ITU boasts a long and successful history
of helping the world communicate

Every time someone picks up a telephone and dials a number, answers a call on a mobile, sends a fax or receives an e-mail, takes a plane or a ship, listens to the radio or watches a favourite television programme, they benefit from the universal telecommunication frameworks put in place by ITU.

For more than 140 years, the International Telecommunication Union has defined and adopted the globally-agreed technical standards that have allowed industry to interconnect people and equipment seamlessly around the world. It has also successfully regulated worldwide use of the radio-frequency spectrum, ensuring all international wireless communications remain interference-free to assure the relay of vital information and economic data to all parts of the globe.

Spearheading telecommunications development on a world scale, ITU fosters the deployment of telecommunications in developing countries by advising countries on development policies and strategies and by providing specialized technical assistance in the areas of technology transfer, management, financing, installation and maintenance of networks, and on management of human resources.

Founded in Paris in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, ITU took its present name —International Telecommunication Union — in 1934, and in 1947 became a specialized agency of the United Nations. Nominated by leading international consultant Booz Allen Hamilton as one of the world’s top 10 most enduring institutions, ITU is now the oldest intergovernmental organization and the most inclusive telecommunications organization in the world.

ITU's biggest achievement is undoubtedly the pivotal role it has played in the creation of the international telecommunications network — the largest man-made artefact ever created. Today, thanks to the advent of the Internet, mobile wireless telephony and more, this network keeps us in touch, brings us world news, provides access to a huge global store of information, and underpins the global economy. It would not exist without ITU's work.

To fulfil its mission, ITU:

• Provides technical telecommunications assistance to developing countries, and promotes the development of telecommunications for people everywhere
• Improves the efficiency and availability of telecommunication services, their usefulness, and their general availability to the public
• Promotes the adoption of a broader approach to telecommunications issues in the global information economy, and across all stratas of society at a global level.
• ITU's priority goals include:
  • Promoting cooperation between all its Members (public and private sector) to improve access to telecommunications
  • Contributing to bridging the digital divide by helping the UN-designated 48 Least Developed Countries and other developing nations expand their networks and improve access, particularly in rural and underserved areas
  • Implementation of the outcome of the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in its area of competence, and leading preparations for the second phase, to take place next month in Tunis from 16-18 November
  • Developing tools to safeguard the integrity and interoperability of networks
  • Helping policy-makers and regulators prepare for the challenges of privatization, competition, globalization and technological change

• A development domain: to promote the development of telecommunications in under-served countries and the extension of the benefits of telecommunications to people everywhere
• A technical domain: to promote the development, efficient operation, usefulness and availability of telecommunication facilities and services
• A policy domain: to promote the adoption of a broader approach to telecommunication issues

The ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) advises governments on a huge range of topics that contribute to closing the digital divide and improving access to the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

For example, ITU-D supports governments in reforming their ICT sector to create a stable and transparent framework to attract investment and promote universal access. It also offers practical workshops, best practice guidelines and tools to help developing countries automate cost-oriented rate-setting and tariff-rebalancing.

In addition, ITU specialists help train telecommunication engineers, high-level managers and policy-makers to keep step with technology, policy and regulatory changes. A wide range of e-policies and strategies are also offered to foster e-government, e-health, e-education, e-agriculture and e-commerce in developing countries.

ITU also takes a lead role in implementing the Istanbul Action Plan, which was developed at the last World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2002. This multi-pronged plan seeks to harness the power of ICTs for socio-economic development of the largest possible number of people, particularly the world's most deprived.

In addition, ITU-D regularly publishes a wide range of reports which are recognized and respected throughout the industry:

• Telecommunication Indicators — regular snapshots of the state of telecommunications development around the world, as well as analysis of major industry trends.
• 
  Trends in reform — reports which monitor and analyze world and regional trends in telecommunication reform and offer vital information for governments restructuring their telecommunications sector.

The Sector also provides a unique forum for the regulatory community through its highly successful annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR). The 2004 GSR brought together regulators from 106 countries, with a view to building consensus on the best ways to address the challenges of convergence and to achieve the shared goal of affordable access.

In addition, ITU-D provides an on-line forum for regulators and policy makers, known as the Global Regulators Exchange (G-REX). G-REX gives regulators an opportunity to share experiences and exchange best practice on an on-going basis, with regulators free to pose questions on the G-REX "hotline" and receive responses from their counterparts around the world. 

In the technical domain, ITU has provided the framework for the growth of new Internet-based technologies such as VoIP, e-commerce, and broadband. It is now helping to define the building blocks of the emerging global information infrastructure, designing advanced multimedia systems which handle a mix of voice, data, audio and video signals. ITU generates, on average, one telecom standard per day.

Over the past 10 years, the networks that now underpin a vast proportion of the world's business communications have evolved from circuit-switched, voice-oriented systems, based on “big-iron” equipment, to packet-based, flexible, data-oriented systems that can meet new needs created by the convergence of different technologies.

The emergence of multi-service networks carrying a mix of traffic types, combined with lightning-fast product development cycles, has spurred a huge demand for global standards that ensure new services and equipment will integrate seamlessly with legacy systems, both within an operator's own network and at its interface with other networks around the world.

