Statement of Italy
H.E. Maurizio Gasparri

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. Chairman, Honourable and distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, I've the honour to convey to you the greeting of the Italian Government and my personal thank. I have to mean to the organizers of this impressive Conference the pleasure of been in this extraordinary imperial city of Marrakech, in this hospitable Morocco which fascinated my ancestors two thousand years ago -a fascination that persists to this day. Since then, many things have been changed, and in particular, in the telecommunications world, which was born one hundred years ago, thanks to the universal genius of Guglielmo Marconi. Many changes have rapidly occurred. This is evident in the developments that have taken place since the Minneapolis Conference, which have posed pressing challenges for us.

In Italy this process has taken real qualitative and quantitative leaps. Let me draw your attention to the following data about my country:

• Individual licences have increased from 0 in 1998 to 260 in 2002, and General Authorizations have increased from 470 in 1998 to 2,409 in 2002.
• subscribers to fixed telecommunication services have grown from 26 million to 27,5 million.
• subscribers to radio mobile systems have grown from 20,5 million to 43 million;
• Internet users have increased from 2,6 million to 16 million.

The Italian Government recently approved a law regulating competition in the telecommunications media, and recognizes the importance of the convergence of both technical services and platforms. We have encouraged investments in the so called telecommunications "integrated sector" by removing the boundaries between broadcasting and publishing which existed until recently, and by taking concrete measures for the future transition to digital terrestrial technology, which is expected to take place in 2006.

The globalisation and the greater number of communication means have also witnessed the existence of a greater digital divide within and among the different countries. Our Government is making a great effort to eliminate such a gap both at the national and international levels, promoting investments and reducing the debt burden of the poorer nations.

Furthermore, the Italian Government has developed a plan for e-government, which has been adopted already by some African and Asian nations.

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. Chairman, Honourable and distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, during the last ten years of last century, the development of the sector's industries has exceeded our greatest expectations. In many countries, privatisation and competition have allowed for the creation of new infrastructures, and have agreed to offer new major services.

Recently, the sector is undergoing a period of settlement, and it is, now, reflecting upon the recent investments that have been carried out, and it has frequently redefined its own priorities.

It should be unnecessary to underline the important role that the Marrakech Plenipotentiary has to perform in order to ensure that UIT remains the global point of reference in order to guarantee an harmonious development of telecommunications infrastructures and to foster the creation of an information society which will be of benefit to everyone.

Italy is a UIT founding and supporting member, who strongly believes in its purposes, and continuously and convincingly contributes to its activities by means of technical proposals, the active participation of experts and consistent financial aid. (Since 1989 Italy , has been the fifth contributor making 20 annual financial contributions, after the United States, France, Germany, Japan, and before the United Kingdom and Russia.)

In the new Constitution and Convention that we have been called upon to review in some parts, the UIT have to maintain its leadership role in the establishment of regulations and recommendations, and in the development of global telecommunications, to ensure the growth of the Information Society in the near future. We look forward to the support that UIT will provide to the organization and success of the next World Summit of the information society.

In order to reach new goals, Italy will continue to make financial and technical contributions to the UIT, through proper participation as a council member and by the wished election of Mr. Fabio Bigi -who for a long-time has cooperated with the UIT. Mr. Bigi, who is internationally known and highly esteemed for his professional competence. We believe that he certainly will be an outstanding Director of the Radio-Communications Office.

We look forward to cooperating together for a better future and for an information society whose development is guided by the value of human life and for telecommunications services always available to everyone and everywhere, without discrimination, and at fair prices.

We are sure that Italy shall contribute to such a development and, to this end, we trust we'll obtain your support.

Thank you for your kind attention.