1.    The ITU World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) was established by Resolution 2 of the 1994 Kyoto Plenipotentiary Conference and was confirmed by Resolution 2 of the 1998 Minneapolis Plenipotentiary Conference. The purpose is to provide a forum where ITU Member States and Sector Members can discuss and exchange views and information on emerging telecommunication policy and regulatory matters arising from the changing telecommunication environment. Although the WTPF shall not produce prescriptive regulatory outcomes or outputs with binding force, it shall prepare reports and, where appropriate, opinions for consideration by Member States, Sector Members and relevant ITU meetings.

2.    By Decision 498, the 2000 session of the ITU Council decided to convene the third World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF-01) in Geneva, from 7 to 9 March 2001, in order to discuss and exchange views on the theme of Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony, with the following agenda:

3.    The third Policy Forum was held at the Geneva International Conference Centre from 7-9 March 2001. It was attended by 591 delegates, representing 121 Member States (including 25 of the Least Developed Countries) and 99 Sector Members. A total of 757 persons were present. Mr. Anthony S. K. Wong, Director-General of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority of Hong Kong SAR, China, was selected Chairman. The Policy Forum was preceded by an Information Session, held on 6 March 2001 and chaired by Mr. Henoch Aguiar, Secretary of Communications, Argentina.

4.    Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the ITU, presented his report on IP Telephony. In accordance with Council Decision 498, the Report of the Secretary-General incorporated contributions from the ITU membership and was to serve as the sole working document of the Policy Forum. Earlier drafts had been circulated to the membership in October and December 2000, in accordance with a procedure set by the Council. In addition, an Informal Group of Experts, chaired by Mr. Anthony Wong, held two meetings, on 16-17 November 2000 and 18-19 January 2001, to help revise the draft report and to prepare the draft Opinions. It was noted that, at future WTPFs, greater efforts should be made to achieve a better geographical balance in the composition of the Informal Expert Group and to ensure greater regional participation in the preparatory process.

5.    In presenting his report, the Secretary-General underlined the following points, which had emerged from the contributions of the membership:

1. IP-based networks represent a significant new opportunity for the membership of the Union and are already an important part of the emerging new market environment, in terms of volume of traffic carried and level of investment committed.
2. From a technical perspective, IP-based networks hold the promise of providing multimedia telecommunications services and new applications, merging voice and data. IP may well become the unifying platform for emerging converged networks.
3. From an economic perspective, the use of IP-based networks promises to reduce prices to consumers, and the costs of market entry for operators, especially for long-distance and international calls.
4. From a regulatory perspective, the development of IP Telephony is forcing a reassessment of existing telecommunications regulation, which may need to be reviewed in the light of the opportunities opened up, and the challenges posed, by this new technology.
5. IP Telephony poses a dilemma for developing countries: on the one hand it offers cheaper prices and lower costs, but it may also undermine the pricing structure of the incumbent public telecommunication operator. The transition to IP-based networks also poses significant human resource development challenges.

6.    The chairman of the Forum presented the draft opinions, which had been prepared by the Informal Expert Group. He invited the Forum, if possible, to adopt opinions relating to:

1. The general implications of IP Telephony for the membership of the Union;

2. Actions to assist Member States and Sector Members;

3. Human Resource Development issues.

A fourth opinion, relating to essential studies by the ITU to facilitate the introduction of "IP telephony", was proposed by Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

7.     In addition to the presentation of the Secretary-General’s report, the Forum heard opening presentations on the theme of IP Telephony from Mr. Björn Rosengren, Minister of Industry, Employment and Communications (Sweden), Mr. Leonid Reyman, Minister for Communications and Informatization (Federation of Russia), Ms. Fatimetou Mint Mohamed Saleck, Secrétaire d'Etat auprès du Premier Ministre chargé des Technologies Nouvelles (Mauritania) and Ms. Virginia Sheffield, Assistant Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs, Genuity Inc.

8.     Following these opening presentations, the Policy Forum engaged in a general discussion of the Secretary-General's report on IP Telephony. While this report served as the sole working document for the Forum, participants were also provided with a CD-ROM containing all the written contributions of the membership to the drafting of the report as well as the results of a series of country case studies that had been commissioned, in line with Council Decision 498.

9     During the course of the Forum, a number of changes were proposed relating to factual information in the Secretary-General’s Report, including deletion of one phrase in para. 5.5 and changes to Annex B. These will be reflected in the version published on the ITU website.

10     The Policy Forum then considered the four draft Opinions and adopted them, with modifications, as presented in Part II of this Report.

11.    Syria extended an invitation for a regional workshop to be held in Damascus, as foreseen under Opinion B.

12.    The chairman extended his thanks to everyone who had helped make the meeting a success, in particular the rapporteurs and drafting group chairs, including Richard Thwaites, Valerie D’Costa, Svend Kraemer, Jane Coffin and Ahmed Laouyane, as well as all the members of the Informal Expert Group. He also extended his thanks to the Secretary-General and his staff for the good organisation and preparation of the meeting.