When an underwater cable became severed in the South Pacific last month, Tonga lost all internet access for nearly two weeks, in an incident that illustrates some of the risks that a U.N. expert group is examining.
Data worth an estimated US$10 trillion in economic activity — twice the GDP of Japan, the world's third biggest economy — moves through underwater cables every day, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC.
Science & Technology — Asia-Pacific — Asian Development Bank (ADB) — Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables 1888 — European Union (E.U.) — International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) — U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 — U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) — United Nations (U.N.) — World Bank Group — World Economic Forum (WEF) — World Trade Organization (WTO) — Tonga — Fiji — Sri Lanka
