Last week the regulators of the world united (sic) in a 3 days compound event [the 1-day Global Industry Leaders’ Forum (GILF) and the 2-day annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR)] and discussed contemporary topics of telecommunications regulation such as facilitating ICT investments, Universal Service Plans and Next-Generation Networks.
Fellow fiber-ring member Rudolf van der Berg has the detailed coverage on the conference which is nicely indexed by Benoit.
I plan to blog a bit more about it in a future but until I do so, here’s a couple convenient links for your reference:
NEWSROOM: GSR 2009 - with more information than you can eat regarding the two events.
PRESS RELEASE (Available at http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2009/53.html):
Beirut, 12 November 2009 — Delegates to ITU’s 9th Global Symposium for Regulators (10-12 November) spoke of the pressing need for governments to open markets to greater competition and use incentives to stimulate investment in the broadband networks that are fast becoming the lifeblood of the Knowledge Economy.
The meeting, which welcomed a total of 648 participants from 89 countries, sought to forge a shared vision and understanding of the many challenges now facing ICT regulators in increasingly complex converged markets.
“This GSR has been our most successful ever, in terms of the number of participants and the quality and relevance of the discussions we’ve heard over the course of the event. This testifies to the critical role regulators are now playing in defining the future shape of markets characterized by fast-changing technologies and a rapidly evolving, increasingly complex competitive landscape,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.
With the tough current economic climate prompting some operators to rein-in network development plans, the meeting placed special emphasis on the need for the public and private sectors to better understand one another’s needs and work more cooperatively to support demand for ICT services.
The ICT industry played a central role in the one-day Global Industry Leaders Forum (GILF), held on Monday 9 November, just ahead of the opening of the GSR. Chaired by Dr Saad Al Barrak, CEO of the Zain Group, the forum encouraged frank, interactive discussion among participants representing operators, ICT manufacturers and application developers, service providers, infrastructure specialists and consultancies. Those discussions went on to form the core of the GILF Chairman’s report, which was presented to the GSR at its opening session on Tuesday 10 November, for in-depth consideration by delegates representing the global ICT regulatory community.
GILF participants stressed the need for predictable, stable regulation, improved regional harmonization of regulatory frameworks, more efficient management of radiofrequency spectrum, and a ‘light touch’ by regulators to allow markets to evolve naturally. They also advocated technology-neutral regulation, and urged regulators to make provision for the ongoing development of converged services by ensuring sufficient spectrum is available to support future growth. ITU, which plays a critical role in global spectrum allocation through its Radiocommunication Sector, was asked to continue to work actively to help companies and governments alike create an enabling environment to support new services, cheaper pricing, and faster network roll-out to underserved areas.
In his opening address to the GSR on Tuesday 10 November, the Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), Mr Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, noted that mobile penetration will reach 67% of the global population in 2009, representing 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions. ITU figures also show that over one quarter of the world’s population is now using the Internet. “If we are to build on this success, finding common ground among ICT stakeholders will be critical to stimulating growth in a converged environment. ICT regulators and policy makers need to keep pace with a fast changing environment and carry out a delicate balancing act between a hands-on or hands-off approach. This is a challenge for all countries, and we are all here to tackle these challenges together,” he said.
[...]
