World Telecommunication Policy Forum

Geneva, 21–23 October 1996

Revised report by the Chairman

Policy and Regulatory Issues Raised by the Introduction of Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS)

Part I

1. The ITU World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) was established by Resolution 2 of the Kyoto Plenipotentiary Conference. Its 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 telecommunications 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 Members and relevant ITU meetings.

2. By Resolution 1083, the 1995 session of the ITU Council decided to convene the first WTPF in Geneva from 21-23 October 1996, immediately after the World Telecommunication Standardization Conference, to discuss the theme 'Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite' with the following agenda:

"To discuss and exchange views and information on the following policy and regulatory issues raised by the introduction of global mobile personal communications systems and services by satellite:

(a) the resulting globalization of telecommunication services and the scope for international cooperation in this context;

(b) the role of such systems in the provision of basic telecommunication services in developing countries, LDC's, and in rural and remote areas;

(d) policy and regulatory issues relevant to such systems and services, in particular those relating to interconnection, with a view to achieving equitable and standard conditions of access;

and to draw up a report, and if possible opinions, for consideration by the Members and relevant ITU meetings."

3. The Policy Forum was held at the Geneva International Conference Centre from 2123 October, 1996. It was attended by 833 delegates representing 128 Member States and 70 Sector Members. Mr. Jonathan Parapak, Secretary-General of the Department of Tourism, Posts and Telecommunications of the Republic of Indonesia was elected Chairman.

4. The draft Rules of Procedure were approved. The draft agenda was approved, following the amendment of item 8.5 to "Implementation of GMPCS and the Developing Countries"

5. Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, Secretary-General of the ITU, presented a report on the policy and regulatory issues raised by the introduction of GMPCS. In accordance with Council Resolution 1083, this report had incorporated contributions from the ITU membership and had been prepared to serve as the sole document of the Policy Forum. In presenting his report, the Secretary-General underlined the following points which had emerged from Members' contributions:

(a) the Policy Forum should take a broad view of the issues raised by GMPCS as being applicable to all satellite systems, (i.e. fixed and mobile, broadband and narrowband, global and regional, existing and planned)providing telecommunication services directly to end users from a constellation of satellites;

(b) the Policy Forum should, if possible, adopt opinions on

the role of GMPCS in the globalization of telecommunications,
the shared vision and principles for GMPCS;
essential studies by the ITU to facilitate the introduction of GMPCS;
establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the free circulation of GMPCS user terminals;
implementation of GMPCS in developing countries.

6. Following the presentation of the Secretary-General's report, the Policy Forum heard keynote addresses on the issues identified in Council Resolution 1083.

Mr. David Leive, Chairman of the ITU Regulatory Colloquium, spoke on the globalization of telecommunications resulting from GMPCS and the consequent scope for international cooperation.
H. E. Mr. Sayyed Mohammed Gharazi, Minister of Posts, Telegraph and Telephone for the Islamic Republic of Iran, spoke of the potential role of GMPCS in providing basic telecommunication services in developing countries, LDCs, and rural and remote areas.
Mr. Kuzuo Yoshida, Chairman of Satellite Phone Japan, spoke on the measures necessary to achieve transborder use of GMPCS terminals.
Mr. Abderrazak Berrada, Counselor to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the Kingdom of Morocco, spoke on policy and regulatory issues relevant to GMPCS, particularly in the area of interconnection, in the perspective of achieving equitable and standard conditions of access.

7. Following these keynote presentations, the Policy Forum engaged in a general discussion of the policy and regulatory issues raised by the introduction of GMPCS. It then considered the draft Opinions contained in the Secretary-General's report and adopted them with modifications, as presented in Part II of this Report.