To manage this demand, ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) studies technical, operating, and tariff questions, and adopts global wireline standards on networks and systems. While not binding, ITU standards largely embraced by the industry as a whole because they promote interoperability across networks, systems, equipment and associated protocols, and provide the global framework for services to be offered on a worldwide basis.

One of the most enduring examples of ITU's technical work is in numbering and addressing systems. From the international Country Codes that brought direct-dialling to the world, to today's Universal Numbers that enable companies to trade internationally with little capital outlay, through to Identification Codes for mobile phones and Electronic Numbering "ENUM", ITU develops telecommunication numbering and addressing standards to ensure we can stay in touch on any device, anywhere.

On the wireless front, ITU fosters an equitable, efficient and economical use of resources

From fixed and mobile wireless services to aeronautical communications, from broadcasting and meteorology to global positioning systems, space research and communication services that ensure the safety of life at sea — all require radio frequency spectrum to operate, and a coordinated use of frequencies to avoid harmful interference.

The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) manages the radio frequency spectrum which ensures all these radio-based systems — 3G phones, aircraft and maritime navigation systems, scientific research stations, satellite communication systems and radio and television broadcasting — function smoothly and provide reliable wireless services to the world.

Via seven radiocommunication study groups, ITU also develops technical recommendations on the characteristics of radiocommunication services and systems, which serve as a basis for equipment manufacturing worldwide.

Via an international treaty called the Radio Regulations, ITU-R coordinates efforts on a worldwide basis to ensure reliable communications across countries and across services. It carries out the technical groundwork to facilitate the taking of decisions by World Radiocommunication Conferences, held by ITU every two to three years to revise and update the treaty. Regular ongoing work includes the development of regulatory procedures, and the examination of planning parameters and sharing criteria with other services that allow ITU engineers to calculate the risk of harmful interference both for terrestrial and space services.

Through its work in study groups and through regional consensus-building conferences, ITU-R ensures rational, equitable, efficient and economical use of this spectrum by all services, including those using the geostationary and other satellite orbits. Both the spectrum and satellite orbits are finite natural resources which are increasingly under pressure from a growing number of applications.

ITU-R’s work is also of critical importance in the aftermath of a catastrophe or natural disaster. Following most disasters, access to information is paramount, yet communications links are often among the first casualties, disrupted or cut altogether. Relief agencies need to know who requires urgent assistance, and where search and rescue teams are most needed. In such circumstances, workers rely on radiocommunications to manage rescue operations. ITU allocates frequency bands for VHF and HF communications and for satellite phones used by rescue teams. It also provides spectrum for radio amateurs, whose support is often vital, and sets standards for Satellite News Gathering used to provide TV coverage and mobilize international assistance.

Safety at sea is another striking example of the importance of the work of the ITU Radiocommunication Sector. When ships cross oceans, they depend on a global safety telecommunications infrastructure made possible through the work of ITU. For each ship, ITU-R allocates a unique identity code. This information is made available on the ITU website around the clock, to enable a ship to be immediately identified in case of distress. Radio is used in a variety of maritime communications: satellites or shortwave enable ship-to-shore communications; the crew relies on satellite-based weather forecasts for its navigation; global positioning systems locate the ship's position and determine its route; and distress beacons make use of frequencies reserved for safety of life communications.

Reports on telecommunications and Internet policy trends

Each year, ITU issues a number of reports for decision makers in the telecommunication industry. Recent reports covered topics such as broadband, competition policy, network security and IP telephony. SPU’s flagship report series is its ITU Internet Reports; the next edition, scheduled for launch in November 2005, will be on the topic of new technologies like radio frequency ID, and will be entitled The Internet of Things.

New Initiatives workshops and symposia

ITU’s New Initiatives workshops address key issues facing the industry overall. In April 2005, one workshop looked at the emergence of ubiquitous network societies, and the challenges that this poses for policy makers in areas such as privacy protection and standardization. Another, held in February 2004, enabled participants to exchange views on Internet governance from a variety of perspectives, including legal, technological, administrative and commercial. Other workshops held recently have explored the topics of Radiocommunications, Convergence, Competition in Telecommunications, Creating Trust in Critical Network Infrastructure, Promoting Broadband, Shaping Future Mobile Information Societies and Improving IP Connectivity in Least Developed Countries.

ITU TELECOM Forum

Another platform for discussion on policy and regulatory issues is the ITU TELECOM Forum. Keynote speakers at ITU TELECOM Forums typically include Ministers, Regulators and CEOs as well as engineers, academics and user representatives.

For ITU, however, ITU TELECOM events are a key element in an even more important goal: furthering telecommunications development efforts around the world. ITU TELECOM helps promote this cause by providing a global and regional forum where industry and government representatives from developed and developing countries can meet and build partnerships which bring mutual benefits. ITU TELECOM also fosters knowledge transfer by showcasing the very latest equipment, services and industry leaders.

Since the first event in 1971, ITU TELECOM WORLD events have attracted in total more than 900’000 visitors and have provided a showcase and platform for almost 7’000 exhibitors. ITU TELECOM AMERICAS 2005 will be followed by ITU TELECOM WORLD, which will be held in Hong Kong, China in 2006.