RESOLUTION 2

ESTABLISHMENT OF A FORUM TO DISCUSS STRATEGIES AND POLICIES
IN THE CHANGING TELECOMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Kyoto, 1994),

considering

a)
that the telecommunication environment has undergone considerable changes since the 1980s under the combined influence of advances in technology, the globalization of markets and growing user demand for integrated cross-border services increasingly adapted to their needs;

b) that the forces shaping the telecommunication environment have led in many countries to a restructuring of the telecommunication sector, especially the separation of regulatory and operating functions, the gradual liberalization of services and the appearance of new players in this area;

c) that this restructuring of telecommunication policies and regulations, which began in the industrialized countries, is now being followed by regional initiatives to introduce liberalization through new regulatory frameworks, such as the Latin American Blue Paper of the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) and the African Green Paper;

d) that, alongside these regional initiatives, many countries have started liberalizing their telecommunication services and in some cases privatizing them;

e) that, as a result of these changes, the need for a global framework to exchange information on telecommunication policies has been evident for many years;

f) that national telecommunication policies and regulations have to be recognized and understood, so as to allow the development of global markets which can support the harmonious development of telecommunication services,

conscious

a)
that the purposes of the Union are, inter alia, to promote, at the international level, the adoption of a broader approach to the issues of telecommunications in the global information economy and society, to promote the extension of the benefits of the new telecommunication technologies to all the world's inhabitants and to harmonize the actions of Members in the attainment of those ends;

b) that the idea of trying to provide a global framework in order to introduce and develop these new global technologies has already been discussed on many occasions,

recalling

a)
that in its report entitled "The Changing Telecommunication Environment", the Advisory Group on Telecommunication Policy noted that the ITU:

b) that these observations were echoed by the Nice Plenipotentiary Conference (1989), which, in its Resolution 14, took into consideration and recognized:

c) that, lastly, the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference (Geneva, 1992) continued the debate on the need to establish a policy coordination mechanism (Resolution 15) and recognized the need to establish a forum in which policy coordination between Members would be expedited. The means whereby such coordination could be ensured, however, are not explained. In particular, the question of the nature of such a forum, the scope of its action and the form it might take remain to be settled,

emphasizing

a)
that ITU Members realizing the need for constant review of their own telecommunication policies and legislation and for coordination in the rapidly changing telecommunication environment should be able to discuss strategies and policies;

b) that it is necessary for the Union, as an international organization playing a leading role in the field of telecommunications, to organize a forum to facilitate the exchange of information on telecommunication policies;

c) that the forum should be a facilitator for information gathering and exchange, and provide a platform for the periodic discussion, inter alia, of broad policy issues, technological advances, service options and opportunities, infrastructure development and financial business considerations;

d) that the forum should give special attention to the interests and needs of the developing countries, where modern technologies and services can contribute significantly to telecommunication infrastructure development,

resolves

1. that a world telecommunication policy forum shall be established to discuss and exchange views and information on telecommunication policy and regulatory matters;

2. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall neither produce prescriptive regulatory outcomes nor produce outputs with binding force; however it shall prepare reports and, where appropriate, opinions for consideration by Members and relevant ITU meetings;

3. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be open to all Members and entities and organizations other than administrations authorized to participate in the activities of the Union under Article 19 of the Convention (Geneva, 1992) but, if appropriate, may in some cases restrict some sessions to Members only;

4. that the world telecommunication policy forum should be convened once or twice before the next Plenipotentiary Conference in conjunction with other ITU conferences and meetings, depending on topics, scheduling and financial constraints;

5. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be convened on an ad hoc basis to respond quickly to emerging policy issues arising from the changing telecommunication environment;

6. that Council shall decide on the duration, date, venue, agenda and themes of the world telecommunication policy forum;

7. that the agenda and themes shall be based on a report by the Secretary-General, including input from any conference, assembly or meeting of the Union, and on contributions from Members and members of the Union;

8. that discussions at the world telecommunication policy forum shall be based on contributions from Members and members of the Union, the report of the Secretary-General and the views expressed by the participants on a given topic;

9. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be convened in conjunction with one of the conferences or meetings of the Union in order to minimize the impact on the budget of the Union;

10. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure, based on a draft by the Secretary-General which will be examined by the Council,

instructs the Secretary-General

to make the necessary preparations for the world telecommunication policy forum based on the resolves above,

instructs the Council

to decide upon the duration, date, venue, agenda and themes of the world telecommunication policy forum,

further instructs the Council

to submit to the next Plenipotentiary Conference a report on the world telecommunication policy forum for evaluation and any necessary action,

invites the next Plenipotentiary Conference

to consider whether to formalize the forum in the Constitution and Convention of the Union, bearing in mind the experience gained during the plenipotentiary period 1995-1998.

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