Part II

OPINION No. 1

The Role of GMPCS in the Globalization of Telecommunications

The First World Telecommunication Policy Forum (Geneva 1996)

considering

a) that, pursuant to the basic provisions of the Constitution of the ITU, the purposes of the Union include:

the maintenance and extension of international cooperation between all Members of the Union for the improvement and rational use of telecommunications of all kinds,

promotion of the development of technical facilities and their most efficient operation with a view to improving the efficiency of telecommunication services, increasing their usefulness and making them so far as possible generally available to the public,

promotion of the extension of the benefits of the new telecommunication technologies to all the world's inhabitants,

b) that the concept of technology transfer and the importance of technical training are necessary components of the globalization of telecommunications;

recognizing

that the emergence of the global information economy and society results from technological progress and the globalization of telecommunication services;
that, as a result of the changes that have taken place in the structure of the world telecommunication sector, the ITU should continue its efforts to establish effective liaison with other multilateral institutions in order to avoid duplication of activities;
that rapid changes in the telecommunication environment and technological progress have led to the development of new telecommunication concepts, including mobile-satellite networks intended to provide global or regional coverage through portable, hand-held terminals;
that such services will probably be provided increasingly on a trans-national basis;
that the development of harmonized policies for global and regional telecommunication systems and the nature of national regulatory responses to such systems are among the most important and difficult new issues facing the ITU and its membership;
that new technologies such as those used by GMPCS systems promise to extend the benefits of such systems to all countries as part of an overall objective of achieving sustainable global development;
that a range of GMPCS systems will provide services using non-geostationary orbits (NGSO) and the geostationary orbit (GSO);

recognizing further

that some forms of GMPCS systems have already been deployed and have entered into service;
that new forms of GMPCS systems are currently being developed to provide communication and information services to the world community in the next several years;
that in addition to the systems currently being developed others will probably be introduced to meet emerging global and domestic telecommunication requirements;

conscious

that GMPCS systems built and financed largely by private investment offer advanced telecommunication services that would otherwise be cost prohibitive to develop or operate;
that while GMPCS systems provide telecommunication infrastructure opportunities to the global community, particularly where terrestrial infrastructures are limited or nonexistent, utilization cost should be set at a level that would make this service widely available, especially to developing and least developed countries;
that GMPCS systems are being designed with a variety of access technologies and capabilities;

conscious further

that the existence of multiple GMPCS systems creates competition that should reduce costs and increase service options for consumers;
that domestic provision of GMPCS services in each country should contribute to economic development;
that past experience has shown that new telecommunication services, such as cellular, have substantial growth and revenue generation potential which benefits the domestic provider, the system operator and the domestic public network;
of broad support given to the development of GMPCS systems by past ITU conferences;

is of the view

1. that globalization of telecommunication services through GMPCS should continue and should benefit the user;

2. that implementation of GMPCS systems should complement existing telecommunication infrastructures, taking into account the investments made by the operators of such systems, and offer the potential for further telecommunications development for all countries;

invites

1. national policy makers and regulators, GMPCS system operators and service providers as well as users to work cooperatively within the ITU to facilitate the early introduction of GMPCS, in accordance with the decisions of World Radiocommunication Conferences and subject to the application of the relevant provisions of the Radio Regulations and the particular requirements of each Administration;

2. the SecretaryGeneral to provide periodic information reports to the Member States and Sector Members regarding the introduction and operation of these new GMPCS systems.

OPINION No. 2

The Shared Vision and Principles for
Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS)

The First World Telecommunication Policy Forum (Geneva, 1996),

recognizing

the sovereign right of each Member to regulate its telecommunications;

the benefits of Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS), particularly to remote areas;

conscious

that these benefits would be achieved through international cooperation, particularly through the ITU, in facilitating the early introduction of GMPCS;

recognizing further

that a variety of GMPCS systems are at different stages of development and implementation;
that national regulators and policy makers have their own implementation schedules for the introduction of GMPCS services in their countries and development of related regulations;
that GMPCS operators are actively engaged with many national authorities around the world regarding licensing and service conditions;
that GMPCS operators should continue to invite active ownership participation by entities from many countries, and have established many national partnerships;

