By Martin Ekpeke
Stakeholders who gathered at the International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit in Abuja, Nigeria have outlined key areas where global cooperation is needed to enhance submarine cable resilience across the world.
The three key areas include strengthening cable protection through risk mitigation, promoting diverse routes and landings to enhance resilience and continuity, and facilitating timely deployment and repair.
This is even as governments, industry executives and international organizations expressed support for strengthening the world’s vital undersea network of telecommunications cables at the summit.
The summit, hosted by Nigeria in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), addressed the critical need to protect the vast network of submarine cables that carry over 99% of global internet traffic. With hundreds of faults occurring annually, disruptions can have devastating economic and social impacts.
“Submarine telecommunications cables are a fundamental backbone of our interconnected world. Entire economies feel the impact of disruptions to service,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “This summit is galvanizing global efforts to ensure the resilience of this vital telecommunications infrastructure.”
The Summit Declaration highlighted three key areas for action: strengthening cable protection through risk mitigation, promoting diverse routes and landings, and facilitating timely deployment and repair. It also emphasized the importance of sustainable approaches, technological innovation, and capacity building to address future connectivity needs.
Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Co-Chair of the Advisory Body, underscored Nigeria’s role in safeguarding this crucial infrastructure. “As a key landing point for submarine cables in Africa, Nigeria is well-placed to contribute to and help shape global efforts to enhance resilience,” he stated.
Prof. Sandra Maximiano, Chair of ANACOM and Co-Chair of the Advisory Body, highlighted the declaration as a “major development for the entire submarine cable ecosystem,” particularly for countries like Portugal with strategic landing points.
The summit marked the first in-person meeting of the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, formed by the ITU and ICPC. The body aims to bolster the operational resilience of submarine cables, ensuring reliable connectivity worldwide.
“This summit brought together the global submarine cable industry and governments to focus on the continued protection and resilience of this critical infrastructure,” said ICPC Chairman Graham Evans. “This cooperation provides a key opportunity to work together on the practical steps to promote best practices to enhance the resilience of submarine cables across the world.”
The Advisory Body also established working groups to focus on risk identification, monitoring, and mitigation, as well as geographic diversity and timely cable deployment and repair.