ITU TELECOM AMERICAS 2005: Policy Story

POLICY ANALYSIS FOR FAST-MOVING WORLD

With new technologies raising new social issues, ITU is playing an increasingly important role in policy guidance

It seems the world of telecommunications gets ever more complicated. Even before the sector’s economic meltdown in 2001, deregulation and new technologies had turned into major and unpredictable drivers. Now, as the industry gathers up its strength for the challenges ahead, policy-makers everywhere face many uncertainties. Over the coming years, governments, NGOs and the private sector alike must address significant questions related to the unfolding of an "information society" — along with the potential global economic impact these questions entail.

Currently, there are more questions than answers: How should ICT services be licensed in an era of convergence? Is it even necessary to license certain kinds of fixed wireless access (e.g. WLAN and WiMax) and similar advanced services? Should telecommunications and ICTs be regarded as critical infrastructure — and if so, how should they be protected? What about planning for the world’s least developed nations — how do they enter the information age? And what are the important social and human considerations in a rapidly changing technological environment?

For both developing and developed economies, applying the right regulatory and policy models can help attract investment for ongoing development and promote infrastructure deployment. Experience has clearly shown that market liberalization alone is not sufficient; there is a need for a balanced regulatory environment, with effective competition, transparent rule-making, fair implementation and a consumer-driven focus. For developing economies, which have struggled with tough obstacles to develop communications infrastructures in the past, the stakes are probably higher, particularly in regions like the Americas, where network infrastructure can be severely limited and household incomes low.

AN EVOLVING REGULATORY LANDSCAPE

ITU retains a fundamental role in many of these questions. "Although not mandated to make policy itself, it provides a much-needed resource that offers impartial advice and support to those who do — the 189 Member States and over 600 Sector Members that comprise private companies and international organizations around the world," explains Tim Kelly, ITU’s Head of the ITU Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU). His words are echoed by specialists within ITU who target the policy and regulatory issues of developing countries. "We cannot impose choices," says Pape Touré, Head of Policies, Strategies and Financing within ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). "We talk about policies. We provide comprehensive relevant information. We offer facts and best practices. By doing so, we enable countries to make sound decisions."

The Istanbul Action Plan, agreed at the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (2002), mandates ITU to assist Member States and national regulatory authorities in developing and implementing policies, legislation and regulations aimed at sustained development, access and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

How does ITU fulfil this mandate? "We provide a comprehensive range of regulatory products and services," says Doreen Bogdan, p, Head of ITU’s Regulatory Reform Unit (RRU) at the Telecommunication Development Bureau. One of these key services is the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR), which has quickly emerged as the global venue for regulators to share best practices and develop guidelines to improve their effectiveness.

ITU also annually publishes a key reference document for regulators, policy-makers and operators worldwide called Trends in Telecommunication Reform, as well as a Regulatory Database based on the results of an annual regulatory survey sent to all 189 ITU Member States.

"Our survey and database have been an invaluable source of information for regulators and policy-makers for more than 10 years," Bogdan explains. "No other database contains such extensive regulatory data, much of which is provided free on our website. In addition to regulatory information, we also provide country case studies on effective regulation, interconnection dispute resolution and convergence regulation, regulatory news updates, interconnection self-learning training modules, and hundreds of links to key regulatory resources," she adds.

GETTING THE RIGHT MIX

In terms of policy development, ITU plays a key catalytic role, forging synergies between its members. "The Global Regulators’ Exchange, or G-REX, is a classic example of this role," says Susan Schorr, Regulatory Officer and Hotline Moderator for the G-REX Regulators’ Hotline. G-REX is a password-protected website that allows regulators and policy-makers to exchange views and share best practice. The hotline is its most popular feature; exchanges occur on-line between regulators from both developed and developing countries, from every region of the world and in three languages: English, French and Spanish.

To support these activities, ITU provides the tools to enable regulators to select the right mix of policies and regulatory decisions, and to assess their effectiveness once implemented. One of these tools is ITU’s World Telecommunication Indicators Database, which provides a formidable range of statistics showing fixed line, mobile and Internet penetration around the world for the last 40 years. Arguably the single most comprehensive indicators information resource in global telecoms, the database allows policy-makers to drill down and find data for almost every market development, determine national growth patterns and benchmark results against other markets.

ITU’s in-depth country case studies build on this, analyzing particular areas such as mobile and wireless communications, interconnection and convergence issues. These initiatives promote best practice examples for other countries to emulate, avoiding a policy-making myopia that might otherwise exist. "There is a tendency to look only at one’s immediate neighbours and think they are the total goldfish bowl," says Kelly, "whereas in fact the bowl is much larger."

INTERACTIVE ITU

In addition to written materials, ITU also regularly convenes hands-on activities such as workshops and forums to focus on a range of issues relating to ubiquitous network societies. In 2004, these included Internet governance, spectrum management, broadband technologies, and the future mobile information society. Substantial publications are often produced in conjunction with ITU TELECOM events, such as 2004’s The Portable Internet, the forthcoming Americas Telecommunication Indicators Report (scheduled for release at ITU TELECOM AMERICAS 2005), and The Internet of Things, which will look at new paradigms in the way the Internet will interact with other computer-enabled systems, and which is scheduled for release at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in November.

UNIVERSAL ACCESS: MOVING FORWARD?

Around the world, mobile technology has now become the dominant form of voice communication, and may soon take over as the preferred way of accessing data services, too.

"Wireless services will be key to future ICT development, now that promising fixed wireless access technologies like Wi-Max, Wi-Fi and ultra-wideband can be deployed," notes ITU’s Bodgan.

Tim Kelly agrees. "By leapfrogging the onerous rollout of fixed-line infrastructure to deploy more versatile wireless technologies, many countries may find themselves able to "catch up" faster, thereby reducing the digital divide." The key to success lies in effective regulatory and policy frameworks to harness the full effects of competition, innovative business models and low-cost technologies.

The good news is that regulators and policy-makers now share a common understanding on the way forward. "ITU undertook a consultation on regulatory principles for achieving universal access. These consultations showed that market reform is the first step in achieving universal access goals while other measures, such as universal funds, are designed to be used in a competitive framework and to be limited to meeting the needs of users in areas that remain unaffordable, even in the face of effective sector reform," says Susan Schorr.

"The mobile miracle is proof that market liberalization works as a universal access tool. It attracts investment and grows subscribers. Mobile is no longer exclusively for the wealthy." Indeed, mobile services are now used by all income groups, with pre-paid cards, the reselling of minutes and less expensive SMS services extending the "affordability threshold". "Mobile technology, regulation and business models have done more to extend universal access than any other strategy. The trick now is to extend the mobile miracle to a broader array of ICTs" adds Schorr.

She notes that mobile phones can be incorporated into a whole host of innovative policies to improve access. Some examples include deploying payphones that use a mobile rather than fixed line network, or authorizing village women or postal workers to resell mobile minutes in rural areas. Internet development can be fuelled by fixed wireless technologies, many of which operate in license-exempt or lightly regulated spectrum bands, as well as by the creation of national and regional Internet Exchange Points (IXPs).

ONE SIZE FITS ALL?

Should there be different policies for developing and developed countries? Pape Touré thinks not. "Policies worldwide are generally universal. But how you apply them is different."

He contends that, without similar revenues and margins, a particular country may simply not have access to the same service. In many cases, he argues, services that are self-evident in developed countries are missing in developing ones. "So, the way to apply policy experience depends on the consumer. Overall, basic policies may apply perfectly to all countries, but they might need to be differently balanced or emphasized, depending on the environment," he concludes.