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In this issue:
1. World Telecommunication Development Conference aligns Regulatory Reform Programme with WSIS Enabling Environment objectives The 2006 WTDC, held in Doha, Qatar in March 2006 recognized the strong link between regulatory reform and achievement of the goals laid out by the World Summit on the Information Society to connect all the world’s
villages to ICT by 2015. The main objective of the new BDT regulatory reform
Programme is to provide assistance in developing and implementing an enabling environment that fosters a supportive, transparent, pro-competitive and predictable policy, legal and regulatory framework, fully in line with the WSIS Action Line C6
The new regulatory reform Programme has further been re-tooled to address the regulatory environment required for the accelerated convergence between technologies and services, and the development of next generation networks (NGN). The new regulatory reform Programme will develop up-to-date tools in the area of policy, legislation and regulation for use by telecommunication/ICT decision makers, regulators, policy-makers, operators and service providers. WTDC backed the annual Trends in Telecommunication Reform publication and the ITU-infoDev ICT Regulation Toolkit. Training materials and courses for regulatory staff as well as policy makers was seen as a priority in order to keep pace with this rapidly evolving sector. Strong support was voiced for a training mechanism for enhanced cooperation among telecommunication regulators, including staff exchanges between regulators (know as the Tandem Programme for Regulators). The importance of providing platforms at which national policy-makers, regulatory authorities and regional regulatory organizations can discuss key issues and obtain relevant input from the relevant partners is an essential activity of the Programme. It was stressed that the Global Regulators Exchange (GREX), a convenient online interactive forum for regulators to exchange views and experiences on key regulatory issues, should be maintained and enhanced to meet the needs of its users. Moreover, the Global Symposium for Regulators was highlighted on several occasions throughout the conference and considered one of the great successes of the BDT, and full support was given to its continuance. To this effect, a new resolution was adopted by the Conference to Strengthen Cooperation among Regulators, see Resolution 48. The resolution recognizes that that the success of telecommunications reform will mostly depend on the establishment and implementation of an effective regulatory framework, and that it is therefore important to share information amongst regulators, particularly long-standing regulators and newly established ones. The resolution instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
requests the Secretary-General to transmit this Resolution to the forthcoming plenipotentiary conference (Antalya, 2006) to ensure that appropriate attention is given to these activities, in particular within the framework of WSIS implementation. Full Programme.
2.
At the opening press conference of the 2006 World Telecommunication Development Conference, Doha, Qatar, ITU launched the seventh edition of Trends in Telecommunication Reform.
This 7th edition has been re
This year’s Trends in Telecommunication Reform contains eight chapters addressing each of the
3. Stemming the International Tide of Spam The current fight against spam has adopted a multi-pronged strategy including legislation, technical solutions, consumer education and international cooperation. Anti-spam laws have so far been unsuccessful in stopping spam around the world. In many cases, these laws have missed their target entirely, with no perceptible impact on actual spammers One reason is that most anti-spam laws are directed at sanctioning spammers for their bad acts and have ignored the key role that ISPs play in the fight against spam. Spam laws focused on spammers require considerable investigative and enforcement resources to have any impact. In addition, although many ISPs are making valiant efforts to combat spam, not all ISPs share the same incentives to address the issue. That’s why the time may be ripe for anti-spam authorities to expand their efforts to include working with ISPs
Chapter 7 of the recently published 2006 Trends in Telecommunication Reform report, describes how enforceable codes of conduct for ISPs could level the playing field so that all players share responsibility in the fight against spam. The chapter also takes up the elements that might be included in a model anti-spam law to "help stem the tide of spam and materially reduce spam’s costs to ISPs and consumers." The Chapter was written by John G. Palfrey, Executive Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Download the spam chapter for free! The use of enforceable codes of conduct was presented by RRU at the Arab Regulators Network meeting in Abu Dhabi (see below) and at the APEC TEL 33 Symposium on Spam and Related Threats, held in Calgary, Canada from 23-24 April 2006. The APEC TEL meeting brought together APEC, the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The full agenda of the symposium, and papers delivered by speakers are available at: www.apectel33.ca. The third meeting of the Arab Regulators Network, held from 18 to 20 March 2006 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, included a workshop on 19 March, organized together with ITU, on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Challenges and Opportunities. During