ITU: Toward a New Mission?

In the final days of Telecom 99, the future of the show and of its organizer, the International Telecommunication Union, are being debated by an advisory panel created by its secretary-general, Yoshio Utsumi.

In its first meeting on Wednesday, the group of blue-ribbon executives from industry and international organizations examined three sets of issues: Is the venerable and slow-moving ITU needed in today's world of deregulation, private initiatives and rapid technological change and, if so, what should the new mission be? What management structure should best address that mission? What organizational structure might most effectively reflect these changes?

Behind these considerations is the importance of industry, rather than governments, as the driving force of telecommunications today and in the future. The ITU recognized this by creating sector members, but their voice is still disproportionately small compared to their influence. A relevant international organization must redress that imbalance, say ITU sources.

As a corollary, the future direction of Telecom shows themselves will be considered by the group. Has Telecom, both the quadrennial event and the regional shows, become too big and diffused? Would smaller and more focused events better serve the ITU's members?

Maria Livanos-Cattaui, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce, was elected chair of the group, which will prepare its recommendations to Mr. Utsumi by early spring. He will incorporate these into a report to be submitted to the ITU council by next summer. The report will also make use of recommendations from an already-initiated survey of all ITU members. A first result of the brainstorming, reports an ITU source, is that the ITU is needed but only ''if it improves greatly.''

Indirectly, support of a future role for the ITU can be seen in another event at Telecom 99, the inauguration of the ITU's third facility in Geneva. The Montbrillant building, devoted to meeting rooms, does not reflect an expansion of ITU bureaucracy, emphasizes an ITU spokesperson, but rather its growing role as an organizer of conferences and discussions on policy and regulatory issues.

In other news, Arianespace - the world's largest commercial space transportation company - announced the signing of its two latest contracts, with Hughes Space and Communications International and with New Skies Satellites. The Hughes contract is on behalf of Astra to provide direct digital television and multimedia services to Europe. New Skies is a new global telecommunications operator created by the privatization of Intelsat.

Claudia Flisi