Meeting at least twice annually, the body will provide strategic guidance, promote best practices, and focus on timely deployment and repair, mitigating damage risks, and ensuring continuous communications over subsea cables.
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“Submarine cables carry over 99% of international data exchanges, making their resilience a global imperative," said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary-general of the ITU. “The Advisory Body will mobilise expertise from around the world to ensure this vital digital infrastructure remains resilient in the face of disasters, accidents, and other risks.”
The ICPC revealed that 150 to 200 subsea cable faults occur annually, mainly due to accidental human activity like fishing and anchoring, as well as natural hazards, abrasion, and equipment failure.
The fragility of subsea cables came back into the spotlight in recent weeks following recent cable disruptions in the Baltic Sea reignited concerns about cable vulnerabilities.
The new Advisory Body seeks to strengthen the resilience of subsea cable networks through collaboration, fostering international cooperation to ensure digital resilience.
“The formation of this International Advisory Body with ITU marks another step toward safeguarding our global digital infrastructure," said Graham Evans, chair at ICPC. “By working together, we can promote best practices, foster international collaboration, and create a consistent approach to protect the vital submarine cable networks that underpin global connectivity.”
The new Advisory Body will feature 40 members, including ministers, heads of regulatory authorities, industry executives, and telecom cable experts.
Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and Professor Sandra Maximiano, chair of the Board of Directors of the National Communications Authority of the Republic of Portugal (ANACOM) will co-chair the Advisory Body.
The group’s first meeting will take place virtually in December 2024, with its first physical meeting scheduled to take place during the Submarine Cable Resilience Summit in late February 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria.
“Submarine cables are essential to the functioning of our connected world, but they face risks that require coordinated proactive action,” Tijani said. “We are happy to host the inaugural Submarine Cable Resilience Summit to be held in Nigeria in early 2025."
"This initiative underscores the global community's commitment to strengthening these networks and advancing international cooperation for digital resilience," said Maximiano.
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