DotConnectAfrica Contribution to ITU on the Draft of the future ITRs

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Contribution:

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Section I: Preamble

Originating Organization: DotConnectAfrica Trust 

Categories/Tags: Non Governmental Organization, ICT

Purpose (Brief): DotConnectAfrica submits recommendations to the ITU for the ITR’s changes that are underway.

Current Status:  Submissions to ITU

 

Summary:  The Submissions to ITU ITR's by DCA looks at the various sections that need to be critically analyzed in the coming alterations to expand the ITR's to include the currrents advancements to the Telecommunications that includes Mobile and Internet.

Section II:  Background

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is scheduled to hold the World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012 (WCIT-12) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 3rd to 14th December 2012.

WCIT-12 is a landmark conference endeavored to review the current International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), which serve as the binding global treaty outlining the principles which govern the way international voice, data and video traffic is managed globally. 

The existing ITRs were last agreed upon in Melbourne, Australia, in 1988 .Following deliberations ,there exists is broad consensus for need to update them to comply with the  ICT landscape of the 21st Century. 

DotConnectAfrica is therefore a concerned party and a stakeholder in the African ICT continent and feels the need to submit several recommendations to that effect.

Section III: Document and Resource Links

DotconnectAfrica looked at the existing ITR’s and focuses on the section that feel there is dire need for compliance to the changes experienced in the ICT platform.

Section IV: Introduction:

DotConnectAfrica Trust is an independent, non-profit and non-partisan organization that is based in Nairobi Kenya Reg.ID CT8710DCA90 , and its main charitable objects are: (a) for the advancement of education in information technology to the African society; and (b) in connection with (a) to provide the African society with a continental Internet domain name to have access to Internet services for the people of Africa as a purpose beneficial to the public in general.

Section V: Submissions and recommendations

MOD CWG/4/181

38 d) a capability for interworking between different services, as appropriate, to facilitate

International telecommunications [services].

The telecommunication systems have changed, initially from handling only the Telecomm services offered by telephony services:

New services that are supported by the Telecommunications via the internet platform have the following new services added:

Email, VOIP services with enhanced live chat e.g. Skype, Mobile money.

The ITU out to look into involving such services as listed above among the new regulations such that they become respectable and legal services that cannot be banned or shut down.

Recent examples of services such as free online chat or messaging have been banned in countries as a result of:

·         cited security reasons(terrorist establishment may use these services to convey their messages)

·         Telecommunication firms are restrictive to these services saying that they reduce their revenue especially on voice.

Recommendations:

Member states should adopt such services as listed above as legal services that should not be exempted nor banned as legal online services.

Telecommunication services should include these services among unrestricted inline services that the subscribers ought to enjoy since such services are available on modern devices such as apple products (iphone , Black Berry among others)

 

Mobile money.

Mobile money is a new service that has rapidly developed especially in Africa and should be appreciated by being included among the secondary off shoots of the developing telecom industry portfolio.

Recommendations:

There should be put in place mobile money “RULES & REGULATIONS” that would place mobile money alongside normal banking as , online money services such as Pay pal.

Recommendations:

·         Have an international transaction watchdog department embedded to a bank to prevent money laundering

·         Enhance security measures on the mobile money transitions

·         Improve accountability between the remitter and recipient so as to ensure legitimacy

·         Create restrictive levels and limits that will be used for mobile money transfer vis a vis banking transfers

·         Determine how the different currency rates affect the mobile money and develop or identity a standard unit currency for such services.

  

NOC CWG/4/182

38A

Reasons: No new 4.4 (transparency of roaming tariffs).

Safety of Life and Priority of Telecommunication

International rates should be enhanced to consider roaming rates: As such the developing countries must be helped and guided to develop and create proper mechanisms to reduce roaming tariffs  and if possible eliminate totally the roaming tariffs associated with the safety of life to enable availability of help in the case of disaster management.

[Security] | [Confidence and security in the provision of international

telecommunications and services] | [Confidence and security of

telecommunications/ICTs]

Member states should endeavour to provide safety and protection of information within and without borders.

With the advancement of open data, governments must ensure that its informations is provided to levels that are not only safe but secure to the affected individuals.

Government agencies shall not use the personal information to spy on individual citizens who are taken to be unfriendly to certain government systems, Services of information protection shall be provided to level acceptable unless the said person is perceived to be extremely dangerous to the security of a country.

Enterprises that use ICT’s such as the communication commissions of member states shall be properly supervised and instructed without necessarily undermining critical freedom of information, the supervision and requirement of any private information shall be availed in a rational and acceptable way to ensure effective ICT functions and fostering of trustworthy conditions.

Countering spam

Spam has been called a lucrative business:

• The international firms that offer free mailing services shall be urged to endeavour to clearly work on better security measures that will curb the underground and illegal spamming services that are embedded in online services.
• Domains and TLDs that have been identified as spam friendly should be properly analyzed and advices or otherwise blocked to ensure the safety and sanity of online services.
• Marketing mechanisms that border on spamming and or phishing activities should be blocked accordingly.

ARTICLE 8

Dissemination of Information Secretary-General

The availability of information has been aided by virtue of continued lobbying and building of other mechanisms that ensure that all information is available to the public in a transparent way.

The Secretary General of ITU shall endeavor to provide the information that pertains the entire worlds on telephony, telecommunication and internet standards by extension in a concise manner and in time enough to encourage modest input by the public.

Services such as the:

Internet Society The Center for Democracy & Technology , WCITLeaks,> and Access Now must be included in the drafting of the new ITR’s to ensure proper unmatched public participation, this was a multistakeholder mechanism shall be included so the entire public voice is audible.

Energy efficiency (energy consumption and e-waste.)

This particular section targets mostly the developing countries that have suffered from e-dumping in the pretext of technology transfer.

 

The ITR’s should be developed to include the protection of developing countries from individual firms that seek to sell of transport obsolete equipment that are considered cheap to the developing countries i.e.

Develop governing rules that state:

• The age of any equipment that is to be sold or donated to any country by industries
• The technical specifications as well as availability of upgrading of such equipment to ensure that there is acceptable time of use before they are rendered obsolete such services should include : IPv6 compatibility , HDMI and WIFI among others.
• The acceptable versions of software’s that are considered relevant or latest and the span of time before they are rendered obsolete
• Reinforce the development of waste management industries that will ensure that any e waste is properly destroyed.
• Input rules and regulations between member states that ensure and enforce that these waste management mechanisms are actualized among other millennium development goals.
• Enforce rules that protect vulnerable countries from individuals or organizations that will continually sell or donate such equipment as well as state the amount of fines that would be enforced.
• Member states shall be also required to setup proper handling procedures that will protect their citizens at the port of entry.

Cooperation of the Members of the Union in Implementing the International Telecommunication Regulations

Every country will be required to respect the rules without overburdening the others, developing nations must also be allowed to give enough reasonable input without be undermined even though not many telecommunication equipment may be manufactures from such countries.

Best Regards,

__________________________

 
 

DotConnectAfrica Org
www.dotconnectafrica.org

CIC Plaza , Ground floor, Mara Road Upper Hill,

Box 39466-00623 Nairobi Kenya.
Fax:+254-020-2731146 

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DotConnectAfrica is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization incorporated in Mauritius Africa, and will sponsor, establish and operate a TLD registry with global recognition and regional significance dedicated to the needs of the Pan-African and African community. DCA Reg. ID.CT8710DCA90. 

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