Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has underscored the importance of global cooperation in strengthening the resilience of submarine telecommunications cables amid increasing strain on critical digital infrastructure.
Speaking following the Second International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit 2026, also known as the #PortoCableSummit, Lamanauskas highlighted the gathering of more than 350 participants from over 70 countries, representing governments, industry stakeholders, and international organisations.
The summit marked the culmination of a year of collaborative work, resulting in what organisers described as meaningful progress toward safeguarding global connectivity.
A key outcome of the meeting was the adoption of the Porto Declaration, which affirms the essential role of submarine cables in enabling global connectivity, economic development, social inclusion, and digital transformation. The declaration includes consensus-based recommendations aimed at streamlining permitting and repair processes, strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks, promoting geographic diversity and redundancy, enhancing risk management and infrastructure protection, and building capacity through training and innovation.
Lamanauskas expressed appreciation to the summit’s hosts and partners, including Sandra Maximiano of ANACOM – Portugal’s national communications authority, Porto Mayor Pedro Duarte, and João Mira Gomes of Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also thanked Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, who co-chaired the International Advisory Body, as well as the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), which co-organised the event.
The summit reinforced the growing consensus that strengthened international cooperation is critical to ensuring the resilience and security of submarine cable systems, which carry the vast majority of global data traffic.