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Background
Why the ITRs are important
The need to revise the ITRs
Preparatory process
Some key proposals
Myths and misinformation
Expectations for WCIT-12
Useful links
Background: origin of the ITRs
Why the ITRs are important
The International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs):
 Establish general principles on the provision and operation
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of international telecoms
Facilitate global interconnection and interoperability
Underpin harmonious development and efficient
operation of technical facilities
Promote efficiency, usefulness, and availability of
international telecommunication services
Treaty-level provisions are required for international
networks and services
The ITRs underpin how we communicate with
each other by phone or computer, with voice,
video or data, and across the globe.
What is in the ITRs?
• Article 1: Purpose
• Article 2: Definitions
• Article 3: Right to communicate at good technical quality;
countries to coordinate their infrastructure
• Article 4: International telecom services to be made available to
the public
• Article 5: Priority to be given to emergency communications
• Article 6: Charges for services, and accounting rates between
carriers
• Article 7: Suspension of services when “dangerous for national
security, or contrary to national laws, public order or decency.”
• Article 8: ITU to gather and circulate information on suspended
services
• Article 9: Special arrangements not affecting all countries
• Article 10: Entry into force; reservations
The ITRs coordinate, countries implement
• Only governments can
implement the ITRs, through
national legislation or regulation
• There have been NO proposals
for a global body to impose
implementation of the ITRs
The ITRs need to be revised
The current version of the ITRs has
remained unchanged since 1988.
1988
ITRs
(came into
force in 1990)
2012
In 1988, there were very few
countries with a liberalized market.
Most operators were a monopoly
regime, under government or
state control
The ITRs need to be revised
Shift from fixed to mobile,
from voice to data as the
drivers of traffic and main
sources of revenue
 The international
telecom
environment has
changed greatly in
technology and
policy. It continues
to evolve rapidly
 Increased use of
IP-enabled
infrastructure and
applications mean
opportunities and
challenges
for the ICT sector
 As technology evolves,
governments are
evaluating their policy
and regulatory
approaches to ensure
an enabling
environment
The preparatory process for WCIT-12
 Council Working Group to Prepare for the WCIT 12
(CWG-WCIT12) held three meetings in 2010, two in
2011, and three in 2012 (in February, April and June)
 Regional preparatory meetings were held in the
Asia-Pacific, Africa, Arab region, RCC (CIS Countries),
Europe, and Americas – all open also to Sector Members
 124 input documents have been submitted by the ITU
membership; over 450 proposals under consideration
The preparatory process for WCIT-12
Wide consultations on the issues with:
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ITU Member States (193)
Private-sector members of ITU (567)
Associates and academic members of ITU (217)
Civil society – through such venues as the WSIS Forum
On the ITU website:
• WCIT Background Briefs and FAQs (www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/
Pages/WCIT-backgroundbriefs.aspx)
• Site for anyone to post opinion or material on WCIT-12
(www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/public.aspx)
Proposals made during preparatory process
Human right to
communication
Security in the use of ICTs
including fair & equitable accessuse
of networks & services
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including privacy and preventing spam
Protection of critical
national resources
Including communication networks
International
frameworks
3
Charging and accounting
- including taxation
4
(Market-based costing, Llberalization of
international gateways, Transparency obligations on ROAs)
Interconnection and
interoperability
Convergence
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7
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Quality of Service
Enforcement measures
(including possible binding effect of
certain ITU Recommendations)
Key Issues
 What core principles should
guide discussions?
 Do some provisions belong elsewhere?
(e.g. ITU Constitution/Convention, ITU-T
Recommendations)
 What provisions should be added to
cover new issues?
Some key proposals
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Mobile roaming
Misuse and fraud
Taxation
Transparency of routing
New general principles on economic issues
Allowing differentiated traffic management
Cooperation on cybersecurity
Cooperation to combat spam
Energy efficiency
Accessibility
All to be implemented by national authorities
Proposals: Mobile Roaming
 Helping to prevent “bill shock”
 Transparency of prices for users
 Price levels could be capped
 Draft ITU-T Recommendation D.98
 OECD Recommendations
Proposals: Misuse and Fraud
Preventing misuse/hijacking of numbering resources
 According to GSMA, such misuse is a major
factor in fraud against mobile networks and
their customers
 It is used for fraudulent and artificial
inflation of traffic
Combating fraud
 Identifying the origin of communications and
sending this information to the receiver
Proposals: Taxation
 Clarify existing provision to prevent
international double taxation (carriers being
taxed twice for the same asset or service
because it operates in two jurisdictions)
 Prevent or discourage taxation of incoming
international calls
(A delicate issue because there is a trade-off
between raising revenue and encouraging the use
of telecommunications)
Proposals: new general principles
 Price transparency
 Cost orientation, presumably cost
intended to include:
• Return on investment
(including dividends to
stock owners)
• Taxes
• Creation of reserves for
future investments
• Risk premiums
• Etc.
Proposals: new general principles
• Foster investment in high-bandwidth infrastructure
Adequate return on investment in infrastructure
Compensation for traffic carried
Compensation for traffic terminated
• No proposals to create new international regulatory
agencies or mechanisms
• Proposals that national authorities should
implement the ITRs
First, ratification of new ITRs in accordance with
national procedures, then, transposition into
national laws and regulations
• Possibly, new or revised ITU-T Recommendations
1/13
Myth: The mandate of ITU is restricted to telephony
FACTS:
• Many ITU standards (including ones under development)
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relate to data networks
The first standardized data network was ITU’s X.25,
developed in 1976, widely used until the 1990s and still
used for specialized networks
X.25 is a packet-switched, connection-oriented architecture
End-user data network access devices (modems, xDSL) have
long been based on ITU standards
The ITU development sector activities cover all aspects of
telecommunications, including in particular data networks
The ITU radio sector activities cover all aspects of radio
communications, including satellites
2/13
Myth: ITU’s scope does not include the Internet
FACT:
The ITU Constitution defines telecommunications as:
“Any transmission, emission or reception of
signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or
intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical
or other electromagnetic systems.”