believing

that timely action by national policy-makers and regulatory authorities in licensing GMPCS systems will go far to promote the global and regional availability of GMPCS;

believing also

that the availability of voluntary principles may be of assistance to national policy-makers and regulatory authorities in the discharge of their responsibilities;

declares

its shared vision that the benefits of GMPCS be made available on a global and regional basis;

fully aware

that the provision of GMPCS service must be in conformity with the ITU Constitution, Convention and Administrative Regulations;
that the sovereign right of each State to regulate its telecommunications, as reflected in the Constitution of the ITU, applies to GMPCS, as to other telecommunication systems and services;
that the provision of telecommunications services within, to or from each country requires authorization of the country concerned;
of Resolution 64 of the Kyoto Plenipotentiary Conference, 1994 which makes provision for non-discriminatory access to modern telecommunication facilities and services;

offers

the following set of voluntary principles:

Principle 1 – Early Introduction

In exercizing their sovereign rights in the context of their national legislation and priorities, taking into account inter alia national security, data protection, information security and privacy, States may wish to facilitate the early introduction of GMPCS services, in order to allow people everywhere to share in its benefits.

Principle 2 – International Cooperation

The early introduction of GMPCS and the full realization of its benefits is likely to be facilitated if national policymakers and regulators, in developing their domestic policies, cooperate to achieve harmonization of such policies through:

action at the international and regional levels and in multilateral foraparticularly in connection with issues related to user terminal licensing and facilitating free circulation; in the context of other important ITU work, acceleration and ccordination of work underway in the ITU sectors and of frequency coordination pursuant to ITU procedures, and
fostering participation of developing countries in GMPCS systems through partnership and assistance.

Principle 3 – Global Service Availability

The potential of GMPCS to provide services to all areas of the world, including those currently without access to even the most basic telecommunications, is most likely to be realized by simplified regulations and practices. To this effect:

within the limits of spectrum availability and the framework of their national telecommunications policy, national policymakers should consider maximizing competition in the provision of GMPCS services;

GMPCS system operators and service providers should not discriminate among different countries or categories of users except where this is justified by specific technical or economic considerations.

Principle 4 – GMPCS Regulation

National regulators should, in a timely manner, consider the benefits of creating a simplified, non-discriminatory and transparent regulatory environment, particularly with respect to such matters as service licensing, gateway station authorization, interconnection arrangements and user terminals, in which GMPCS services are regulated only to the extent necessary and can be provided under commercially reasonable conditions which permit affordable prices for the customer by:

fostering worldwide competition for the provision of services and equipment and

efficient operations to expedite the introduction of basic telecommunications services or improve access to them.

Principle 5 – Investment Participation

Opportunities for wide multinational participation in the equity ownership of GMPCS systems and services should be encouraged, so that GMPCS development is accelerated through global cooperation and partnership. Those countries and entities investing in GMPCS should enjoy the full benefits and advantages of their investment on a non-discriminatory basis.

Principle 6 – Unauthorized Use

Each system operator shall take steps to inhibit the use of the system in any country which has not authorized GMPCS service.

Principle 7 – User Terminal and Free Circulation

User terminal equipment, including handsets, should be nationally approved on the basis of standards specific to each system and such other relevant international or regional standards and authorized in ways which could facilitate the transborder use of terminals (e.g. class licenses or blanket approvals). International, especially multilateral, arrangements should be developed to achieve compatibility in terminal approvals, facilitate unrestricted international circulation of terminals, and encourage global roaming.

Principle 8 – Universal Access

The global or near global character of GMPCS should permit the provision of basic telecommunication services particularly in those rural and remote areas which may not be reached in an economical way by other means. This may be achieved through:

provision of service at reasonable cost by GMPCS operators;
offering transport tariffs by gateway operators and others involved in the provision of GMPCS services at reasonable cost, and
active participation of countries in GMPCS systems.

