*** BUENOS AIRES DECLARATION ON GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT
FOR THE 21st CENTURY ***
1. The first World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-94)
held by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) since the
establishment of its Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D),
took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 21 to 29 March 1994.
Delegations from 133 Member countries of the ITU, headed by ministers
or senior officials, and representatives of 31 organizations and
agencies, as well as many private sector representatives, participated
in the Conference. The purposes of the Conference were: (a) to review
the progress made in telecommunication development since publication
in December 1984 of the Report of the Independent Commission for
World-Wide Telecommunications Development "The Missing Link"; (b) to
set the goals and objectives up to the year 2000 and to define and
establish a common vision and strategies for achieving balanced
telecommunication development by and beyond the end of the century;
and (c) to approve an action plan which translates the goals and
objectives agreed upon into a concrete work programme to be
implemented over the next four years, identifying those priorities
specific to the ITU and those areas of cooperation with its
development partners.
2. In his opening address, Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, Secretary-General of
the ITU, reviewed developments since the Maitland Report ("The Missing
Link") and briefly outlined the challenges facing the world
telecommunication sector. In his keynote address, United States Vice-
President Al Gore called on legislators, regulators and business
people to work together to build and operate a Global Information
Infrastructure which would bring improved social and economic
conditions to all people. He emphasized the need for all countries of
the world to participate fully in the benefits of this "network of
networks" and urged the Conference to bring this goal quickly within
the reach of developing countries.
3. The Conference was inaugurated by His Excellency Dr. Carlos Menem,
President of the Republic of Argentina. He convincingly articulated
the intimate link between telecommunications and development, not only
in his own country but in all countries of the world.
4. The Conference was chaired by Dr. Oscar González, Undersecretary
of Communications of Argentina.
5. The Conference was addressed by many ministers responsible for
telecommunications and other senior representatives of governments and
international and regional organizations. They stressed the
importance of translating the indisputable potential of
telecommunications into concrete action to improve the lives of all
peoples of the world, especially those in developing countries. They
also stressed the serious imbalance in world telecommunication
development which constrains the development of the global economy and
should be a common concern of the whole international community.
Practical remedies should be adopted.
6. The Conference expressed its appreciation to the Government of the
Republic of Argentina for hosting the Conference and providing the
conditions which contributed to its success.
7. The Minister of Transport and Communications of Malta extended an
invitation to host the next WTDC in 1998. This proposal was
gratefully accepted by the Conference.
8. The Conference was the culmination of a process highlighted by:
(a) the Maitland Report;
(b) the Arusha Declaration on World Telecommunications
Development (May 1985);
(c) the decision of the Plenipotentiary Conference (Nice, 1989)
to strengthen the Union's development role by establishing
the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT);
(d) the ITU High Level Committee's Report "Tomorrow's ITU: The
Challenges of Change", which recommended that "... the ITU
[should] play a more clearly-defined catalytic role, as
envisaged in Nice Resolution No. 14, by working cooperatively
with international, regional and bilateral development and
financial agencies, and by presenting to developing countries
the range of policy and structural options that will generate
greater resources for telecommunications development";
(e) the ITU Constitution and Convention (Geneva, 1992) which
refer, inter alia, to the Union's catalytic role in
stimulating telecommunication development, call for special
attention to be given to the requirements of the least
developed countries, and establish the ITU Telecommunication
Development Sector;
(f) the Resolutions and recommendations of the first cycle of
regional telecommunication development conferences:
- Harare, 1990 for Africa
- Prague, 1991 for Europe
- Acapulco, 1992 for the Americas
- Cairo, 1992 for the Arab States
- Singapore, 1993 for Asia and the Pacific;
(g) the insights provided in the message from the
Telecommunication Development Advisory Board;
(h) the concept of sustainable development emphasized by the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio
de Janeiro, June 1992.
9. Taking note of the above and with a view to setting goals and
objectives for the future, the Conference declares that:
(a) Telecommunications is an essential component of political,
economic, social and cultural development. It fuels the
global information society and economy which is rapidly
transforming local, national and international life and
despite physical boundaries is promoting better understanding
between peoples. Thus, ITU Members have the duty to provide
for communications to be made available to all individuals,
groups and peoples. A dynamic area of economic activity in
its own right, telecommunications underlies practically all
areas of economic activity and facilitates trade.
(b) New technological developments in telecommunication and
information technologies have the potential to close the
development gaps between developing and developed countries
and, in individual countries, between densely and sparsely
populated areas. Telecommunications may unintentionally
perpetuate the development gaps without a more determined,
integrated and strategic approach to the challenges of
telecommunication development by governments, the private
sector and international and regional organizations.
(c) Any strategic cooperation for the development of
telecommunications must recognize the varying levels of
development in developing countries. While encouraged by the
convergence between medium and high teledensity countries,
there is still a growing divergence between medium and low
teledensity ones. This fact underscores the need to pay
special attention to the requirements of the least developed
countries.
(d) Given that the telecommunication requirements of most
developing countries are vast, and the resources available to
meet them limited, governments should establish appropriate
telecommunication policies and regulatory structures.
(e) The development of telecommunications may be fostered by
liberalization, private investment and competition in
appropriate circumstances. Their introduction in any
restructuring exercise should be compatible with national
development goals and with improving service to underserved
areas. Such a restructuring should include a regulatory
system which will :
- create a stable and transparent environment to attract
investment;
- facilitate access of service providers to the network
with a framework that promotes fair competition while
protecting network integrity;
- achieve integrated rural development as well as promoting
innovation and the introduction of new services and
technologies; and
- guarantee the rights of users, operators and investors.
Restructuring should promote partnerships between
telecommunication organizations in developing and developed
countries that equitably take account of the interests of
developing countries.
(f) The ITU has a special role to play in advising policy-makers
on the options available in tailoring policies and regulatory
structures to fit a country's particular requirements. The
ITU should work in close cooperation with regional
telecommunication organizations and international, regional
and national development and financing agencies.
(g) Since the resources available through multilateral
cooperation will not be sufficient to meet the requirements
of developing countries, the ITU must play a creative
catalytic role in concert with all the entities forming part
of its wide family, and with global, regional and national
organizations and agencies, and the private sector. These
development, financing and investment agencies, both global,
regional and national, are urged to attach higher priority to
the development of telecommunications in developing
countries.
(h) The studies carried out in the ITU Radiocommunication and
Telecommunication Standardization Sectors play a significant
role in the transfer of knowledge and technology. Close
cooperation between these Sectors and the Telecommunication
Development Sector is necessary to bring about new dynamism
to this transfer.
(i) Development strategies should encompass sound and television
broadcasting via terrestrial and satellite systems as one of
the key factors in promoting social and cultural development.
The new broadcasting technologies being developed will
provide opportunities, including those of distance learning,
for a greater contribution to development.
(j) No telecommunication network can be designed, installed and
operated efficiently without appropriately skilled staff at
all levels. Human resources development and management
require innovative approaches to meet the challenges of the
rapidly changing telecommunication environment.
(k) The Buenos Aires Action Plan, adopted by this Conference,
establishes a programme of cooperation among the members of
the Telecommunication Development Sector (development
conferences, study groups, etc.), a programme of assistance
to developing countries, and a special programme to enable
the least developed countries to reach a threshold of
sustainable telecommunication development.