Lisbon, July 14, 2026 (Lusa) - The International Advisory Group on the Resilience of Submarine Cable Systems, set up by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the ICPC, has approved the final report, which sets out a comprehensive series of recommendations and was released on Tuesday.
In a statement, Portugal's National Communications Authority (Anacom) refers to this international advisory group of the ITU and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), co-chaired by Anacom’s Chair, Sandra Maximiano, and Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Bosun Tijani, met as part of the WSIS Forum 2026, where it approved its final report, which brings together the work carried out by experts from governments, regulators, industry, international organisations and academia.
This document contains a wide-ranging series of “recommendations to strengthen the resilience of submarine cables, recognising them as critical infrastructure responsible for carrying over 99% of intercontinental data traffic”.
The recommendations include encouraging efforts to “simplify licensing and regulatory processes, so as to reduce the time taken to install and repair submarine cables” and “establish clear legal and operational frameworks, in accordance with international law, for the management of submarine cables in their waters, including, where appropriate, their designation as national critical infrastructure”.
Another recommendation aims to encourage governments to implement and enforce “their obligations under international treaties relating to submarine cables, including those set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, through appropriate national legislation, effective enforcement mechanisms and measures designed to protect submarine cables from damage”.
Furthermore, it recommends “supporting the design and implementation of partnership mechanisms, including public-private partnerships, for the laying of submarine cables in underserved regions, enabling routes that would not be commercially viable through exclusively private consortia”.
In general terms, “the report also proposes, in particular, improving incident monitoring and response, strengthening cooperation between governments and industry, increasing route redundancy, and promoting investment and capacity-building, particularly in developing countries and the most vulnerable regions”.
Sandra Maximiano highlighted in her speech, quoted in the press release, “that this advisory group has succeeded in transforming common challenges into shared solutions, emphasising that their implementation will now depend on the mobilisation of resources, investment and capacity-building amongst the various stakeholders”.
On 29 November 2024, the ITU, the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies, announced the final establishment of the international advisory group on the resilience of submarine cable systems as a platform for international collaboration between various stakeholders, bringing together governments, regulatory authorities, industry leaders and diverse actors in areas related to enhancing the security, redundancy and protection of submarine cables.
The group comprises 40 members from all regions of the world.
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