On July 10, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will approve the final document prepared by the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience (IAB). This initiative, driven by the ITU and established in 2024—in partnership with the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC)—aims to formulate recommendations to strengthen the resilience of global submarine telecommunications cable infrastructure.

The meeting, to be held in Geneva, will mark the conclusion of the work carried out by the body's three working groups, whose reports will be consolidated into a single publication.

Following that session, the ITU, together with the governments of Nigeria and Portugal, will organize a session called "High-Level Dialogue on Strengthening Submarine Telecommunications Cable Resilience" within the framework of the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2026. The gathering will bring together ministers, regulators, international bodies, and industry representatives to discuss the IAB’s recommendations and define the next steps for strengthening the submarine cable ecosystem.

The goal of the IAB initiative is to foster cooperation among governments, operators, manufacturers, infrastructure providers, and international organizations in the face of rising risks to this critical infrastructure. It also aims to promote best practices to accelerate cable deployment and repair, reduce the causes of outages, enhance communications continuity, and strengthen international coordination.

The IAB’s work was structured into three groups focusing on different aspects of submarine cable resilience: infrastructure deployment and repair; risk assessment and mitigation; and financing mechanisms and international cooperation.

During the International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit 2026, held in Porto (Portugal) in February, the body had already approved an initial set of recommendations from its working groups; these will now be integrated and formally adopted in the final document.

The initiative addresses growing international concern regarding the protection of infrastructure that carries over 99% of international data traffic.