Principle 9 – Interconnectivity

National policy-makers and regulatory authorities and GMPCS operators should cooperate in ensuring appropriate interconnectivity between GMPCS systems and between these systems and public networks in order to enhance the availability, quality, and profitability of their services and to facilitate the provision of universal service, as well as competition among GMPCS systems and service providers.

Principle 10 – Further Cooperation

National policy-makers and regulatory authorities, GMPCS operators, service providers and manufacturers should cooperate with a view to facilitating coordinated solutions as soon as possible in matters relating to the full implementation of GMPCS.

invites

national regulatory authorities to take these principles into account, in accordance with national laws and international obligations,when licensing GMPCS services in their respective countries;
GMPCS system operators and service providers to take these principles into account in operating their systems.

OPINION No. 3

Essential Studies by the ITU to Facilitate
the Introduction of
Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS)

The First World Telecommunication Policy Forum (Geneva, 1996)

recognizing

that important technical and regulatory decisions were adopted by WARC-92 and WRC-95 permitting the implementation of Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS);
that the ITU Sectors should undertake further studies to facilitate the introduction of GMPCS on a global and regional basis;

invites the three ITU Sectors

each for matters within its competence, to initiate new studies or pursue current ones, and to reach conclusions as soon as practicable, to facilitate the introduction of GMPCS on a global and regional basis, particularly with respect to:

in the ITU-R, compatibility between GMPCS systems and between them and other radiocommunication services, in accordance with the decisions of World Radiocommunication Conferences,

in the ITU-T, matters relating to standards that may be common to different GMPCS systems,

in the ITU-D, taking account of the needs of developing countries to gain access to GMPCS, assist developing countries in taking appropriate measures to introduce GMPCS to their domestic telecommunications networks;

urges members of the Sectors concerned

to place more importance on their contributions to ITU activities relating to GMPCS in order for the ITU to be able to provide its essential expertise towards the rapid implementation of GMPCS on a global and regional basis.

OPINION No. 4

Establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding
to Facilitate the Free Circulation of Global Mobile Personal Communications
by Satellite User Terminals (GMPCS-MoU)

The First World Telecommunication Policy Forum (Geneva, 1996),

considering

that, due to their global, nearly global, or regional coverage, GMPCS systems are capable of providing services in urban areas as well as in remote areas of the world and, consequently, advanced telecommunication services may become available in these areas for the benefit of all countries, and in particular, developing countries;
that the possibility of being able to operate GMPCS terminals without geographical constraint will be one of the most attractive features for potential users;
that, on the other hand, the possibility of being able to operate GMPCS terminals without geographical constraint raises regulatory concerns with regard to "free circulation";
that free circulation of user terminals needs to be considered at three levels:

- 1. permission to carry a terminal into a visited country but not to use it;
  2. permission to carry a terminal into a visited country and to use it without the need for obtaining authorization in the visited country, in conformity with Principle 6 of Opinion No. 2 (Unauthorized Use); and
  
  3. technical conditions for placing terminals on the market;

and that free circulation should be in conformity with the laws and policies of the country, and should be limited to the GMPCS systems authorized in the visited country;

that, as defined above, free circulation involves some matters that are normally within the competence of telecommunication regulators and others which are of the competence of other government departments;
that to facilitate levels 1 and 2 of free circulation, there may be a need for arrangements between custom administrations in order to facilitate custom clearance for users intending to use their terminals in the visited country or transiting to another country;
that to facilitate level 2 of free circulation, it will be necessary to reach arrangements on the mutual recognition of type approval and licensing of terminals;
that to facilitate level 3 of free circulation, it will be necessary to reach arrangements on mutual recognition of type approval of terminals;