the workshop, ITU shared global best practices from the 2006 edition of ITU Trends in Telecommunication Reform. The latest edition of Trends includes a comprehensive study of VoIP regulatory practices worldwide, and documents the global trend of liberalizing VoIP services, while addressing issues such as access to emergency services, numbering resources and emerging interconnection practices. In addition, ITU highlighted materials from the joint ITU-infoDev ICT Regulation Toolkit on interconnection between IP and PSTN networks. One of the 2006 Trends authors, Russell Southwood, described the rise of VoIP peering and clearinghouses, which enable IP networks to transit and exchange international traffic through purely commercial and unregulated arrangements. Algeria provided detailed information about its recent decision to liberalize VoIP. While some participants expressed concern about the impact of VoIP on fixed line operators, most recognized that the rise of VoIP is inevitable and will lead to positive results, both for consumers, and operators as they transition to NGN networks. ITU also presented a new approach in the fight against spam through enforceable codes of conduct for Internet Service Providers. (See "Stemming the international tide of spam" above). Click here http://www.ituarabic.org/ArabReg-Network-UAE/index.htm to access the presentations. The Arab Regulators Network meeting discussed and reviewed the progress of various projects, which include issues relating to harmonized interconnection and licensing practices, mobilizing investment, human capacity building of the region’s regulators, and the exchange of experiences. Another crucial project relates to efforts among regulators to reduce mobile roaming charges to facilitate easier cross border movement of customers between the Arab countries. 5. Virtual Conference on the Impact of New Technologies on Regulatory Practices On 15 March 2006, the RRU organized a virtual conference on the impact of new technologies on regulatory practices. RRU invited a series of information and communication technology (ICT) regulators, academics and practitioners to identify the key technological developments they see affecting current regulatory practices in order to provide input into the New Technologies Module of the joint ITU-infoDev ICT Regulation Toolkit.
In the developed world, operators and service providers from both the telecom and IP world compete for the same pool of customers. Many service providers realize they will have to compete by offering attractive high-end applications customers are willing to pay for, since traditional voice services are increasingly sold as part of a bundled package of three or more other ICT services. In the developing world, innovative entrepreneurs seek to harness the potential of new technologies to provide a full range of affordable ICT services to customers. At the same time, some incumbents still seek to stave off the impact of new technologies and the competition they bring by maintaining restrictive regulatory practices. Regulators in developing countries can play a key role to ensure that their practices encourage entrepreneurship and innovation. Developing country regulators can also develop pro-competitive infrastructure sharing mechanisms to keep costs of service provision low. In both the developed and developing world,
The intelligence in networks is going to the edges, leading to a good news-bad news story. On the positive side, end users can access an ever wider range of applications. Likewise, small and micro entrepreneurs can easily become service providers, competing head-on with traditional telecommunication operators. The negative impact of intelligence at the edges is increased concern about spam and other cyber-security threats. The migration of IP-based networks to NGN networks may offer greater network security and infrastructure protection. At the same time, however, NGN could create new bottlenecks for competitors and lead to vertical integration requiring regulatory intervention. As technological developments fuel greater numbers of ICT users, pressure is expected on naming, addressing and identification resources, making internet governance policies and practices more important. Data protection and consumer privacy will grow in importance, not only because of increasing numbers of users, but also due to the rise of location-aware applications. The recorded virtual conference and the presentations can be accessed here http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/Virtual-events/infoDevNewTech_15Mar06/index.html 6. ECOWAS/UEMOA moves forward towards ICT market harmonization Working with the support of the ITU and European Commission (EC), the ECOWAS and UEMOA countries have taken the next step towards ICT market harmonization. In September 2005, during a meeting of the West African Regulators Assembly (WATRA) regulators from the region agreed to a set of guidelines on ICT policy, interconnection, licensing, spectrum management, numbering and universal access. These guidelines have now been turned into decisions were presented to and adopted by the 6th meeting of the Ministers in charge of Telecommunications and ICT, in Abuja, Nigeria on the 11th May 2006. For more information, see: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/ITU-EC-Project/index.html
To keep pace with the rapid changes affecting regulators and policy makers the world over, the RRU has added a Blog to its website to capture the latest breaking news from regulatory and policy makers.
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