Storms and floods are already costing mobile operators around US$1.7 billion a year in network damage, and that bill could nearly double to more than US$3 billion a year by 2050, according to new research from the GSMA.
Key Takeaways
- Storms and floods already cost mobile operators US$1.7 billion a year in network damage, a figure GSMA says could pass US$3 billion annually by 2050.
- Across more than 50 countries, severe weather caused roughly 150 telecom outages a year between 2022 and 2024, hitting almost 215 million users annually.
- GSMA’s new policy principles push regulators toward outcome-based rules and cross-sector coordination, rather than rigid technical mandates.
Storms alone account for $1 billion a year
The figures come from a new GSMA report, Futureproofing Connectivity: Assessing Climate Risk and Resilience in Telecommunications, released on 3 November. Severe storms make up the largest share of the damage, at roughly US$1 billion a year today, a figure GSMA expects could reach US$2.4 billion annually by 2050. The industry body says even these numbers are conservative: they leave out damage to fixed-line networks, other hazards such as wildfire and extreme heat, and knock-on costs like lost revenue, service restoration and higher insurance premiums.
Looking across more than 50 countries, GSMA found that major storms and floods coincided with about 150 telecommunications outages a year between 2022 and 2024, directly affecting just under 215 million users annually.
The towers usually survive. The power doesn’t
Mobile operators already spend heavily on hardening networks: backup power, redundant connections, emergency roaming arrangements and rapid-response repair crews, as GSMA’s earlier Mobile Investment Needs in Europe report has documented. But the new report points to a weak point operators don’t fully control: electricity. Severe weather disrupts mobile service more often by knocking out power supply than by damaging the towers and equipment themselves, which means resilience increasingly depends on sectors outside telecoms, particularly energy and transport.
“Mobile connectivity is essential infrastructure. Whether responding to extreme weather, power failures or other major disruptions, people, businesses and emergency services depend heavily on mobile networks,” said John Giusti, GSMA’s chief regulatory officer and president of the GSMA Foundation. “Severe weather is already costing the industry billions of dollars, and those costs are set to rise substantially. Building resilience will require a coordinated effort amongst operators, governments and the wider ecosystem.”
Five principles GSMA wants regulators to follow
Alongside the report, GSMA has published a new set of policy principles for mobile network resilience, aimed at governments and regulators drawing up rules for critical infrastructure. The organisation argues that rigid technical mandates often do more harm than good, and sets out five priorities instead:
- Favour outcome-based policy over prescriptive regulation, so operators can choose the solutions that fit local risks.
- Build resilience in by design, giving operators flexibility to plan for future climate risk from the outset.
- Consult operators early, with rules that reflect real costs and timelines rather than conflicting requirements.
- Treat resilience as a cross-sector job, coordinated between operators, governments, emergency services and energy providers.
- Keep responsibilities clear and communication transparent, to maintain public trust during emergencies.
GSMA adds that where resilience rules go beyond what operators would invest in on a risk basis, governments should be looking at incentives, funding or cost-recovery mechanisms to make up the difference.
The report itself doesn’t break out Southeast Asia numbers. But the region sees its own share of severe storms and flooding, which makes the same question, who pays to keep networks running when the weather turns, just as relevant for regulators here.
