As the world stands on the brink, not only of the next millennium but of a powerful new age of information and communications capabilities, the world’s pre-eminent telecommunications organization also finds itself at a crossroads. As it prepares to convene for its fifteenth Plenipotentiary Conference in just a few weeks, the challenge facing the ITU is stark and simple: re-adapt quickly to a rapidly changing telecommunications environment, or find itself marginalized or at worst irrelevant in the future development of the world’s communications networks.

The International Telecommunication Union is the intergovernmental organization responsible for the standardization and coordination of the world’s telecommunication networks. Now a specialized agency of the United Nations, the Union’s origins date back to the mid-19th century, when it was set up by a group of 20 European nations to facilitate interconnection between the continent’s disparate telegraph networks.

Since those early days, the Union has witnessed many breakthroughs and upheavals – the invention of the telephone, the birth of radiocommunications, the widespread deployment of satellite communications, the development of mobile telephony and the explosion in Internet use, to name just a few.

In response to these and other developments, the ITU has had to continually develop new structures and working methods and abandon older, outmoded ways of doing things.

The international telecommunications environment is currently undergoing enormous transformation and upheaval, the result of a wide range of disparate factors which are making their impact felt on the old structures which have formed the basis of the world’s telecommunications networks for the last 100-or-so years.

The first of and most pressing of these catalysts for change is globalization of the world’s economy, which in turn is driving liberalization of many of the world’s telecommunication markets and privatization of a growing proportion of national telecommunication carriers. This trend is also bringing new players onto the scene – for example, the World Trade Organization, whose agreements on trade in telecommunications equipment and services will play an important role in forging the telecommunications landscape of the 21st century.

At the same time, convergence between the telecommunications, information technology and audiovisual entertainment industries is blurring the distinction between formerly disparate technologies and equipment. More and more, companies and organizations whose work once occupied a very different niche to that of the telecommunications industry – for example, computer hardware and software vendors such as IBM or Microsoft, and industry fora like the ATM Forum, the ADSL Forum or the NMF Forum – are falling within the purview of the ITU’s activities, and need to be considered in the planning of future ITU activities.

Technology and differences in pricing between carriers are also leading to the emergence of new operating practices in the delivery of telecommunications services. New ways of communicating like the Internet already largely fall outside traditional pricing and billing structures, while alternative calling practices such as call-back have emerged to exploit the differences in the cost of telephone calls from one country to the next. These, combined with the growing impetus for a global trading environment for telecommunications, are leading to the breakdown of long-entrenched structures such as the international accounting rate system.

Meanwhile, the ITU itself is increasingly prey to the financial constraints which currently beset all organizations within the United Nations common system. Budgets are shrinking as member states demand that international organizations tighten their belts and become more accountable for their expenditure. Although, for the ITU, the Union’s finances are sound, the situation is potentially exacerbated by the fact that the level of national contribution to the financial base of the Union is entirely voluntary.

At the same time, the Union is finding that its traditional membership base – that is, national governments who were until recently providers of their nations’ telecommunications networks – is having to assume new functions in the wake of widespread privatization of national operators. Today, the role of government in the national telecommunication infrastructure is increasingly likely to be as a regulator, rather than provider of telecommunications services. While the work of the Union – through its standardization efforts and its management of radiocommunications resources, satellite slots and so on – is largely geared to benefit such commercial operators and manufacturers, industry contributions account for just a modest 13% of the Union’s budget. Against this background, there is a growing body of opinion which views the need for a better balanced funding scheme where the contributions would be more in line with the benefits derived. The industry has acknowledged the need for a change in the system but, they see any increased financial responsibility as inextricably linked with any increased influence in the ITU’s day-to-day operations. This in turn has led to recognition of the need for greater private sector involvement in the activities of the Union.

The ITU’s 1989 Plenipotentiary Conference in Nice recognized the need for a re-jigging of the Union’s role and activities in the light of the world’s rapidly evolving telecommunication environment. To this end, it established a body known as the High Level Committee (HLC) to carry out an in-depth review of the structure and functioning of the ITU, with a view to recommending reforms which would enable the organization to respond to the challenges of the coming years.

