A declaration adopted at the summit, together with recommendations from the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, sets out measures to reinforce cooperation between public and private stakeholders. The guidance aims to improve preparedness, accelerate repair efforts, and support connectivity in underserved regions that depend heavily on a small number of international links.
Submarine cables carry the vast majority of international data traffic, with around 500 systems spanning more than 1.7 million kilometres forming the backbone of global connectivity. The networks support digital access for people, institutions and businesses on every continent and are central to social and economic development.
"When it comes to critical digital infrastructure like submarine cables, resilience is both an end-to-end imperative and a shared responsibility," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. "The Porto Summit outcomes reaffirm our commitment to strengthening global cooperation that can make a real difference in policy engagement, operational readiness, and investment decisions."
The Porto summit was organized by Portugal's national communications regulator ANACOM in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC). The meeting also hosted a session of the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, which ITU and the ICPC set up in 2024 to translate discussions into practical actions.
"I am deeply proud to have had the unique opportunity to guide such a distinguished group of leaders from both the public and private sectors, representing all regions of the world," said ANACOM Chairwoman and Advisory Body Co-Chair Prof. Sandra Maximiano. "The International Advisory Body was created to deliver concrete and meaningful impact, and I firmly believe it is already doing so. This impact is particularly significant for regions, countries, and remote islands where economic incentives for rapid response mechanisms are more limited, rendering them especially vulnerable to submarine cable disruptions."
The Porto event followed the inaugural summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, and marked the second in-person meeting of the Advisory Body. Participants reviewed progress over the past two years and discussed how to turn the emerging recommendations into operational and policy changes across jurisdictions.
"The progress we've made over the last two years is the result of deliberate collaboration and shared purpose," said H.E. Minister Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Co-Chair of the Advisory Body. "Continued international cooperation, capacity-building, and dialogue - supported by organizations such as ITU and the ICPC - will be essential to implementing these recommendations."
The Advisory Body's guidance focuses on streamlining permitting, maintenance and repair processes for submarine cables to reduce delays and downtime. It also calls for more robust legal and regulatory frameworks to clarify responsibilities, improve coordination and support timely interventions when faults occur.
Other recommendations encourage greater geographic diversity and redundancy in cable routes, particularly for Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and other underserved regions. By diversifying paths and adding backup connections, network operators and governments can lower the risk that a single cable break or cluster of failures will isolate entire economies.
The summit further highlighted the need for wider adoption of industry best practices to assess, mitigate and respond to risks to submarine infrastructure. Participants emphasized that better planning across marine sectors, including coordination with shipping, fishing and offshore energy activities, can help reduce accidental damage and improve protection in vulnerable areas.
Capacity-building and innovation are central elements of the proposed approach, with training programmes and new technologies identified as key enablers of more resilient cable networks. The Advisory Body plans to develop comprehensive reports later this year to provide more detailed guidance and support implementation.
"It is encouraging to see the cooperation between governments and industry in developing these recommendations," said ICPC Chairman Dean Veverka. "We look forward to their implementation to strengthen cable protection and resilience."
More than 99 percent of international data traffic is routed over subsea cables, and over 200 cable faults are reported globally each year. Disruptions to these systems can affect access to information, public services and digital tools, with knock-on effects for economies and the daily lives of billions of people worldwide.
Related Links
International Telecommunication Union
Satellite-based Internet technologies
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