Geneva hosted last 10-11 November a meeting of the Working Group on ITU Issues (WG ITU), which basically covers policy and strategy issues involving the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), namely at the level of the Plenipotentiary Conference (PP), Council, and the Union sectors'advisory groups.
The main agenda point consisted of preparing issues to be dealt with at the 2008 session of the ITU Council, namely:
- Brazil' proposal that some ITU publications should be made freely available on the ITU website - the group concluded that this measure could help enhance the ITU's visibility, although the financial impact of said measure would have to be evaluated beforehand; a trial period, as proposed by Brazil, would be the proper course;
- Number of places on the ITU Council - the group agreed with Argentina' proposal to the Council that the number of places on the Council should henceforth be 47 and that the new place should be assigned to region A (Americas);
- Telecom meetings - the possibility of holding the telecom meetings every two years was debated, with the group concluding that this would mean the end of the regional telecom meetings. The association of European Telecommunication Network Operators (ETNO) agreed with this measure, as it held that such fairs are, for industry, no longer a preferential way to make contacts. The WG ITU chairman indicated that industry needs would have to be studied to decide whether a two or three-year cycle would be more effective;
- ITU management and functioning - he group discussed documents 48 and 49 from the Council session concerning Resolution 147 of the 2006 Plenipotentiary Conference on improving the ITU' management and functioning. Note that this resolution derives from a European common proposal (ECP) co-ordinated by Portugal. The group concluded that it would be in favour of the three recommendations from document 49:
- To set up a page on the ITU website for activities carried out under Resolution 147;
- To go ahead and consult the members by asking for contributions about how to move forward in the context of this Resolution;
- Based on the received contributions, a report will be prepared for the 2009 Council session.
It was nevertheless stressed that these measures would contribute little towards tangible results, so the possibility of setting up a Council working group was put forward, to debate and deal with the matters contained in the resolution.
Besides preparing for the Council session, WG ITU also examined results of the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTSA-08), a meeting that counted extensive participation by developing countries and which the group considered to be overly politicised.
As for the European common proposals (ECPs), the result was deemed positive. The only exception was the ECP on network externalities, given that the proposed recommendation on this matter ended up being approved, contrary to the proposal by CEPT and other organisations such as the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL), which wanted more studies on the issue. The European countries nevertheless presented a reservation on implementation of this recommendation.
Regarding the ITU brand issue, a resolution was approved which, though a major step forward with respect to implementing this project, indicates that more studies should be conducted by the ITU Standardisation Sector (ITU-T).
WG ITU decided that all these questions, especially the ITU’s politicisation, will be again be debated, in more detail, at the group’s next meeting.
Regarding preparations for the 2010 World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC-10), and given the given the changed duties of Marie-Odile Beau (France), previously appointed chairwoman of the project team for preparing that conference, it was agreed that Hassan Makki of Switzerland would chair this team. To that end, it was also decided that CEPT's aim will be to centre WTDC on development issues and the improved use of resources. The financial impact of the resolutions subject to debate will therefore be assessed. Turkey pledged to prepare a letter for the ITU Telecommunications Development Advisory Group (TDAG) concerning this need.
The group also discussed a number of issues related to preparations for the 2010 Plenipotentiary Conference, and agreed to set up the following project teams:
- PT1 (Constitution and Convention) - chaired by Marie Therese Alajouanine (France);
- PT2 (Financial Issues) - chair to be determined;
- PT3 (Internet and WSIS) - chaired by Wim Rullens (the Netherlands).
The next WG ITU meeting is scheduled for 10-11 February 2009.