ITU to review telecom regulations in late 2012

OTTAWA--The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will review its telecommunications regulations in late 2012, Industry Canada special advisor for international organizations, Bruce Gracie, told The Wire Report. The ITU, the United Nations agency that deals with information and communication technology issues, coordinates international radio spectrum and satellite use and works to improve telecommunications infrastructure. Gracie is the head of the Canadian delegation at the ITU. Upon his return from the 2010 ITU Council session in Geneva, April 13-22, he sat down with The Wire Report to discuss the council meeting and upcoming ITU business. The following is an edited transcript of the interview. What is the council’s role at the ITU? The council is the governing body of the ITU; it’s an elected body. Canada is one of the 46 member states elected at a plenipotentiary conference, which is held every four years, to serve on this governing body. The council meets once a year. This council is particularly important because it establishes the framework for the discussions for the plenipotentiary conference, which will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in Oct. this year. What topics were discussed at this year’s council meeting? One of the key responsibilities of the plenipotentiary conference is to establish the financial framework for the ITU for the next four-year period, which is 2012 to 2015. The plenipotentiaries will be required to agree and adopt a financial plan, which in turn is linked to a strategic plan that outlines the activities of the union for the next four years. Our main position has been to establish a level of zero growth for the union over the last few years and we will continue that position. We also are advocating more transparency and accountability on the way in which the ITU carries out its activities. For the first time, we expect that this plenipotentiary conference will link the strategic plan to the overall strategic plan of the ITU. That’s a major breakthrough that will put ITU at the forefront of the UN’s specialized agencies in adopting this approach. What are the ITU’s priorities for the next four-year period? World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) are very important for the government and Canadian industry. The conference will be held over a four-week period in approximately two years, in February of 2012. We are in the process of preparing for that conference. In fact we had a Canadian preparatory conference to discuss positions and eventually proposals that we will want to put forward at that conference. We are in the process of preparing for a World Telecommunication Development Conference that will take place in , India . That conference will establish a framework for certain development-related activities that are of great importance to developing countries, but important to us as well. For example, broadband rollout is considered to be a high-priority topic. Another is emergency communications. What is Canada’s role in contributing to these priorities? Because we are an advanced country, we are not trying to put forward a best practices kind of approach. What we’re offering is a lessons learned kind of approach, taking into account our own circumstances. Of course we face some of the same difficulties as developing countries because of the remote and rural nature of our country, and the difficulty of serving our population in these underserved areas. What are you expecting from the upcoming conference in India? The result of that conference will be a report, and an agreement will be reached on a number of programs, probably one of the most important of those is capacity building. But that’s not like the plenipotentiary conference, the results of which are treaty-binding. A lot of discussion will take place in relation to amendments to this treaty text. What that means is that we have to ratify any changes to this text. The WRC is also treaty-based, and the ultimate results will be reflected in amendments to the radio regulations. The main amendments will be reflected in one of the articles of the international table of frequency allocations. That will take place in 2012, but it’s very, very important to both government and industry that we ensure that Canadian requirements and interests are reflected in any changes to this treaty text. The final treaty text of the ITU is the international telecommunications regulations (ITR), and much discussion took place at council with respect to, first, the need, then the process for preparing for a world conference on international telecommunications to consider and revise these regulations. This hasn’t been done since 1988. What we are trying to negotiate and discuss at the moment is the scope of that conference. Are we simply going to limit the conference to amending these provisions, or are we going to identify new issues for inclusion in a revision to the international telecommunication regulations? That’s one of the key issues to be discussed at the plenipotentiary conference. All we discussed at council was a preparatory process, and even that’s controversial. When I talk about new issues, an example is cyber security. Should that topic be subject to treaty-based provisions? That’s a question that needs to be addressed at the plenipotentiary conference. What is Canada’s position on the scope of the revision process? What I can tell you is that we have established a preparatory process, which brings in all interested stakeholders: the government and industry. Certainly we reach out to our carriers to ensure they have input into the process. And of course the Department of Foreign Affairs has to be involved, and our legal branch needs to be involved. What is being foreseen at the moment is a conference that would take place in the final quarter of 2012. At the October plenipotentiary conference there are going to be elections. How important are those for Canada? We have two candidacies. One is our re-election to the council, which is extremely important from our point of view, and one is Veena Rawat’s election as director of the radiocommunication bureau. Canada has been a member of council since 1947, when it is was formed. But it’s extremely important for Canada to serve on this body because it gives us leverage to put forward our views. Would you say that Canada’s position on the governing body could be jeopardized? We can never take anything for granted. We must persevere and ensure that countries understand the importance that Canada places on serving on the Council. What is the campaign process? There are letters being sent from our minister to his counterparts in the other member states. There are discussions at the diplomatic level in Geneva, and from Ottawa to other countries. kfournier@thewirereport.ca

ITU to review telecom regulations in late 2012

News | May 3, 2010

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