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New global telecoms treaty agreed in Dubai
World Conference on International Telecommunications forges solid
new framework for tomorrow’s hyper-connected world
Dubai, 14 December, 2012 – After two intensive weeks of
negotiations, delegates from around the world have agreed a new global treaty
that will help pave the way to a hyper-connected world that will bring the power
of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to people everywhere.
Over 2,000 delegates were registered for the conference, which was held by
ITU at the request of its 193 Member States to renegotiate the
International Telecommunication
Regulations (ITRs), the binding global treaty facilitating global
interconnection and interoperability of information and communication services,
their efficient operation and their widespread public availability.
The treaty sets out general principles for ensuring the free flow of
information around the world. New provisions in the text place special emphasis
on future efforts to assist developing countries, on promoting accessibility to
persons with disabilities, and on asserting all people’s right to freedom of
expression over ICT networks.
Other pioneering new provisions include a Resolution to create a single,
globally harmonized number for access to emergency services, new text mandating
greater transparency in the prices set for mobile roaming, and new provisions to
improve the energy efficiency of ICT networks and help combat e-waste.
Tough issues that provoked considerable debate at the conference included
network security, unsolicited bulk content such as spam email, the definition of
entities providing services under the terms of the treaty, the principle of
non-discriminatory access of countries to each other’s networks, and whether or
not to include language on freedom of expression in the Preamble text of the
treaty.
Chairman Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim (UAE) succeeded in breaking a seeming
deadlock on Thursday, after discussions late into the night on Wednesday 12th
failed to make headway on the few remaining sticking points. Coming back to the
meeting on Thursday evening after a tense start to negotiations earlier that
day, Mr Al Ghanim presented a new ‘consolidated package’ containing all agreed
compromise texts that had been negotiated painstakingly section by section over
the past two weeks at Committee, Ad Hoc Group and informal group level.
ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré called the signing of the treaty this
afternoon a “momentous occasion and historic opportunity to bring connectivity
to the two thirds of the world’s people who are still offline.”
Speaking to assembled delegates at the closing ceremony this afternoon, he
said: “As you look back today on your very intensive, very long days of work,
you can hold our heads up high – proud that you have triumphed over adversity
and delivered the goods.” He added that he regretted that some countries have so
far declined to ratify the treaty, and hoped ITU will continue to work
constructively with those nations going forward.
Dr Touré paid tribute to the exceptional Chairmanship of Al Ghanim,
commemorating his success in managing the often difficult discussions by
awarding him ITU’s Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honour. “Mr Al Ghanim
has played a vital role in the work of the conference. He has managed to keep
his calm and nerve throughout the long days and nights we have spent together,
and he has epitomized the key ITU value of global consensus,” said Dr Touré.
Mr Al Ghanim spoke of the huge challenge of reviewing the 24-year-old treaty
to ensure it is relevant for future generations of ICT users and an increasingly
globalized, competitive and highly innovative ICT environment.
“We came to this conference with a wide divergence of views. Different
countries contend with vastly different market environments, but all understand
how critical ICTs will be to their ongoing social and economic development.
While we did not manage to get universal consensus, I believe we nonetheless
achieved a huge milestone in getting such broad agreement, and I am confident
that these new ITRs will pave the way to a better, more connected world and a
more equitable environment for all.”
WCIT-12 was one of the most open treaty-making conferences ever held, with
live and archived webcasting and English-language captioning of all full
meetings of the substantive working committee (Committee 5 – Review) and the
conference Plenary sessions. The conference also had a strong social media
profile, as well as daily media briefings accessible via the Adobe Connect
platform.
Conference statistics:
- A total of 1,275 proposals to the conference from Member
States
- Almost 1,600 delegates onsite from 151 Member States,
including almost 70 Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Ambassadors
- A paperless working environment which saved literally
millions of pages of paper
- 150 hours of official conference meetings onsite at the
Dubai World Trade Centre – on top of many thousands of hours of
informal delegation meetings
- 13 million page visits to ITU’s WCIT website over the past
month
- Around twelve million twitter impressions a day resulting
from the tweets posted during the conference using the #WCIT12
and #WCIT hashtags
- Over 30 professional quality videos produced onsite which
have been watched over 10,000 times on YouTube, in addition to
more than 30 Video News Releases which have been carried by
major broadcast media around the world
- Over 360 journalists participating in remote daily media
briefings, saving three million kilometres of travel to Dubai
and 420 tonnes of carbon emissions
- Over 300 hours of live broadcast webcasts
- 600 hours of simultaneous interpretation and text
translation of almost 700,000 words.
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A
statement by Dr Touré issued immediately after the close of the negotiations
on Thursday evening can be found at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/statement-toure.aspx.
A full English transcript derived from the simultaneous captioning in the
meeting rooms is available for all Plenary and full Committee 5 sessions at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/captioning.aspx.
The full text of the Final Acts of the new ITRs can be found at:
A PDF version of the document is available at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Documents/final-acts-wcit-12.pdf.
Archived multilingual webcasts of the WCIT-12 opening and closing ceremonies,
opening and closing press conferences and all meetings of the conference Plenary
and Committee 5 are available at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/webcast.aspx
View archives of the daily media briefing with the ITU Secretary-General and
other key officials recapping each day’s discussions via the Adobe Connect
platform at:
http://itu.adobeconnect.com/wcit2012/
Speeches and other information can be found on the main WCIT-12 Newsroom at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/newsroom.aspx
A FAQ, a comprehensive set of Background Briefs covering the main discussion
topics and a WCIT Myth Buster presentation can be found at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/WCIT-backgroundbriefs.aspx
View videos from the meeting and download broadcast quality video footage at:
www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/videos.aspx
Photos from the meeting can be downloaded at:
www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/sets/72157632073685626/
The main conference preparatory documents can be found at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/documents.aspx
The 1988 version of the ITRs can be found at:
www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/itrs.aspx
Note to editors:
ITU is unique within the UN family in having some 700 Sector Members (mainly
from the private sector) in addition to 193 Member States. All have been
actively engaged in the WCIT-12 preparatory process, which has been underway for
some years. In addition, ITU set up
a public
consultation website open to all stakeholders in six languages
(total of 31 submissions received between 15 August-7 November, of which 29
published [and 2 rejected because of unauthorized hyperlinks]). ITU has also
held four global briefings (supporting remote participation from anywhere around
the world) open to media, analysts and civil society: those held using Adobe
Connect are archived at:
http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/media-briefings.aspx.
For more information, please contact:
Paul Conneally
Head, Communications & Partnership Promotion, ITU
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Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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Gary Fowlie
Head, ITU
liaison Office to the United Nations
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Zara Nazim
Raee PR
Dubai Media City
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Sana Al-Lababidi
Raee PR
Dubai Media City
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Noora Al Ameri
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
United Arab Emirates
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Noor M. Shamma
Media Relations Manager
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
United Arab Emirates
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Note for media: please register in ITU’s video
newsroom for access to broadcast quality footage and news packages at
www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/videos.aspx.
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