This decision to review the Union’s activities led to the holding of an additional Plenipotentiary Conference in Geneva in 1992, with the aim of adopting any structural reforms deemed necessary in light of the Recommendations of the HLC. This conference saw the structure of the Union and the activities of its many departments, boards and advisory bodies substantially overhauled. The many different organs which carried out the day to day work of the Union – for example, the IFRB, CCIR, CCITT and Technical Cooperation Department – were simplified and amalgamated to form three Sectors – Standardization (ITU-T), Radiocommunication (ITU-R) and Development (ITU-D).

The ITU-T deals with issues affecting the Internet, telephony, electronic commerce, tariffs and international numbering. The ITU-R establishes the regulatory and technical framework for developing third generation mobile systems, digital television and new kinds of satellite systems to support infrastructures such as the Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite systems(GMPCS – otherwise known as Big and Little LEOs), as well as coordinating use of the radio frequency spectrum for all wireless services and the orbits of the world’s non-geostationary and geostationary-satellites. The ITU-D deals with telecommunication sector reform (privatization, liberalization and competition) in developing countries, the cultivation of partnerships for investment in the developing world, the development of the information infrastructures and the provision of advice to governments on key issues such as sector reform.

The Geneva conference was followed two years later by the Kyoto Plenipotentiary Conference of 1994. This event, which adopted the Union’s first four-year Strategic Plan, emphasized the perceived need for greater private sector participation in the work of the Union, and recommended a strategic shift in the ITU’s work towards a more policy-oriented approach to complement its technical mandate. This new direction was directly responsible for, among other things, the establishment of the ITU’s World Telecommunications Policy Fora, the first of which was held in 1996 on GMPCS.

Two key resolutions taken at Kyoto – Resolution 15 on the Rights and Obligations of Members and members (that is, State Members and Sector Members, commonly referred to in the past as ‘Big M’ and ‘Small m’ members), and Resolution 39 on Strengthening the Financial base of the Union, have formed the basis of much of the ITU’s reform-oriented activity in recent months.

Under Resolution 15, a group of experts was set up to examine possible changes to the current rules governing the different rights of Member States and Sector Members, with a view to extending the participation of the latter in the decision making processes of the Union. Under Resolution 39, the Secretary-General (who had been entrusted with preparing a report on the various options with a view to improving the way the Union is currently funded) established a special working group to advise him.

Each group submitted its report to the ITU Council which then decided, in view of the inter-relationships between the two issues, to merge the two separate groups into one broad ranging task force, known as ITU-2000. The aim of ITU-2000 was to examine a wide range of often complex issues including: enhancing the role of the private sector in decision-making; broadening the membership base; streamlining working methods; improving financial arrangements; diversifying funding sources; and improving the previous system of financial contributions. The group was tasked with drafting specific Recommendations in all these areas which would be submitted for consideration by the 1998 plenipotentiary.

It was envisaged that the recommendations of ITU 2000 would entail a transformation on the part of the ITU into a more dynamic, responsive organization which sourced its members from a wider sphere of activity than in the past. Further radical changes were expected, in order to ensure that the Union remained relevant to the needs and concerns of its members.

The ITU-2000 Task Force delivered its preliminary report to ITU Council in 1997. The report called for a number of reforms, some of which are far-reaching, others of which go perhaps less far than many had hoped. One of the ITU’s greatest strengths – the broad base of its membership – has proved a liability when it comes to overturning long-entrenched processes and structures. ITU-2000, forced to mediate between a highly conservative ‘old guard’ on one hand, and a sometimes too-eager pool of newer players on the other, found itself obliged to search out a middle ground.

Mr Berrada, the chairman of ITU-2000 and a well-known presence at ITU meetings, expressed his disappointment last year at not being able to reach consensus within the group for more radical changes.

Despite pessimism about the lack of radical proposals from the ITU-2000 Task Force, debate on these issues at the ‘Minneapolis Plenipot’ (as it is known in ITU circles) is expected to be vigorous to say the least. While conservative forces resist change to the Union’s old methods and priorities, a ‘new guard’ will continue to push hard for the creation of a new ITU which will better reflect their own working methods and address their needs in a fast-changing telecommunications environment. These members, many of whom are new arrivals in the ITU fold – for instance, computer companies, software developers and mobile communications operators – acknowledge the value of an organization like the ITU, yet need it to remodel itself to match their timeframes and operational practices if it is to be relevant to their work.

Also on the agenda for the Minneapolis conference is the proposed Strategic Plan for the years 2000-2003, the need to define the Union’s priorities in the coming years, and the election of officials to the ITU’s top posts.