considering also

that this Forum has invited national policy-makers, regulatory authorities and system operators to work cooperatively to facilitate the introduction of GMPCS;
that a number of voluntary principles have been identified by this Forum to facilitate the implementation of GMPCS;
that multilateraland/or bilateral arrangements will be required to achieve compatibility of terminal approvals to facilitate unrestricted free circulation of terminals and roaming;
that some regional telecommunication organizations have already begun to address many of these issues;
that these issues need to be addressed by Administrations preferably in consultation with system operators, service providers and manufacturers;

considering further

that some GMPCS systems are already in operation and that others will be brought into operation, as of 1998;
that urgent action is, therefore, required to facilitate the free circulation of terminals;
that the early introduction of GMPCS services will be facilitated by a commonly agreed, and regularly reviewed and updated, GMPCS-MoU, to be used as a framework for arrangements on free circulation of terminals;
that this GMPCS-MoU should be open for signature by all Administrations, GMPCS operators, service providers and manufacturers;
that the development of a GMPCS-MoU would be a complementary and supplementary activity which should not delay or postpone any GMPCS service licensing negotiations;
that this GMPCS-MoU should be non-discriminatory with regard to GMPCS operators, service providers and manufacturers (recognizing that various GMPCS systems are at different stages of development),

offers

the draft GMPCS-MoU annexed to this Opinion for comment and further study without commitment;

requests the Secretary General

1. to circulate the annexed draft GMPCS-MoU to Administrations, GMPCS operators, service providers, manufacturers, and members of the ITU Sectors, with an invitation to comment by 31 December 1996;

2. to convene early in 1997 an "informal group" of Administrations, GMPCS operators, service providers, and manufacturers to consider the comments received and improve the GMPCS-MoU;

3. to circulate the improved GMPCS-MoU to Administrations, GMPCS operators, service providers, manufacturers, and members of the ITU Sectors, with an invitation to sign, if they so wish;

4. to host the first meeting of the signatories and intended signatories to the GMPCS-MoU during the first semester of 1997, in order to begin work on arrangements relating to free circulation of terminals as specified in the Articles of the MoU;

5. to act as a depository of a GMPCS-MoU and publish periodically an updated list of signatories;

encourages

Administrations, GMPCS operators, service providers and manufacturers to sign the MoU, and participate actively in its work, with a view to completing the initial set of arrangements by 1 July 1997, and to consider thereafter the need for further cooperation to facilitate the full implementation of GMPCS.

Annex

Draft Memorandum of Understanding
to Facilitate the Free Circulation of
Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite User Terminals
(GMPCS-MoU)

Convinced of the need to reach regional, and preferably global, arrangements on issues related to the three levels of free circulation of user terminals defined as follows:

permission to carry a terminal into a visited country but not to use it;
permission to carry a terminal into a visited country and to use it without the need for obtaining authorization in the visited country; and
technical conditions for placing terminals on the market;

that such arrangements would necessarily include the conditions pursuant to which Administrations would grant mutual recognition of type approval of terminals, mutual recognition of terminal licensing, recognize the marking of terminals, and permit terminals to be placed on the market; and that such arrangements could form the basis of national regulations on these matters, or be implemented by reference;

the Parties to this Memorandum of Understanding hereby agree to cooperate, according to their respective roles and competencies and taking into account the voluntary principles for GMPCS adopted by WTPF 96 on the following issues:

Article 1 Type Approval of Terminals

The Parties shall develop arrangements on the essential requirements necessary for the type approval of terminals, and the means by which such approvals shall be mutually recognized. That the type approval standards should be based on the relevant ITU Recommendations, and should be impartial with respect to all GMPCS technologies, and without reference to performance or quality of service standards.

Article 2 Licensing of Terminals

The Parties shall develop arrangements on the means by which licenses should be granted based on general licenses (e.g. class licenses or blanket approvals). That such arrangements shall be drawn up andinclude the means by which these general licenses shall be mutually recognized.

