The GSMA says climate‑related damage to mobile telecommunications infrastructure could cost operators more than $3 billion annually by 2050, almost twice the current level of losses.

At present, mobile operators spend about $1.7 billion each year on repairing and replacing cell‑site infrastructure damaged by severe weather.

Storms account for roughly $1 billion of those annual losses, a figure the GSMA expects to climb to $2.4 billion by 2050.

Analysis of more than 50 countries showed that major storms and floods coincided with an average of about 150 telecommunications outages each year between 2022 and 2024, affecting just under 215 million service users annually.

The GSMA notes that its financial projections focus on damage to mobile cell sites and do not include losses from fixed networks, wildfires, extreme heat, lost revenue, service restoration or higher insurance premiums.

John Giusti, the GSMA’s chief regulatory officer and president of the GSMA Foundation, said severe weather is already costing the industry billions and those costs are set to rise substantially.

Power supply disruptions are emerging as a major vulnerability, with severe weather often causing outages through electricity failures rather than direct equipment damage.

Operators have responded by investing in backup power, redundant connections, emergency roaming arrangements and rapid‑response capabilities, though the GSMA says these measures cannot fully mitigate risks that lie outside the telecom sector’s control.

To address the growing threat, the GSMA has outlined five policy principles urging governments and regulators to adopt flexible, investment‑friendly approaches to network resilience, including outcome‑based regulation and coordinated emergency planning across infrastructure sectors.

The association also calls for regulatory certainty and proportionate resilience requirements, warning that obligations beyond operators’ existing risk‑based investment plans may need government incentives, funding or cost‑recovery mechanisms.

Mobile networks are now essential for businesses, emergency services and public institutions, making prolonged outages a growing economic and national‑security concern as climate‑related risks intensify.