And while the need to attract greater private sector participation will be a focal point for discussion, a number of other issues are also expected to attract much debate.

One is the overall policy of cost-recovery, a strategy which has already begun to be adopted by various departments within the ITU as a means of confronting the increasing decline of the resource base of the organization. Another addresses improved accountability for the Union’s activities.

From the ITU’s point of view, the explosion in new kinds of satellite services using both the traditional geostationary orbit and new, lower non-geostationary orbits (for example, the new crop of LEO and MEO systems now being deployed) has meant that the work involved in processing satellite applications has dramatically increased in recent years.

In addition, continues to suffer from the growing problem known as ‘paper satellites’ – that is, over-filing for unneeded orbital positions.

With demand for satellite services currently booming, over-filing is becoming increasingly prevalent, prompted by anxieties that some requested orbital positions will not survive the coordination process, or by a desire to hoard slots on the geostationary satellite orbit and their associated spectrum as a "reserve" for potential future applications or for lease or resale to the highest bidder. The resulting "paper satellites" have to be taken into account when coordinating future satellites, despite the fact that they do not represent real communication requirements. This has an unnecessary negative effect on the interests of other administrations and slows down the entire process.

Moreover, recent analysis undertaken by the ITU for the year 1995 has revealed that a mere 10 countries and five international satellite organizations currently account for some 80% of all satellite filings, while a full 130 Members make no use at all of the Radiocommunication Bureau’s services yet are still obliged to meet its costs.

Many consider, therefore, that the adoption of a user-pays policy for satellite filing requirements above a ‘given, reasonable threshold’ to be covered by the regular budget would both deter frivolous filing for unnecessary satellite slots, while at the same time providing the necessary resources to meet requests from heavy users and giving them better value for money through a faster, more responsive process.

Another issue expected to draw much attention is that of the ITU’s role in new activities, such as the Internet.

Through its work developing the standards which form the basis of the world’s communications infrastructure, the ITU is already involved in a great deal of technical work relating to the functioning and interconnection of IP networks, and has a close working relationship with the Internet Engineering Task Force, the body responsible for the standardization of Internet protocols.

Now the Union is finding that its involvement in Internet development may extend into the policy domain as well following a 1997 conference in Geneva which proposed a restructuring of Internet Top Level Domain names. Put forward by the Internet Ad Hoc Committee, an unaffiliated group with members representing a large number of Internet-related organizations including the Internet Society, this proposal received widespread support from around the world.

However, the US has since come up with its own proposal, which has raised concerns in both political circles and in the Internet community at large. Any further ITU involvement in the management and governance of the Internet and other new communications systems is therefore certain to be a hot topic in Minneapolis.

For many, one of the key features of the Minneapolis conference will be the election of a new ITU Secretary-General to replace the outgoing Finnish incumbent, Dr Pekka Tarjanne. Amendments to the ITU Constitution earlier this decade provide for a limit of two terms of office in any given post for all elected officials of the Union. Dr Tarjanne, having served as ITU S-G since 1989, will therefore be stepping aside to make way for a new candidate later this year.

Current hopefuls include the present Deputy Secretary-General, Kenyan-born Dr Henry Chasia, along with Mr Jonathan Parapak, Secretary General of the Indonesia Department of Tourism, Posts & Telecommunications and Chairman of the ITU’s first World Telecommunication Policy Forum on GMPCS in 1996, and Mr Yoshi Utsumi, Deputy Minister of the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, who presided over the Kyoto conference.

Long after all the ballyhoo and politicking have died down, the ITU will have to live with the results of the Minneapolis Plenipotentiary. The Union, with its entrenched infrastructures harking back to an earlier age of telecommunications provision, needs to find the courage to make yet another quantum leap into the future, or risk becoming an anachronism.

While no-one expects reform at the ITU to match the breakneck speed of the changes currently transforming the global telecommunications environment, the Union needs to give clear and tangible signals to the international telecommunications community that reform is nevertheless taking place, and taking place fast.

The future role, and relevance, of the ITU, lies in the hands of the 1,500 or so delegates who will represent their countries for four weeks within the halls and meeting rooms of the Minneapolis Convention Centre.

They have the power to redefine the Union in a way that will ensure it continues to preside in a fair and equitable manner over the future development of the world’s telecommunications networks, networks which will increasingly represent the lifeblood of national economies.