ROMANIA

STATEMENT BY MR Florin bejan
secretray of state for communications

Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

May I first take this opportunity to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to the chair of this Plenipotentiary Conference, I am sure that under your able chairmanship this conference will achieve its goals in the most efficient way.

In today telecommunications environment, now more than ever, international cooperation becomes essential to spread the benefits of the Communications and Information Technologies all over the world.

Romania has been pursuing an increasingly active international agenda to foster the growth of IT&C and has played an active role by hosting a series of events, as well as by participating and contributing to different working groups and parties at the ITU, UPU, CEPT, ECC.

In November 2002, we hosted the Pan-European Regional Ministerial Conference on Information Society - preparatory meeting for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). The Pan-European Regional Ministerial Conference in Bucharest brought together governmental representatives (from various fields of activity encompassing the communications and IT as well as education, health and foreign affairs), as well as members of the civil society and the private sector, to discuss Information Society issues specific to the region and to develop a common vision to be presented in the World Summit.

The Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06, Doha, Qatar) was held in Bucharest, in April 2005. The event organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology under the aegis of International Telecommunication Union gathered representatives from 24 countries and 6 sector members of the ITU-D. The meeting drew to a successfully close with the identification of concrete themes of regional importance based on presentations of country proposals.

In November 2005, in Tunis, we took part in the second stage of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Romania received international recognition for the quality of the implemented programmes and solutions, which are at their basis even from the beginning of this Summit. Thus, the AEL e-learning programme, developed by a Romanian company, received The World Summit Award, acknowledging the quality of the Romanian IT&C field.

Romania’s participation to the Summit in Tunis contributed to the consolidation of the role assumed by our country in the preparation process of WSIS by putting into practice the political and action capital acquired until now in the development of this process. Assuming an active role on a regional level in promoting the Information Society in all its dimensions, the Romanian Government is committed to make further steps by promoting technological neutrality and the use of new IT&C technologies.

The Romanian Government recognized communications and information technology as a national priority, as the development of IT&C can stimulate economic growth, it can guarantee the respect of fundamental human rights and provide infrastructure for a new modern society.

Liberalizing the telecommunications sector by January 1st, 2003 was a firm commitment that the Romanian Government made, along with the decision to accelerate the transition to the Information Society and to the Knowledge-based economy, in order to reduce the digital divide, to improve the life standard of the Romanian citizens and to increase the overall competitiveness of the Romanian economy.

Three years after full market liberalization, the Romanian communications sector is witnessing significant growth in all its segments and competition is developing with strong impetus.

At the moment there are over 14 million users of mobile telephony services, over 4 million fixed telephony users and over 4 million people that were using CATV, out of a population of 21 million inhabitants.

The Romanian IT&C sector has the largest growth rate compared to the others sectors of the Romanian economy (20,2%), a contribution of up 8% to the GDP, being also one of the fastest growing markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

In the years ahead, IT&C activities will focus on three major directions:

• A feasible e-government strategy,

• The decrease of the digital divide between urban and rural areas

• The introduction of the newest technologies available worldwide.

The support for large-scale use of information technologies will be visible in increasing availability of personal computers and Internet access among all the public segments. At the same time, the further development and increased efficiency of modern services provided by the local public administration are currently under consideration, alongside increasing security of information systems and fighting cyber-crime.

Presently, the government of Romania is working on a National Broadband Strategy that has a very keen expected outcome: over 4 million broadband Internet connections in Romania by 2009. At the end of June 2006, 1.1 million such connections were reported; meaning almost 60% increases in 6 months. The penetration rate for broadband Internet services was 5.5%, the growth rhythm being among the highest in Europe.

The Romanian Government will continue to uphold the IT&C sector among the priorities of its activity, being well aware of its importance.

Romania is an ITU founding and supporting member, strongly committed to uphold its objectives and values. Through the work of this organization all countries may express their needs and goals in developing their telecommunication sectors. The work of the ITU is fundamental on assisting developing countries to reach their goals, to enhance their national economies and to extend the benefits of ICTs to all of their inhabitants.

Romania has decided to submit her candidature for re-election to the Council of International Telecommunication Union, thus reaffirming a strong commitment to the objectives of the Union in a continuously challenging IT&C environment.

We are ready and willing to share our experience for protecting and promoting the interests of all member states and we aim to contribute to the advancement of ITU principles and objectives to fulfil its responsibility of reaching out to all potential stakeholders and partners in an effort to achieve progress, in equitable conditions for all members.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Romania is committed to the objective of reconfirming ITU as the leading telecommunications organisation in the world, to improve its performance in adapting to the needs of a rapidly changing telecommunications world.

In order to create “the people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society” that we all committed to realise, as stated in Geneva Declaration of Principles, the key words by which we should welcome the next Plenipotentiary Conference should be: technological security and trust for ensuring confidentiality, certainty and accurate information.

Romania is particularly keen to have an active participation for the improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Union. We brought our contributions to the work of the New Council Oversight Group and are ready to use our knowledge gathered during the last four years as being an important tool to continue the Reform of the Union.

Ladies and gentlemen, in closing I want to express my sincere thanks for the fine preparations by Turkey, our host country, which have made a successful Conference possible.

Thank you for your attention.