Results
of Questionnaire on Possible Topics for New Initiatives Workshops in 2003
A
questionnaire was sent to Member States and
Sector Members on March 1, 2002. See
Annex for the list of topics. It was also available
for response on the website of the Strategy and Policy Unit www.itu.int/ni
until June 3, 2002. A total of 63 responses were received from 42
countries.
The
results, below, were calculated by allocating 3 points to a subject given
a high priority ranking, 2 points for a medium ranking and 1 point for a
low priority ranking. These rankings will be used to determine which
workshops are carried out in 2003, within the resources available
Placing
|
Workshop
Topic
|
Number
of Votes
|
1
|
Promoting
Broadband Networks
|
166
|
2
|
Changing
Technological Trends: Interaction and Convergence of
Radiocommunication Services
|
156
|
3
|
Mobile
Overtakes Fixed: What happens next?
|
147
|
4
|
|
146
|
5
|
Emergency
Response Services in Telecommunications
|
143
|
6
|
Billing
in a Converging World
|
136
|
7
|
Improving
the Reliability of ICT Networks
|
129
|
8
|
|
127
|
9
|
How
should Telecom Regulators be funded?
|
110
|
10
|
Limiting
Spam
|
102
|
ANNEX
List of topics
1.
Promoting Broadband Networks: The
next great challenge facing the telecommunications sector is to upgrade
today’s narrowband fixed and mobile networks to support broadband
multimedia content. The investment required is vast and demand is still
unproven. Some countries, like the Republic of Korea, have been successful
in rolling out broadband networks but the majority of others have found
growth slower than expected. What are the most effective policies for
promoting broadband? Is it sufficient for governments just to create the
right conditions for broadband competition, or should they do more?
2.
Changing Technological Trends: Interaction and Convergence of
Radiocommunication Services: Current radiocommunication (wireless) technology offers integrated voice,
data and Internet access. In the near future, much higher capacities
(broadband) will be available, via cellular, satellite and fixed wireless
access networks. The merging of the broadcasting, telecommunications and
computing worlds is already a reality, which threatens to make current ITU
definitions of radiocommunication services inoperative, as well as
challenging current international and national allocation methodologies
and national licensing practices. How should regulators react to these new
challenges and how can the competing demands on the spectrum be
reconciled? How can service definitions and allocation and licensing
practices be revised, with a view to providing sufficient flexibility for
future developments?
3.
Mobile Overtakes Fixed: What Happens Next?: During 2002,
mobile phone users will overtake the number of fixed-line telephones
worldwide. In some countries, the number of fixed lines has started to
decline while elsewhere the fixed-line network continues to grow apace.
What makes the difference? How should commercial strategies evolve in
order to sustain fixed-line growth? What changes may be required to a
country’s regulatory regime when it is the mobile service providers,
rather than fixed line operators, who have significant market power?
4.
Interconnection in a Digital World: Most countries
have based interconnection regimes either on revenue sharing or on per
minute usage. Such methodologies are not particularly well adapted for the
digital networks of the future, which will be a rich mix of broadband and
narrowband, fixed and mobile platforms, with different business models for
pricing access to content. Does capacity-based interconnection represent a
viable alternative to existing systems? Should interconnection regimes
take into account the value of the content being transmitted or services
offered? When, if ever, should regulators intervene in interconnection
negotiations?
5. Emergency
Response Services in Telecommunications: The
provision of emergency response services depends on the availability of
networks, fixed or mobile, to transmit emergency calls. This has two
sides. The networks need to be available to transmit distress calls, but
the network also needs to be available to authorities and rescue workers.
Communications networks can become quickly overloaded, as the events of
September 11, 2001 demonstrated. What can be done to protect national and
international information infrastructures, to guarantee the availability
of a minimum set of communication tools in the event of a disaster, and to
ensure rapid response to an emergency, wherever it might occur?
6. Billing
in a Converging World: Although
technological change is accelerating the process of convergence between
traditional telephony and data networks, the future is still unclear as to
the appropriate billing paradigms for multimedia communications. Now with
real-time services delivered over data networks (e.g., voice over IP,
streaming media) and non real-time services delivered over voice networks
(e.g., SMS), new pricing paradigms clearly need to emerge. Should users be
billed by flat rate, volume-based metrics or a combination of both? Are
there inherent technical or policy bottlenecks? Do regulators need to
care?
7. Improving
the Reliability of ICT Networks: In
an increasingly automated world, we are increasingly dependent on the
reliability, inter-operability and security of the Internet and other
communications networks. But those networks are increasingly shared
between multiple, commercially motivated owners in which operations are
often outsourced. Cost effective risk management is often based on
ensuring compensation in the event of failure (e.g., through service level
agreements) rather than through a strategy of risk avoidance. Disaster
recovery systems typically only gain management attention after the event. Can
security systems be entirely a private responsibility and remain
effective? What
role is there for regulators and policy makers in promoting more reliable
ICT networks?
8.
Management of the Internet Domain Names and Addresses: With
the growing popularity of the Internet, the naming and addressing
resources underlying this network are of critical importance to our
societies. The creation of ICANN launched an unprecedented experiment in
global governance, but has not succeeded in pleasing all parties. Many
topics that are currently being raised, such as the introduction of
multilingual Internet names or the allocation of IP addresses for 3G
mobile, go well beyond ICANN’s original mandate. Who should set the
rules for the allocation, management and control of multilingual Internet
names?
Are current private sector
approaches sufficient or is there a need for a more formal coordinated
role at the international level?
9.
How
Should Telecom Regulators be Funded?: One
of the key elements to ensuring the independence of a regulatory agency is
that it should have a reliable, independent source of funding. But if this
funding comes from the industry, there is a risk of compromising
independence. How are regulators around the world funded, and what might
be considered as “best practice”? At what point does cost recovery
become an unacceptable tax on the industry?
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