UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

STATEMENT BY H.e. MR NICK THORNE
AMBASSADOR OF UK TO THE UN IN GENEVA

Mr Chairman, Honourable Ministers and Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is an honour to address this conference on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom. Let me add our congratulations on your election to the Chair, and to the Government of Turkey for hosting this important conference in these beautiful and historic surroundings.

I have been to numerous UN conferences, but this is my first time at an ITU Plenipotentiary Conference and I am already impressed by how much work needs to be done. We have more challenges than normal to surmount despite a shortened duration. We must also consider the important outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society and, if that were not enough, the Union faces some difficult financial challenges. It is up to this Conference to take some tough decisions on financing and management in order to strengthen the ITU and properly equip it for the future.

Mr Chairman, the United Kingdom has been a member of the ITU since its inception. We are proud to have played a part in its development throughout that long period. We have a long history invested in this Union; and an investment is what it is. We are committed to doing what is best for the Union as a whole; and for its Member States, big and small, and also for its sector members. In addition to our direct contribution to the ITU, both financial and in human resources, the United Kingdom makes a very large financial contribution to telecommunications development throughout the World.

Through the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), we provide support to a large number of individual countries, and also to many programmes and activities at a regional level. Over the past 5 years or so, DFID has committed some 80 million dollars on programmes and activities directly focused on ICT for Development, and especially in Africa, for example:

• Support for the Catalysing Access to ICT in Africa programme which helps improve policy and regulation, and promotes affordable access to the full range of ICTs from community radio to phones and the Internet.

• Working with Vodafone, DFID is supporting work in East Africa to improve the efficiency of existing microfinance programmes using mobile technology. The M-PESA programme is a very practical programme which aims to help people and businesses in small villages throughout Kenya and Tanzania to, for example, settle their bills by text message. We have put in £1m in to this project, a sum matched by Vodafone.

• The CDC (formerly known as the Commonwealth Development Corporation, and now part of DFID) was the first institutional investor in the African mobile phone operator Celtel. Celtel now has more than five million direct customers in 14 countries, and provides coverage for 30% of Africa's population.

The UK has also continued to host a number of ITU meetings, from a series of NGN forums, to Commonwealth ITU Group meetings (a group we are particularly pleased to facilitate) and many more. Our experts are regularly involved in ITU workshops and conferences around the world. We shall participate in the ITU Telecom World event in Hong Kong just after this Plenipotentiary finishes.

We take our ITU responsibilities very seriously as one of our key international commitments. And, for all the technology, we believe the ITU should, and indeed does, put people first. When, for example, when we speak about radio spectrum we think of users of that spectrum. When we speak of standards, we think of the benefits that ITU standards bring in terms of confidence and security for ordinary people. Indeed within the UK, our recently created and fully independent regulator, Ofcom, has responsibility across the whole field of telecommunications, radio spectrum and broadcasting (including content) and has been mandated by the Government to put the interests of citizens and consumers first.

We are also committed to greater emphasis on co- and self-regulation and an open engagement with the private sector. In an increasingly competitive and converging world, we believe these are essential steps for governments and regulators to take. The ITU must be responsive to such developments.

Comprising as it does of Governments, regulators and industry players all either setting aside or working out their differences and working for common goals, the ITU is a very special forum. The decisions we make here affect the world in so many ways and at so many levels. It would be impossible to list them. But Mr Chairman, let me assure the conference that the United Kingdom takes its responsibility very seriously. We are as keen as everybody else here to see the ITU flourish, and enhance opportunities for individual people everywhere. We are extremely conscious of the digital divide; we are committed to redressing these inequities and to improving lives. The ITU can make a difference to a great many lives. This is a real opportunity, but also a considerable responsibility. All this calls for a lot of hard work Mr Chairman. But as I hope all here realise, the UK does not flinch from hard work. We certainly can be relied upon to do our share and usually rather more. We are proud to work with all here, whether it be individually, or in the various regional and other international groups to which we belong.

Mr Chairman, if I may turn to matters of immediate interest, the UK is standing for election to the Council at this Conference. We have been absent for four years and now seek to return. If Members were to favour us, I can assure you of nothing less than our best at all times in terms of commitment and engagement. We believe we have a real contribution to make.

In addition, the United Kingdom has a candidate for the position of Director Telecommunications Standardization Bureau. Many of you know Malcolm Johnson personally, and know that he has been a most effective contributor to the work of the ITU in many conferences and meetings and in all of its Sectors for many years. His knowledge and expertise, not just in the telecommunications sector, but right across the broad range of issues in which the ITU engages, makes him an ideal candidate for this Director post and more generally for the future management of the Union.

In conclusion Mr Chairman, on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, I would like to assure you, this Plenipotentiary Conference, and the ITU as a whole of our firm support in our work to ensure the success of the Union.

Thank you all for your attention.