each year, equivalent to about three faults per week.”
- Medium shot: journalists in the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU): “It's not our role to investigate, to attribute or to determine the issues. What we do to help the member states is referring them to the practices that they can use to do that, to apply in this regard.”
- Close shot: journalist listening in the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU): “We don't do the attribution of 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.”
- Wide shot of the press conference room.
- Various shots of the press conference room.
Similar Stories
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Navi Pillay Retires After Decades Defending Human Rights and Pursuing Justice
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.