Operational Resilience. How Telecom Operators Pivot from “Pipes” to “Protectors” During the 2026 Connectivity Crisis

Global Trends in Internet Shutdowns

The global digital landscape in 2025 has transitioned into an era of unprecedented volatility. Here is the reliability of internet connectivity is increasingly subject to complex geopolitical stressors. For telecom and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), this environment presents a profound paradox: while the demand for high-bandwidth, cloud-based security services like Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) is surging, the underlying infrastructure required to deliver these services is being weaponized through shutdowns and throttling. Operational Resilience is the core solution to cope this gap.

The final 2025 study by Top10VPN established a quantitative measure for this crisis. They showed that worldwide internet shutdowns in 2025 resulted in a $19.7 billion economic loss. 

The economic damage from 2025 exceeded 2024 levels by 156% because of 212 major government-imposed outages which occurred in 28 different countries. 

Telecoms now focus on VSaaS because their voice and messaging revenue streams have continued to plateau or decline from OTT platforms controlling the market. However, in these circumstances, the viability of these value-added services (VAS) is entirely dependent on their technical resilience. A security system which stops working after internet disruption creates a major trust breakdown. As a result it leads to customer departure and negative impacts on business reputation.

Cloud connectivity represents an insufficient solution for operators who need to operate in this complex environment. This report explores how the Aipix VSaaS platform for carrier-grade services utilizes Layer 3 (L3) VPN architectures, offline-first video persistence through Bridge Edge technology, and peer-to-peer smart intercom protocols to ensure service continuity and operator profitability, even during total digital blackouts.

The Global Anatomy of Internet Disruptions in 2025

The scale of internet disruptions in 2025 reflects a systemic shift in how state actors view digital control.Information control has evolved shutdowns from their original role of managing local disturbances into government-operated preventive measures which activate before any public unrest occurs.

The total duration of intentional disruptions rose by 70% year-over-year, reaching 120,095 hours. The network disruptions occur through three different methods which include complete power losses, social media access restrictions and complex speed control systems that make contemporary web platforms inaccessible.

Economic Impact by Region and Country

The cost distribution shows that emerging markets together with regions undergoing political changes need to pay most of these expenses. The eastern trade routes of Europe underwent major structural changes. They resulted in Europe having the highest total cost but Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia faced multiple brief disruptions that destroyed their economic stability.

The national economy of Tanzania suffered a loss of $890 million because their economic operations shut down for thousands of hours throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. These events tend to occur during critical political periods which include election times and civil government changes thus they fall under the category of “political circumstances”.

The Shift Toward Information Control

The world experienced its first recorded Information Control event in 2025 when this practice started causing internet blackouts instead of following the typical pattern of protests. The data shows that governments now employ shutdowns as an active regulatory method to fulfill two main goals which include information control and system monitoring enhancement.

The situation creates an extremely dangerous situation for all telecom service providers. When a government mandates a shutdown for information control, the operator is forced to disable services that their B2B and B2C customers rely on for safety and operational efficiency. The outage resulted in lost daily revenue which caused damage to the operator’s reputation because it made them appear unreliable as a public service provider.

Telecom Operator Profitability and the Quality of Video Surveillance Service Gap

Telecom operators in the modern and competitive era need to provide advanced digital services which extend past standard network access because their financial stability depends on it. The ARPU from voice and data services has reached a standstill. So that VSaaS offers a digital service layer which generates high margins for substantial business expansion. Internet shutdowns create a significant obstacle for digital transformation because they establish a major service quality deficit.

The True Cost of Downtime

Research indicates that all types of disruptions will generate major economic effects which damage operational performance while making businesses lose trust in their operational systems. For a highly connected country, the per-day impact of a total shutdown can reach $23.6 million per 10 million population. For a telecom operator, this manifests in several ways:

1. Immediate Revenue Loss. The direct loss of data usage fees and service subscription revenue during the blackout.
2. Increased Churn. Security service outages which result in critical system failures will drive customers to choose alternative providers or they will adopt decentralized satellite internet solutions.
3. Operational Complexity. The cost of managing technicians, customer support, and infrastructure re-activation post-shutdown can be substantial.
4. Regulatory Risk. Service reliability functions as a basic operational standard which operators need to follow because their operations must meet strict regulatory requirements. The public will become aware of power outages that occur repeatedly because such events could lead to financial penalties from regulatory bodies.

