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SUMMARY
OTT services have been an important driver of innovation and economic growth around the world. Due to their role as drivers of economic growth, OTTs are moving the needle towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. As cross-cutting enabler, they allow entrepreneurs to devise new solutions to address issues as diverse as efficiently managing energy consumption, revolutionizing education and learning, and improving the effectiveness of government services and institutions.
The explosive growth of the Internet and services over the Internet has been due in large part to a light-touch regulatory treatment. Considering that most IP-based services could fit in the OTT category, regulating OTTs essentially means regulating the internet, and thereby impacting the innovation that has led to such growth in the first place. Regulating OTTs would reduce the likelihood of achieving various SDGs such as increasing accessibility to communications and technologies, as well as stifling innovation. Regulation of OTTs will also stifle the usage of the internet and investment in broadband deployment.
The ITU should promote a global regulatory environment that will help ensure that OTT services continue to deliver their transformational potential. The Digital Economy already provides an environment in which all stakeholders are able to prosper and thrive. Many OTT players and operators cooperate extensively through many commercial relationships and partnerships. Indeed, OTT services require functioning devices and good quality networks access to develop innovative services, while operators rely on high-consumption of digital services to satisfy their consumers.
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