From cables beneath the sea to satellites in the sky, protecting connectivity matters. Extending digital infrastructure to the “last mile” and ensuring early warnings for natural hazards is key to building safer, more prosperous societies.
Bridging the digital divide requires more than connections. It demands resilient, inclusive, and future-ready digital infrastructure that withstands disruptions.
From the first telecommunication networks to the rollout of 5G, ITU has been at the forefront of technical frameworks that enable seamless global connectivity – on the ground, by sea and in the sky.
Protecting submarine cables
Out of sight, but not out of mind: submarine telecommunicationcables underpin our everyday lives. ITU has facilitated standards for this critical undersea infrastructure since the 1860s, soon after the first cables were laid beneath the sea.
Today, submarine cables carry over 99% of the world’s international data traffic, enabling financial transactions, cloud computing, government communications and other critical services.
The world’s 500+ active and planned cable systems are vital, yet vulnerable. Risks range from fishing and anchoring to underwater earthquakes, tsunamis, and shifting seafloors. Over 200 cable repairs occurred in 2023, averaging more than three failures per week worldwide.
Image credit: ASN
ITU works closely with the International Cable Protection Committee to promote global cooperation and boost submarine cable resilience.
In November 2024, a 40-member International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience was established to explore ways to strengthen this backbone of modern economic stability. The advisory body addresses cable maintenance issues, damage prevention, recovery times after disruptions, and sustainable practices for ongoing cable development.
Extending digital infrastructure
Physical digital infrastructure is a cornerstone of resilient economies – allowing people, businesses, and governments to connect and thrive. It’s a lever for progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, for which 70% of the targets include a digital component.
“Last mile” digital infrastructure is especially important. Reaching remote and rural communities often remains complex. According to ITU’s Facts and Figures 2024, only 27% of people are online in low-income countries, compared to 93% in high-income countries.
Five barriers to digital infrastructure financing
Closing connectivity gaps requires targeted financing, clear digital policies, and risk mitigation strategies to drive sustainable investment in digital infrastructure. The Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative (DIII) Working Group has identified five recurring challenges that hinder digital infrastructure investing in many countries:
Demand fragmentation, typically observed in less densely populated areas, often increasing the perception that universal connectivity projects are not economically viable
Core infrastructure gaps, including insufficient backbone and the lack of data centres
Lack of a national digital agenda and strategy, and lack of clarity on the linkage to key social development plans such as education and healthcare
Project execution risks, which can be substantial for projects requiring highly specialized technical capabilities
Country risk, a major roadblock for investment in developing markets
Countries around the world pledged, as part of the Pact for the Future in September 2024, to develop resilient digital infrastructure – both the physical components like cables, towers, and satellites, as well as the host of platforms and systems enabling digital public services for citizens. The Global Digital Compact, attached as an annex, calls for innovative and blended financing to connect the world’s unconnected to the Internet.
Governments, businesses, development finance institutions, and investment funds all have a role to play, and new investment sources must be tapped.
ITU’s Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative – launched during Brazil’s G20 presidency in 2024 and now supported by seven leading development finance institutions and South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025– is galvanizing public and private sources to bridge an estimated US$ 1.6 trillion investment gap, aiming to bring resilient digital connectivity to everyone.
“We must commit to delivering digital infrastructure that transforms lives, strengthens communities, and connects the 2.6 billion still offline. The Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative is a vital step toward universal meaningful connectivity by 2030.”
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary General
Connecting the unconnected is a tall order. The 2.6 billion who are not online are largely in marginalized communities or geographic areas.
ITU has brought together financing institutions and industry players to determine the way forward and mobilize the necessary investments. The Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative (DIII) aims to identify common challenges for digital infrastructure development, scale up successful models, and innovate new ways to connect everyone meaningfully by 2030. The initiative is co-led led by ITU and the African Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Islamic Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB), with Boston Consulting Group as a key knowledge partner. The private sector, governments and civil society are all represented in the working group. Set up with Brazilian backing, the initiative has continued gaining momentum under South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025.
The initiative’s January 2025 white paper outlines gaps, opportunities and challenges, as well as highlights innovative financing mechanisms that could help close the estimated USD 1.6 trillion digital infrastructure investment gap.
ITU-UNICEF Giga initiative, which aims to connect every school in the world to the Internet by 2030, contributes insights on innovative financing for school connectivity and shares DIII outcomes on its own platform.
Digital infrastructure financing —including digital infrastructure investment needs, potential solutions, and action areas—are a key topic for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville in June 2025.
Early warnings drive resilience
With extreme weather events on the rise, communicating life-saving disaster-related information is increasingly crucial. Yet many people and communities still do not receive timely alerts of impending disasters.
Early warnings systems (EWS) that alert people to storms, floods or droughts are not only tools that save lives – they also reduce economic losses, leading to more resilient communities and economies. Resilient connectivity is crucial to ensure these systems are reliable and secure.
ITU is one of the four Pillar Leads of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, alongside the World Meteorological Organization, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. ITU leads Pillar 3 on Warning Dissemination and Communication.
Focusing chiefly on multi-channel alerting and mobile-based early warning communications, ITU has established a standardized format – Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) – that enables telecom companies to swiftly deliver clear, life-saving information through multiple channels to all people at risk.
WSIS Forum 2024 Photo Contest Winner: Southern Province, Thailand
Beyond early warnings systems, the organization also supports countries in developing effective National Emergency Telecommunications Plans to enhance disaster preparedness, response and recovery, and to ensure continuity of communications.
These plans help to strengthen coordination among national and international stakeholders and raise awareness on the need to have strong legal and regulatory frameworks for the use of technologies throughout the disaster management cycle.
ITU facilitates the use of essential technologies to ensure that people everywhere, at any time, can be reached. Digital technologies – from cell broadcast and location-based SMS to satellite monitoring – are key to reach people at risk. Conventional TV and radio broadcasts also remain vital to inform and warn the public, even in remote with limited digital connectivity. Moreover, integrating local-level involvement, trust-building, and community-based alerting is key to ensuring that no one is left behind.
In partnership with telecom and satellite operators, ITU works to ensure that global digital networks save lives, strengthen disaster response, support humanitarian relief operations, and drive resilience.
