The high-level platform for industry leaders led to an interactive exchange with regulators and policy-makers, covering issues related to universal access and rural connectivity, emergency telecommunications as well as stimulating business investment and expansion.

"It is difficult to predict what the communications landscape will look like twenty-five, ten or even five years from now," said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. "But I am confident that we will see the trend toward mobility continue to evolve and mature." He said cell phones are mini-computers which send e-mail, take pictures, surf the web, and play songs and videos. "And perhaps more importantly, as shown in the recent floods in Bangladesh, send emergency messages to warn of impending danger," Mr Martin added.

End user sharing — where multiple users share the same handset or computer — was also explored during GSR-08. General Manzurul Alam, Chairman, Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, talking about the success of the renowned Grameen phone Village Phone Ladies’ programme, explained the impact of end-user sharing on empowering women. "Women who re-sell mobile air time to poor rural users earn above-average incomes in Bangladesh. When married women begin their careers as Village Phone Ladies, they offer their monthly take to senior family members, with whom they often have difficult relationships. Over time, the Village Phone women earn the respect of their family members, and one result is a reduction in domestic violence," General Alam said.

At the closing session of GSR-08, Mr Sami Al Basheer, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau awarded the G-REX certificates to its most active users: the regulatory authorities of Costa Rica, Hong Kong (China), Pakistan, Peru, Lithuania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan and Venezuela. G-REX is an interactive online platform maintained by ITU for the benefit of regulators to exchange information and best practices.