Message
Brahima Sanou
Director of the ITU Telecommunication
Development Bureau
Global Symposium for Regulators
The 11th edition of the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR)
is being hosted by the Colombian authorities in Armenia City,
Colombia, on 21–23 September 2011. It is my first GSR as
Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau,
and I am delighted to see such great interest in this
event at the highest level of government, with the
Presidential segment on “Broadband for all and
the future of telecommunications and information and communication technologies.” The
large attendance for the 4th Global Industry
Leaders’ Forum, preceding the Symposium on
20 September, is equally gratifying.
Both events are organized by ITU, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communication
Technologies and the Communications Regulatory Commission
of Colombia. In both events, under the theme “Smart regulation
for a broadband world”, participants will examine measures that
regulators can take to achieve broadband for all, foster innovation, and address the complexities and challenges of the broadband ecosystem.
GSR has a full agenda focusing on m-banking services and
the role of regulators; wireless broadband spectrum pricing;
satellite regulation; open access regulation; setting national
broadband policies, strategies and plans; financing universal access/service; e-waste and recycling and the role of regulators;
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ITU News  7 | 2011  September 2011
protecting the rights of all stakeholders in the digital ecosystem;
and regional initiatives to foster broadband connectivity. We are
pleased to announce that in order to foster interactivity and networking among GSR participants we are providing for the first
time an online networking platform.
The many contributions received for this event
have been coordinated by Cristhian Lizcano
Ortíz, Executive Director of the Communications
Regulatory Commission of Colombia. Discussion
papers too have been written on these agenda
topics. Some of the papers are highlighted in this
edition of ITU News. Others, covering the important topics of regulation of global broadband satellite
communications, strategies for financing universal broadband
access, and who is responsible for e-waste, as well as a report
exploring the economic valuation and social value of spectrum,
will be covered in future issues of ITU News.
To ensure that all citizens can reap the benefits of living in
a broadband world, policy-makers and regulators need to foster affordable access and spur growth. I believe that this is a
unique opportunity for regulators to come together to further advance the commitments of the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS), the Millennium Development Goals, and the decisions of the World Telecommunication Development Conference,
held in Hyderabad, India, in May–June 2010.