These days there is much talk of introducing new legislation or upgrading existing legal frameworks on a myriad of issues Sri Lanka needs to address. While many of these legislative shortcomings impact the populous, rule of law and governance of our little island, there is one area which is hardly spoken about.
Like governments of the past, the new caretaker Government of President Dissnayake has emphasised the need to improve the island’s – digitalisation, both of State services and the private sector. Many experts have opined that digitisation will greatly benefit Sri Lanka.
However, Sri Lanka’s digital communications umbilical to the world, remain vulnerable. This is due to the bureaucracy dragging its feet on enacting legislation on the protection of undersea data cables. Sri Lanka’s connectivity, trade and digital economy as an island nation is largely dependent on seven undersea fibre-optic data cables which remain under- protected by local legislation. This gap in legislation, leaves Sri Lanka’s national security and economic recovery in a vulnerable state, with a part of the critical digital infrastructure of the country lacking a legal framework for protection. Such legislation, had it been introduced at the time it was discussed, would have placed Sri Lanka as the regional leader in submarine cable protection, offering the island State which seeks to improve her ‘hub’ status and attract tech investments, especially in tandem with the Personal Data Protection Act, which was adopted.
The risks posed to Sri Lanka’s under undersea critical maritime and digital infrastructure is not one Sri Lanka can afford to ignore, and wait to fix ‘once something has happened’, as our economy is fragile and the island cannot weather serious disruptions at this stage. Sri Lanka is no stranger to the dangers posed to the submarine data cables which link the island to the world. In 2004, Sri Lanka suffered its first major internet and international communications outage which lasted a few days when the Indian flagged merchant vessel State of Nagaland dragged its anchor over the SEA-ME-WE3 data cable that supplied linkages to the SLT. The incident occurred in a coastal sea area which has restrictions put in place to stop ships from deploying the anchor. The SLT later took the vessel owners to court seeking $ 5 million as compensation for damages. The cost to the economy from the outage has not been calculated.
Globally, submarine cables carry 95% of the world’s total communications, while satellites are only able to handle 7% of global data traffic. Many key submarine cables that link Europe with the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and Africa lay on the seabed of Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The highest density of submarine cables in the Indian Ocean falls in Sri Lanka’s EEZ or travels around the Island. There are three main challenges to uninterrupted submarine cable operations. These include – natural disasters, accidental human-induced damage, and deliberate interference and sabotage. The fact that most of the networks are laid, owned and operated by private corporate entities further complicate the issue. The recent incidents at the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and near the Taiwan Straits and due increasing geopolitical contention and conflict, points to a return of sea bed warfare.
Sri Lanka is connected to the world through the following seven submarine data cables: The Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG), South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3 (SMW3) Submarine Cable, South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 (SMW4) submarine cable, South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SMW5), submarine cable, Bharat Lanka Cable System (BLCS), FLAG Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network (FALCON) Submarine Cable System, and Dhiraagu & Sri Lanka Telecom Cable System (DSCS). According to the Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka has an internet penetration of 52% as of 2020 with nearly 77% of internet users using smart mobile phones to access the world wide web. Global and local use of the digital world of the internet increased significantly following the physical and travel restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has pushed online businesses and trade volumes to record heights. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, undersea cables are built, owned, operated, and maintained primarily by private sector companies. Approximately 98 percent of the world’s undersea cables are manufactured and installed by four private firms.
It is reliably learnt that that the draft of the National Submarine Cables Protection and Resilience Framework (NSCPRF), a pursuit which began under the Yahapalanaya Government’s tenure in 2018, completed in 2020 and was earmarked to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval in 2022, was again been shifted to another branch of the Government without being submitted for approval. The legislature was then kicked around like the many ‘policy footballs’ the Sri Lankan bureaucrats like playing with, and sent from ministry to agency, for completion. Having been kicked around from the Ministry of Technology, Foreign Affairs and the AG’s Department, it finally ended up at the former President Wickremesinghe’s Secretariat, for completion. However, no legislation was submitted to Parliament and approved, leaving Sri Lanka vulnerable as it was found to be in 2004, and the process for the legislation began in 2019. As such, it would be prudent for the new Government to address this matter diligently and introduce the legislature we need to secure Sri Lanka’s critical national infrastructure, as our future depends on them.