Many consider that this includes communications via the
Internet, which runs on telecom infrastructure
3/13
Myth: WCIT is about ITU or the UN extending
their mandate so as to control the Internet
FACTS:
• Numerous ITU Resolutions, (e.g. 101, 102, and 133) specify
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ITU’s mandate with respect to the Internet
Numerous ITU-T Recommendations relate to the Internet,
including on combating spam
WCIT’s main preparatory document includes NO
proposals related to ITU control of Internet domain names or
IP addresses
Some older proposals referred to IP addresses
Some current proposals relate to routing (including of IP
traffic) and to billing (including of IP traffic)
4/13
Myth: WCIT may extend the scope of ITU to include
charging and accounting for Internet traffic
FACTS:
• All Internet traffic moves under Art. 9
of the ITRs
• An existing ITU-T Recommendation, and its
Supplement, concern charging and accounting
for the Internet
• Some proposals could affect the way costs are
shared between users and suppliers
5/13
Myth: WCIT is about imposing censorship
FACTS:
• The ITU Constitution (Art. 34) gives Member States the right
to cut off, in accordance with national laws, any private
telecommunications which may appear dangerous to the
security of the State or contrary to its laws, to public order
or to decency
• The ITRs cannot override or conflict with the Constitution
• There is a proposal to ensure that interception and
monitoring of international telecommunications be subject
to due process authorized in accordance with national laws
• Provisions on transparency of routing and call identification
might facilitate some types of oversight by governments
6/13
Myth: Proposals related to security could hinder
the free flow of information
FACTS:
• There are proposals to:
- encourage cooperation to combat spam
- improve network security and the protection of privacy
• In Article 33 of ITU’s Constitution, Member States recognize
the right of the public to correspond through international
telecommunications
• Most countries already have measures to e.g. protect
copyright owners, prevent defamation, etc. Such measures
are permitted by Article 34 of the ITU’s Constitution
• The ITRs cannot contradict the Constitution
7/13
Myth: Consumer interests could be harmed by WCIT
FACTS:
There are proposals to:
• limit roaming prices - based on costs, prices in the visited
country, or prices in the home country
• ensure transparency of prices, wholesale and retail, in
general and for roaming
• encourage cost-based pricing
• ensure transmission of calling party identifiers
• combat fraud, especially from misuse of telephone numbers
• improve access for people with disabilities
8/13
Myth: Proposals to give binding force to certain
ITU-T Recommendations are unprecedented
FACTS:
• Many Recommendations (standards) were widely considered
to be binding prior to 1988
• In other fields, it is common for laws or regulations to give
binding force to standards developed by private organizations:
electricity, plumbing, accounting, etc.
• Recommendations can only be made mandatory if a national
authority makes them so
9/13
Myth: WCIT is a top-down process
FACTS:
• The ITU Secretariat serves the wishes of the membership. All
discussions are based on proposals from ITU Member States
• There have been wide consultations, including beyond the
ITU membership
• 124 input documents were submitted to the WCIT
preparatory process. After discussion, over 450 individual
proposals were retained for Member States to use when
preparing their proposals
• Countries can compose their delegations at WCIT-12 as they
wish. They usually include ITU Sector Members, and may
include any other organization, whether an ITU member or not
10/13
Myth: The WCIT process is not open or transparent
FACTS:
• All ITU members have full access to all WCIT documents and
audiocasts of discussions
• Member States are expected and encouraged to consult
their citizens and give them access to WCIT documents,
preferably in the national language
• ITU offers information on its website, and a space for any
stakeholder to add comments
• The conference plenary sessions and some committee
meetings will be open to the public (to be formally decided
on the opening day)
11/13
Myth: WCIT could be dominated by authoritarian countries
FACTS:
• All of the ITU’s 193 Member States have equal rights:
the principle is one nation, one vote
• No proposal will be accepted unless it has wide support
• Decisions can be made by majority vote, but this is very
unusual: decisions are usually made by consensus
• Each country is free to refuse to sign or to ratify the
finally agreed text from WCIT-12
12/13
Myth: WCIT could result in decisions that are
bad for developing countries
FACTS:
• Many ITU Member States are developing countries, and their
representatives are well informed and well prepared to
represent the interests of their citizens
• One of ITU’s top priorities is to spread connectivity to every
community – especially broadband. WCIT-12 is an opportunity
to establish a framework to support this into the future
13/13
Myth: There has been a spontaneous wave
of protest against WCIT
FACTS:
• Organized lobbying groups have been active
• Many articles concerning WCIT repeat the same
misinformation, at times in the same words
• Documents have been leaked selectively
• Documents are described as concerning WCIT, when in fact
they have no formal relation to WCIT
• There are many articles and other comments giving a
balanced and positive view
Expectations for WCIT-12
 WCIT-12 is a key opportunity to increase positive
collaboration among countries
 It can help countries reach new levels of
economic and social development through
better ICT services
 The aim is to make the ITRs relevant and
valuable to all stakeholders, so that they address
and alleviate many current concerns
 It is an opportunity – not to be missed - to create
a pathway to a sustainable and inclusive global
communication system of the future
Useful links
WCIT-12 website:
http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/default.aspx
WCIT Background Briefs and FAQs:
http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/WCIT-backgroundbriefs.aspx
ITU Council working group CWG-WCIT12:
http://www.itu.int/council/groups/cwg-wcit12/index.html
Draft of the future ITRs, and site for public comments:
http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/public.aspx