RESOLUTION  2  (Rev. Marrakesh, 2002)

World telecommunication policy forum

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Marrakesh, 2002),

considering

a)      that the telecommunication environment is undergoing considerable changes under the combined influence of advances in technology, the globalization of markets and growing user demand for integrated cross-border services increasingly adapted to their needs;

b)      that the forces shaping the telecommunication environment have led in many countries to a restructuring of the telecommunication sector, especially the separation of regulatory and operating functions, the gradual liberalization of services and the appearance of new players in this area;

c)       that the need for a global framework to exchange information on telecommunication strategies and policies has been evident for many years;

d)      that national telecommunication policies and regulations have to be recognized and understood, so as to allow the development of global markets which can support the harmonious development of telecommunication services;

e)       the important contributions provided by Member States and Sector Members to previous world telecommunication policy forums,

conscious

a)      that the purposes of the Union are, inter alia, to promote, at international level, the adoption of a broader approach to the issues of telecommunications in the global information economy and society, to promote the extension of the benefits of the new telecommunication technologies to all the world's inhabitants and to harmonize the actions of Member States and Sector Members in the attainment of those ends;

b)      that ITU is uniquely positioned and has the necessary experience to provide a forum for the coordination of, exchange of information on , discussion of and harmonization of national, regional and international telecommunication strategies and policies;

c)       that the world telecommunication policy forum, which was established by the Plenipotentiary Conference )Kyoto, 1994( and successfully convened in 1996, 1998 and 2001, has provided a venue for discussion of global and cross-sectoral issues by high-level participants, thus contributing to the advance of world telecommunications, as well as to the establishment of procedures for the conduct of the forum itself,

emphasizing

a)      that Member States and Sector Members, realizing the need for constant review of their own telecommunication policies and legislation, and for coordination in the rapidly changing telecommunication environment, should also in the future be able to discuss strategies and policies;

b)      that it is necessary for the Union, as an international organization playing a leading role in the field of telecommunications, to continue organizing the forum to facilitate the exchange of information by high-level participants on telecommunication policies;

c)       that the purpose of the forum is to provide a venue for exchanging views and information and thereby creating a shared vision among policy-makers worldwide on the issues arising from the emergence of new telecommunication services and technologies, and to consider any other policy issue in telecommunications which would benefit from a global exchange of views;

d)      that the forum should continue to give special attention to the interests and needs of the developing countries, where modern technologies and services can contribute significantly to telecommunication infrastructure development;

e)       the need for allowing adequate preparation time for a forum;

f)       the importance of regional preparation and consultation,

resolves

1        that the world telecommunication policy forum as established by Resolution 2 (Kyoto, 1994) of the Plenipotentiary Conference shall be maintained, in order to discuss and exchange views and information on telecommunication policy and regulatory matters, especially on global and cross-sectoral issues;

2        that the world telecommunication policy forum shall neither produce prescriptive regulatory outcomes nor produce outputs with binding force; however it shall prepare reports and, where appropriate, opinions for consideration by Member States, Sector Members and relevant ITU meetings;

3        that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be open to all Member States and Sector Members; however, if appropriate, by decision of a majority of the representatives of Member States, a special session may be held for Member States only;

4        that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be convened on an ad hoc basis to respond quickly to emerging policy issues arising from the changing telecommunication environment;

5        that the world telecommunication policy forum should be convened within existing budgetary resources and as far as possible in conjunction with one of the conferences or meetings of the Union in order to minimize the impact on the budget of the Union;

6        that the Council shall decide on the duration and the date, allowing ample time for preparations, and on the venue, the agenda and the themes of the world telecommunication policy forum;

7        that the agenda and themes shall be based on a report by the Secretary‑General, including input from any conference, assembly or meeting of the Union, and on contributions from Member States and Sector Members;

8        that, in order to ensure that they are well focused, discussions at the world telecommunication policy forum shall be based on a report by the Secretary-General prepared in accordance with a procedure adopted by the Council and based on the views of Member States and Sector Members;

9        that broad participation in the world telecommunication policy forum and operational efficiency during the forum shall be facilitated,

instructs the Secretary‑General

to make the necessary preparations for convening the world telecommunication policy forum based on the resolves above,

instructs the Council

1        to decide on the duration, date, venue, agenda and themes of any future world telecommunication policy forum;

2        to adopt a procedure for preparation of the report by the Secretary‑General referred to in resolves 7 above,

further instructs the Council

to submit to the next plenipotentiary conference a report on the world telecommunication policy forum for any necessary action.