VSaaS as a Profitability Engine

Despite these risks, VSaaS remains a critical strategic necessity for 2026 and beyond. Operators are in a unique position to deliver carrier-grade cloud surveillance because they control the network, the caching servers, and the customer relationship. 

When integrated correctly, VSaaS can lead to operational resilience:

• The solution requires an initial investment which amounts to 30–60% less than on-premise solutions need to maintain.
• A 15–40% improvement in attach rates for fiber and 5G services.
• The conversion of unmanaged uplink traffic into a steady, recurring revenue stream.

The service needs to keep its operations running at full capacity to reach its maximum potential. The operator must be able to tell their customers: “Even if the national gateway is down, your cameras are still recording, and your security is still intact”.

How Can Telecom Avoid Loss During Internet Shutdowns? Operational Resilience is an Answer: Aipix L3/VPN Framework

The first line of defense against public internet disruptions is the underlying network architecture. Aipix enables telecom operators to leverage Layer 3 (L3) VPN services to create a secure, logically isolated environment for video surveillance traffic.

The Logical Router Model

An L3 VPN service connects multiple customer branches into a single logical routed architecture over the operator’s IP/MPLS network.For the end customer, this infrastructure appears as if their various sites are connected to a single private company router, completely bypassing the public internet.

The system design represents a revolutionary solution for the internet shutdowns which occurred during 2026. The “16 KB Curtain” creates performance limitations for public websites. But L3 VPNs function through private MPLS networks which organizations manage through their tailored routing systems. The VSaaS Mediaservers from Aipix operate within the operator’s core network structure while using L3 VPN tunnels to link client cameras which prevents video traffic from reaching the public gateways that governments have designated as their main targets.

Telecom operators need to shift their operational approach from following basic regulations to actual management for digital infrastructure development in 2026. Internet shutdowns have become a regular annual business risk which organizations must face instead of handling them as individual crisis events. Cloud security operators who protect essential high-risk infrastructure need to deliver service quality at its highest level according to Aipix.

To maintain profitability and a “compromiseless” service during the expected disruptions of 2026, telecom operators should implement the following strategic steps:

• Invisible Cloud (L3 VPN). The operator should redirect essential network traffic from the public internet network to their dedicated IP/MPLS core network. Aipix operates a system based on logical routing which maintains service availability for users during national border gateway outages.
• Edge Intelligence. The system requires Bridge Edge or Camera Agents to operate as local managed devices. This “Edge-First” approach ensures that 100% of critical security events are recorded to a local buffer during a total uplink failure.
• Self-Healing Archives. Activate background synchronization to automatically repair gaps in the DVR timeline. Once connectivity is restored, the system pulls edge-recorded segments and merges them into the cloud archive for a complete history.
• Decentralized Intercoms. Configure smart intercoms for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) local IP calling. This allows residents to see visitors and unlock doors over the building’s LAN, ensuring mission-critical access control persists without a cloud handshake.
• Rolling Readiness. Shift from static planning to event-driven analysis using the Aipix Control Center. Operators can monitor real-time traffic signals to proactively re-route video or trigger local recording modes before a shutdown occurs.

The Final Line

In an era of hyper-connectivity, most physical security systems rely entirely on external data centers. When connectivity is severed or restricted, these systems go dark. Businesses and government entities are left with a choice: accept the risk of “blind spots” or find a partner capable of maintaining integrity at the edge.

This is where the distinction between a service provider and a security orchestrator becomes clear.

For telecom operators, the annual cycle of internet shutdowns in 2026 is an opportunity to prove their value. By using Aipix to bridge the gap between “cloud” and “physical security,” operators move beyond being mere “pipe” providers. They become essential security orchestrators who provide the only reliable, “compromiseless” surveillance service on the market.

Contact us to make a personal launching VAS plan to get telecom and cloud physical security market advantages with Aipix. Aipix Platform – is the first step to telecom Operational Resilience.