Wednesday, 6 October Brazil in this respect, as a capacity builder, as a facilitator, and as a global forum in which experiences on the different Digital TV standards can be exchanged on equal footing. As one of the first countries in the Americas to initi-ate of ICTs and acting as a facilitator in the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. ITU needs to continue working on Internet related matters, since this is as an unquestionable need in face of convergence and of an all-IP world. this process, Brazil is eager to cooperate with other States in this respect, and we believe that ITU is a privi-leged Mr President, Both the world and Brazil have changed quite rapidly in the last years. Developing countries have presented higher economic growth, and have become important players in the world economy. Greater coordination between developing countries has raised the voices of countries once relegated to a secondary position. In this sense, I would like to emphasize that the more developing countries discuss and cooperate, the more their voices will be heard. It is our expectation that this will occur here in ITU at the forthcoming elections. Since the last Plenipotentiary, Brazil has made signifi-cant forum for this kind of debate. Mr. President, if I may turn to matters of immediate interest, Brazil is standing for re-election to the Council at this Conference. At the last elections, Brazil was the country with the most votes. I believe that this shows an enormous amount of confi-dence in Brazil’s contribution to the work of the council, and am very grateful for the trust placed in us. We wish to continue to take this responsibility for the next man-date, in order to continue assisting in making the ITU advances in its quest for universal service. more efficient. In addition, Brazil has a candidate for the position of Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau. Many of you know Fábio Leite personally, and know that he has been a most effective contributor to the work of the ITU, most recently as the Deputy-Director and Chief of the Informatics, Administration and Publications Department (IAP) of the BR. His knowledge, experience and expertise make him an ideal and fully qualified candidate for the post of Director. Let me conclude by expressing, on behalf of the Brazilian delegation, my expectations for a very success-ful We are proud of the current situation, where all Brazilian municipalities are covered by mobile networks, as a result of legal obligations imposed on the winning companies of the 3G auction. Another outcome of good regulation is the fact that all public schools in urban areas will have Broadband Internet by the end of this year. Our National Broadband Plan foresees fast growth in Broadband access, as well as a significant increase in the access speed. We believe that this will generate di-rect and positive impacts on such areas of public serv-ices as health and education. Another point is the great challenge posed by the tran-sitional and productive Plenipotentiary Conference here in process to digital broadcasting. Brazil has al-ready initiated deployment of the ISDB-T standard, and Guadalajara, and my best wishes for all the delegates of the Conference. Thank you all for your attention. many of our neighboring countries in South America are also involved in debates on this issue. This is, in fact, one of the great current challenges for developing countries, and ITU has a crucial role to play 117