Network resilience: Design for disruption

From submarine cables and satellites to AI-enabled networks, national officials and technology executives are calling for resilience to be built into the foundations of digital infrastructure.

Keeping communication networks and digital services running has become an urgent priority for countries around the world as societies and economies increasingly digitalize.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) brings governments and industry together on standards and cooperation for secure and resilient communications.

At a 10 November session on resilience at ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-26), government ministers and representatives examined how terrestrial, satellite and subsea networks, the cloud and data centres, and critical Internet infrastructure can withstand disruption.

Tomas Lamanauskas, ITU Deputy Secretary-General and session host, pointed to the world’s growing dependence on communications infrastructure. Some 6.3 billion people are online today, while 99 per cent of international data traffic travels through submarine cables. But those cables experience 150-200 breaks a year, with a disrupting effect on economies, government operations and essential services across borders.

“Rapid growth in satellites deployed and data centres being built means that the resilience of this infrastructure cannot be an afterthought,” Lamanauskas asserted.

Mashael Al-Hammadi, Assistant Undersecretary for Digital Government Affairs, Qatar, agreed: “Resilience is a common objective.”

Resilience as a built-in requirement

Clear and enforceable investment requirements can be more effective than leaving each operator to choose how far to prepare for disruptions, said session co-moderator Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, Director-General of the UAE Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.

When the United Arab Emirates (UAE) renewed telecom operators’ licences this year, it made resilience a regulatory obligation, Al Mesmar noted.

“Resilience used to mean keeping networks running,” he added. “Now it means keeping services running in the face of cyberattacks, extreme weather and other disruptions.”

Phillip Jackson, Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Innovation, Digital Transformation, and Information of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, added the perspective of island countries amid mounting climate risks.

Disasters cost small island developing states (SIDS) an average 2.1 per cent of gross domestic product each year, said Jackson, the session’s other co-moderator.

Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 knocked out fixed and mobile communications on five of his country’s southern islands, leaving a single terminal as their only link with the outside world for weeks. The outages cut critical communications, disrupted economic activity and left people unable to call for help.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is now assessing its critical infrastructure and working with neighbouring Grenada on a submarine cable project with integrated satellite links for back-up connectivity.

“Resilience must be designed upfront, through complementarity and diversity of supply,” Jackson said.

AI for more resilient networks

The ITU session also featured key private-sector perspectives.

Elizabeth Migwalla, Vice-President of International Government Affairs at Qualcomm, said artificial intelligence (AI) could help operators identify network anomalies and carry out preventive maintenance. Processing should take place close to where it is needed, she said, rather than depending only on centralized cloud infrastructure.

Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, focused on the pressure AI is putting on telecommunication networks and electricity grids, while arguing that AI could itself make both more resilient. He pointed to smarter energy management and future 6G networks able to sense conditions and prioritize critical traffic.

“The time has come for AI to help, rather than hurt, resilience,” Hidary said.

By 2029, quantum computers will be powerful enough to crack the encryption methods in widespread use today, he warned, urging governments and industry to adopt quantum-safe security standards without delay.

Resilience from the capital to the village

National officials stressed infrastructure redundancy, diversified cable routes, stronger cybersecurity cooperation and regional planning. They called for regulation that supports innovation while ensuring continuity of essential services.

Resilience challenges are inherently, and increasingly, international. Officials in the session called for closer cross-border cooperation and regional resilience plans, particularly for countries dependent on a single international communications route.

Resilient connectivity, they stressed, must extend beyond major cities to remote and underserved communities.

As one African representative put it: “Resilience must reach the village as much as the capital. It must not be a privilege of the connected few.”

Lamanauskas, underscoring the need for closer international cooperation, announced the first-ever Global Digital Resilience Forum, coming up in Dubai, UAE, on 8‑9 December, with a focus on practical scenarios and preparedness.

Image credits: ITU/M. Fiyas