Article 3 Marking of Terminals

The Parties shall develop arrangements on the marking of terminals which will permit their recognition and the implementation of the arrangements on mutual recognition of type approval and licensing.

Article 4 Customs Arrangements

The Parties shall develop recommendations to their competent authorities proposing exemption of approved terminals from customs restrictions when visiting or transiting countries.

Article 5 Review

The Parties shall periodically review the results and consequences of their cooperation under this Memorandum of Understanding. When appropriate the Parties will consider the need for improvements in their cooperation and make suitable proposals for modifying and updating the arrangements, and the scope of this GMPCS-MoU.

Article 6 Access to Traffic Data

The Parties shall develop arrangements for GMPCS operators to provide, on a confidential basis, within a reasonable period of time to any duly authorized national authority which so requests, the best available traffic data concerning traffic originating in or routed to its national territory, and to assist it with any measures intended to identify unauthorized traffic flows therein.

Done in Geneva:

[date]

signed:

OPINION No. 5

Implementation of GMPCS in Developing Countries

The First World Telecommunication Policy Forum (Geneva, 1996)

recognizing

that GMPCS systems offer significant benefits to the public both in the developing and developed countries;

recognizing further

that while the benefits and potential of GMPCS have not been challenged, nevertheless some countries have concerns about the political, economic, social and cultural impacts of the emerging new systems;

considering

that GMPCS systems built and financed mainly by private investors will offer advanced telecommunications services that would otherwise be cost prohibitive to develop or operate;
that developing countries may stand to benefit from these advanced services and in particular where terrestrial infrastructure is limited or non-existent;
that GMPCS has the potential of narrowing the existing gap in the provision of telecommunications services between developed and developing countries;

considering further

that developing countries ought to benefit from the introduction of the latest technology in the field of telecommunications;
that these countries face unique problems such as the lack of, or minimal, interconnectivity between terrestrial networks, however, initiatives are being taken in order to interconnect developing countries through submarine cables, fibre optic cables, microwave links, satellite, etc.
that terrestrial connectivity is essential when introducing GMPCS in order to ensure that good quality service is maintained;

conscious

that for GMPCS services to be available as widely as possible, the participation of developing countries is essential and should be encouraged, within their capacity to do so;
that there is concern that the charges for access and utilization of GMPCS services may well be beyond the means of the local populace in developing countries, particularly those that live in rural and remote areas;

of the view

that it would be useful to study, as a matter of urgency, the policy, social, cultural and economic impacts of the new systems and to identify the net benefits that developing countries may derive from them;

urges

GMPCS system operators and service providers to consider including as part of their corporate mission the commitment to offer their services as a further means to contribute to the attainment by developing countries of the goal of universal access;

GMPCS system operators, gateway operators, and service providers to take reasonable steps to ensure that their access and utilization charges are set at a level that would make this service as widely utilized as possible including in rural and remote areas and areas lacking conventional infrastructure in developing countries, taking into account the cost of providing service and the economic situation in developing countries;

GMPCS system operators consider providing some capacity at reasonable cost in support of service provision to areas lacking conventional infrastructure in developing countries;

GMPCS gateway operators to consider offering transport tariffs at reasonable cost in support of service provision to rural and remote areas in developing countries;

invites the Director of the BDT, in liaison with the Directors of the other Bureaus

1. to establish a group of experts especially from developing countries to carry out the following tasks:

to prepare, as soon as possible and not later than July 1997, a checklist of factors which developing countries may take into account in the process of introducing GMPCS services;
to advise and assist in response to the concerns and needs of the developing countries on the technical and regulatory issues associated with the introduction of GMPCS on a global or regional basis, particularly in relation to tariffs and interconnectivity;
to study the policy and socio-economic impacts of GMPCS services in developing countries;

2. to prepare a report to the next World Telecommunication Development Conference based on the studies carried out by the group of experts.;

urges further

developing countries to communicate their concerns and needs to the BDT.