Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia, 23 October 2016
Introduction
ITU is organizing a meeting of senior industry executives to explore the new industry dynamics ushered in by the rise of over-the-top (OTT) business models, as well as means to accelerate the deployment of innovative broadband access solutions such as giga-band through a combination of LTE, WiFi and ITU G.fast technology.
The invitation-only “CxO meeting” will be held on 23 October 2016, the day prior to the Global Standards Symposium (GSS-16) and the following World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-16).
Innovative OTT messaging, telephony and streaming services have become a staple of the wide range of services now on offer to end-users. The conclusions of the CxO meeting will feed into ongoing discussions in ITU on the promotion of OTT innovation, possible regulatory approaches to OTT, the value of partnerships between OTT players and network operators, and incentives for infrastructure investment and the protection of privacy and personal data.
G.fast is a new ITU broadband standard that allows delivery of up to 1 Gbit/s over the traditional copper telephone lines that still make up a substantial proportion of so-called “last-mile” networks. The effective combination of broadband access solutions such as G.fast, 4G LTE and WiFi could prove to be a cost-effective means of bringing end-users within reach of bandwidth-intensive services such as Ultra-HD ‘4K’ or ‘8K’ streaming and next-generation IPTV, advanced cloud-based storage, and communication via HD video.
A common thread running through the discussions of CxO meeting will be the consideration of the specific needs of developing countries, both in terms of developing countries’ demands of international standardization and the particular challenges faced by these countries in the deployment of advanced ICT infrastructure.
The conclusions of the CxO meeting will be reflected by a communiqué agreed by the meetings participants which will be presented to WTSA-16.
The invitation-only CxO meeting targets C-level executives of ICT companies and invited guests representing other industry sectors. If you would like to participate in this meeting, please contact Honora Daily at
honora.daily@itu.int.
