* The Rapporteur Group on Question 18/1 (“Domestic enforcement of laws, rules and regulations on telecommunications by national telecommunication regulatory authorities”) met on 21 and 22 April 2004. Guided by the discussions of the seminar, the Rapporteur Group was able to capture additional experiences for its report on Question 18/1, which will include best practices. Brazil is one of the Vice-Rapporteurs of Question 18/1. The Rapporteur Group hopes to be able to provide a menu of recommendations that may be applied in diverse circumstances to assist ITU Member States in their efforts to enforce their domestic telecommunication laws. Two other events were jointly organized by ANATEL and ITU at the same time and venue: a Rapporteur Group meeting on “implementation of IP telephony in developing countries” (Question 19/1) and a workshop on this same topic. The Rapporteur Group on Question 19/1 is studying several issues, such as: How can a nation and its citizens, current telephone operators, Internet service providers and new entrants benefit from the introduction of IP telephony and broadband access? How can national telecommunication policy increase the benefits of the introduction of IP-based technologies? What are the potential challenges that developing countries experience in attempting to evolve to, or implement, IP-based networks, including IP telephony and broadband access capabilities? What are the possible approaches for overcoming these challenges? As well, the Rapporteur Group on Question 19/1 benefited from the results of the seminar and could make much headway in its report for the meeting in September 2004. Both events attracted participants from the Americas region, as well as representatives from other regions. Additional information, including the presentations of the speakers, can be found at itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/ Seminars/2004/Rio/index.html Documents presented to the Rapporteur Groups are available at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/study_groups/SGP_2002-2006/SG1/StudyQuestions/SG1Quest.html ITU 040046/Alessandra Pileri

The Americas region turns the spotlight on current issues in enforcing telecommunication law, policy and regulations

ITU/ANATEL seminar stresses importance of best practices

It is key for national telecommunication regulatory authorities to have adequate legal authority and experience domestically to enforce their laws, rules and regulations on telecommunications. The importance of adequate enforcement came alive for many participants at a seminar jointly organized in Rio de Janeiro by the Brazilian Telecommunication Authority, ANATEL (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) and the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). Discussions in the seminar (1920 April 2004) made clear that different countries in the Americas region have very similar difficulties and challenges irrespective of the size of their markets or years of experience in regulating the sector. A common understanding of best practices, regardless of cultural, social and economic differences is now developing.

The ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITUD) is carrying out studies through its Rapporteur Group on Question 18/1 “domestic enforcement of laws, rules and regulations on telecommunications by national telecommunication regulatory authorities” with a view to developing best practices to assist Member States. In September 2004, the Question 18/1 Rapporteur Group is expected to present its best practice studies to ITUD study group meetings. Brazilian efforts in developing enforcement activities led ANATEL to offer to host the seminar as well as a meeting of the ITU Rapporteur Group* immediately following this seminar. These events provided the group a unique opportunity to gather more information and experiences from the Americas region.

More than twenty-five countries participated in the seminar, including participants from Africa, Asia and Europe, as well as regional and international organizations and other public and private entities. The seminar addressed “Current issues in enforcing telecommunications law, policy and regulations”, and was intended for those responsible for regulatory or policy activities in telecommunication-related ministries and regulatory agencies. Participants shared their experiences and expertise in legislation (the power to enforce), enforcement practices (monitoring, investigation, inspection, sanctions), as well as in enforcing telecommunication laws and regulations in the areas of interconnection, spectrum, dispute resolution, voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP), network security, licence obligations, consumer interests and gender.

José Leite Pereira Filho, Counsellor at ANATEL and Juan Zavattiero, Head of the ITU Regional Office for the Americas opened the seminar.

“It is always a great honour for the Brazilian Administration to host telecommunication events together with the ITU,” said Mr Leite Pereira Filho. He explained how important enforcement is in the telecommunications world today. “Before privatization in Brazil, enforcement was restricted to the spectrum area. Now, in a privatized world with many competitors, enforcement must be a priority for regulators. In Brazil, we view enforcement as a means to guarantee that the three pillars of the Brazilian telecommunication model are achieved: competition, universalization and quality.”

Participants agreed that enforcement in telecommunications requires an organization to be “empowered” to dictate technical and judicial rules and to be able to apply penalties or sanctions for non-compliance of contractual obligations and quality of service obligations among others.

The point was made that a telecommunication authority’s decisions should be pursued under due legal process. Furthermore, the decisions should be legitimate, coherent and in line with the rules in place.

Other equally important factors for successful enforcement are continued staff training and a sufficient number of technical people to accomplish inspection-related activities.

One of the best practices emphasized throughout the seminar was the importance of telecommunication authorities taking decisions promptly in order to guarantee good enforcement practices.

Participants also had the opportunity to discuss the difficulties of determining appropriate fines and sanctions. It was agreed that fines should be reasonable, proportionate and effective, keeping in mind that fines should be more severe than what the offender would be gaining. David Satola, Senior Counsel ICT Specialist in the Legal Department of the World Bank, explained that dispute resolution is a brand of enforcement. If it is not done effectively it can delay the introduction of new services and infrastructure; block or reduce the flow of capital from investors into the telecommunication sector; limit competition, leading to higher pricing and lower quality of service; and retard liberalization in the sector and with it, the general economic and technical development of a country. He highlighted the findings of the joint ITU/World Bank Dispute Resolution study and informed participants about a training programme that would soon be available to help train regulators on effective dispute resolution techniques (see article on Dispute resolution in telecom sector)

“ITU recognizes that effective regulation plays a key role in enabling countries to meet their national ICT development goals. ITU has developed a series of tools for effective regulation, including the ITU Global Regulators’ Exchange (G-REX), a password-protected website for regulators, which includes the Regulators’ Hotline,” said Doreen Bogdan, Acting Head of the BDT Regulatory Reform Unit. There is a need to continue the dialogue on enforcement, and G-REX has an important role to play as an online forum. The need to develop common approaches and best practice guidelines was supported.