RESOLUTION 2
ESTABLISHMENT OF A FORUM TO DISCUSS STRATEGIES AND POLICIES
IN THE CHANGING TELECOMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT
The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Kyoto, 1994),
considering
a) that the telecommunication environment has undergone
considerable changes since the 1980s under the combined influence
of advances in technology, the globalization of markets and
growing user demand for integrated cross-border services
increasingly adapted to their needs;
b) that the forces shaping the telecommunication
environment have led in many countries to a restructuring of the
telecommunication sector, especially the separation of regulatory
and operating functions, the gradual liberalization of services
and the appearance of new players in this area;
c) that this restructuring of telecommunication policies
and regulations, which began in the industrialized countries, is
now being followed by regional initiatives to introduce
liberalization through new regulatory frameworks, such as the
Latin American Blue Paper of the Inter-American
Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) and the African Green
Paper;
d) that, alongside these regional initiatives, many
countries have started liberalizing their telecommunication
services and in some cases privatizing them;
e) that, as a result of these changes, the need for a
global framework to exchange information on telecommunication
policies has been evident for many years;
f) that national telecommunication policies and regulations have to be recognized and understood, so as to allow the development of global markets which can support the harmonious development of telecommunication services,
conscious
a) that the purposes of the Union are, inter alia, to
promote, at the international level, the adoption of a broader
approach to the issues of telecommunications in the global
information economy and society, to promote the extension of the
benefits of the new telecommunication technologies to all the
world's inhabitants and to harmonize the actions of Members in
the attainment of those ends;
b) that the idea of trying to provide a global framework
in order to introduce and develop these new global technologies
has already been discussed on many occasions,
recalling
a) that in its report entitled "The Changing
Telecommunication Environment", the Advisory Group on
Telecommunication Policy noted that the ITU:
b) that these observations were echoed by the Nice Plenipotentiary Conference (1989), which, in its Resolution 14, took into consideration and recognized:
c) that, lastly, the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference (Geneva, 1992) continued the debate on the need to establish a policy coordination mechanism (Resolution 15) and recognized the need to establish a forum in which policy coordination between Members would be expedited. The means whereby such coordination could be ensured, however, are not explained. In particular, the question of the nature of such a forum, the scope of its action and the form it might take remain to be settled,
emphasizing
a) that ITU Members realizing the need for constant review of
their own telecommunication policies and legislation and for
coordination in the rapidly changing telecommunication
environment should be able to discuss strategies and policies;
b) that it is necessary for the Union, as an international
organization playing a leading role in the field of
telecommunications, to organize a forum to facilitate the
exchange of information on telecommunication policies;
c) that the forum should be a facilitator for information
gathering and exchange, and provide a platform for the periodic
discussion, inter alia, of broad policy issues,
technological advances, service options and opportunities,
infrastructure development and financial business considerations;
d) that the forum should give special attention to the
interests and needs of the developing countries, where modern
technologies and services can contribute significantly to
telecommunication infrastructure development,
resolves
1. that a world telecommunication policy forum shall be
established to discuss and exchange views and information on
telecommunication policy and regulatory matters;
2. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall neither
produce prescriptive regulatory outcomes nor produce outputs with
binding force; however it shall prepare reports and, where
appropriate, opinions for consideration by Members and relevant
ITU meetings;
3. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be open to
all Members and entities and organizations other than
administrations authorized to participate in the activities of
the Union under Article 19 of the Convention (Geneva, 1992) but,
if appropriate, may in some cases restrict some sessions to
Members only;
4. that the world telecommunication policy forum should be
convened once or twice before the next Plenipotentiary Conference
in conjunction with other ITU conferences and meetings, depending
on topics, scheduling and financial constraints;
5. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be
convened on an ad hoc basis to respond quickly to emerging policy
issues arising from the changing telecommunication environment;
6. that Council shall decide on the duration, date, venue, agenda
and themes of the world telecommunication policy forum;
7. that the agenda and themes shall be based on a report by the
Secretary-General, including input from any conference, assembly
or meeting of the Union, and on contributions from Members and
members of the Union;
8. that discussions at the world telecommunication policy forum
shall be based on contributions from Members and members of the
Union, the report of the Secretary-General and the views
expressed by the participants on a given topic;
9. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall be
convened in conjunction with one of the conferences or meetings
of the Union in order to minimize the impact on the budget of the
Union;
10. that the world telecommunication policy forum shall adopt its
own Rules of Procedure, based on a draft by the Secretary-General
which will be examined by the Council,
instructs the Secretary-General
to make the necessary preparations for the world
telecommunication policy forum based on the resolves
above,
instructs the Council
to decide upon the duration, date, venue, agenda and themes
of the world telecommunication policy forum,
further instructs the Council
to submit to the next Plenipotentiary Conference a report on
the world telecommunication policy forum for evaluation and any
necessary action,
invites the next Plenipotentiary Conference
to consider whether to formalize the forum in the
Constitution and Convention of the Union, bearing in mind the
experience gained during the plenipotentiary period 1995-1998.
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