FAQ: How to Use the ITU Electronic Bookshop

Which steps do I take to purchase an ITU Publication? (see also special information on free downloads ):

1) Select the desired ITU publication(s)

2) Add each publication to the electronic Shopping Basket

3) Choose a payment method (or continue shopping)

4) Retrieve the requested publication(s) by downloading directly

. . . and if I experience problems?
 

How do I select the desired ITU publication(s)?
Individual ITU Publications, including ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations may be selected directly from the Electronic Bookshop publications page.

How do I add publications to the electronic "Shopping Basket"?
After browsing various ITU Publications via either  "BROWSE" (choose either the ITU Sector, or Resources)  or  "SEARCH",  select the desired publication(s), and the desired language and format  then click on the Add button (in the case of non-Recommendation Publications*). This will produce a page with the Contents of Shopping Basket.  At this point you will have the option to Continue Shopping and select other publications, or Proceed to Check Out to pay for the items selected. Note that items may be removed from the shopping basket at any time simply by clicking on the REMOVE link.  (*For Recommendations, once the title and edition are chosen, simply click on the desired format under preferred  language to ADD to shopping cart).

lPlease note that any products selected which are not downloadable will also be recorded; you will be prompted to provide a shipping address for these items and they will be paid for separately.

Payment methods?
Once added to the shopping basket, publications are purchased by selecting the Proceed to Checkout button. The basket contents, publication prices and total will be displayed.  The following payment options are currently available:

Credit Card Purchase - Credit card details are transmitted via secure channel and are only entered once per transaction.  One transaction may include several publications.

Credit Card Account Customer - An account customer is a someone who has established credit with the ITU by depositing, via credit card, a minimum amount in Swiss Francs. (New applications for this service are currently not accepted).  The cost of each downloaded publication is deducted from the deposited amount with the current balance is displayed. Active Credit Card Account Customers registering prior to 1998 can see their account status, increase their balance or cancel their account at any time.

Fund Transfer Account Customer - An additional service allowing for the purchase of publication(s) via company check or bank transfer is also available.  This alternate service allows access to the desired publication(s) only after payment is received by the ITU, however.  Payment  must include a unique Order Number, generated upon completion of the form on the following site:  http://ecs.itu.ch/cgi-bin/open-account2 .  Detailed information on the actual transfer of funds is made available following completion of this (non-obligation) online form.

Retrieving the requested publications when paying by Credit Card?
Once your card has been approved for payment, the requested publication is made available via a specially created link to that publication.  Simply click on the "download" link to download the purchased publication(s).  The agreed cost of each publication is then billed to your credit card with no additional service fee.

Note: Publications are available for download for a period of 48 hours after purchase and may only be retrieved from the same machine on which payment was made.  If you have paid for publications and would like to download them later (but within the 48 hour time limit) they will be available via the URL: https://ecs.itu.ch/cgi-bin/paid  NOTE: If you make subsequent purchases within 48 hours, only these latter items will be presented as downloadable.

FREE RECOMMENDATIONS?
As of 2001 the ITU has allowed the annual download of three (3) Recommendations per person at no charge.  (Now limited to ITU-R only).

As of 2007, the ITU allows immediate access to most* pdf formats of most of the in-force, posted ITU-T Recommendations.  Simply click and download.  (N.B. The vast majority of all Recommendations are available in electronic (PDF) form free of charge to all once a final editing process is complete. Texts that are not free of charge include common ITU-T | ISO / IEC texts for which special arrangements exist).

As of 2009, and for a trial period, contributing ITU Members and sector members can freely access ITU-R Recommendations with their TIES access.

Otherwise, the 3-Free offer is currently valid to the general public for the download of three individual ITU-R Recommendations in pdf or MS WORD format.  All other ITU Publications accessible via the Electronic Bookshop are not included as part of this special offer.  (New ITU-D Recommendations are not included in this service since they are already free of charge.  Most in-force ITU-T Recommendations are free of charge in pdf format (see above).

3-FREE OFFER

How does one access "3-Free Recommendations"?
Those wishing to benefit from the opportunity to freely access up to three (3) ITU-R Recommendations must first complete the requested information via the online Free Download Registration Form. Once the form is submitted, an email with Confidential Access information (valid for 3 downloads) shall be forwarded to your designated email account.  The Free Download Registration Form is accessible via the Electronic Bookshop Welcome Page.

Does any version of any ITU Recommendation qualify as a free download?
All web-posted ITU-R Recommendations only, including those appearing in their pre-published and/or draft formats, are accessible with this offer.  (New ITU-D Recommendations are not included in this service since they are already free of charge.  Most in-force ITU-T Recommendations are already free of charge in pdf format (see above).

Each downloaded version is considered one free download (e.g. downloading the PDF format and the Word format of the same Recommendation constitutes two of your three free downloads). 

Once I have my Confidential Access information, how do I select the Recommendation to download?
Download your first Recommendation simply by going to the Electronic Bookshop page, then selecting "Recommendations" and choosing the preferred Recommendation from among the list.  Or:

 ITU-R: http://www.itu.int/publications/productslist.aspx?lang=e&menu=categories&CategoryID=R-REC&selection=4&sector=1

How do I make my 2nd and 3rd free downloads?
Each successive download is made following the same directions as for the first download (e.g. via the Welcome Page).

How can I then purchase a fourth Recommendation?
The Electronic Bookshop will recognize your Confidential Access information and allow for only three (3) downloads of three (3) ITU-R Recommendations.  Prior to any successive downloads, you will be prompted to provide payment information (see above information on the Payment Methods available).

Can I obtain a receipt for my free downloads?
Since no transaction of funds has been exchanged, no receipt of purchase is available for Recommendations downloaded free-of-charge.

Can I print my free ITU Recommendation or save to my hard-drive or diskette?
Printing or saving Recommendations is permissible, however the same general Copyright Information applies as for purchased Recommendations.

Problems ordering via the Electronic Bookshop?

Should you experience any difficulties with the ordering process, kindly email SALES, referencing the publication(s) you are attempting to purchase and detailing the problem incurred.  All emails are normally answered within 24 hours of reception Monday-Friday.   (It should be noted that some browsers, namely IE 5.0 or Netscape 6.1, may admittedly not function as well as others and should be upgraded).

Problems reading documents ordered with the Electronic Bookshop?

A suggestion for accurate formula reading in some Recommendations when "Error!" appears.  Change your "list-separator" (via Control Panel, Regional Settings) from the semi-colon (;) to a comma (,) or vice-versa.