Generally considered one of the most important conferences in the field of telecommunications, the conference is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations’ specialized agency for ICTs and will review the current International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), the global treaty that regulates the telecommunications industry.
Delegations from all ITU member states will be participating in WCIT, as well as other organizations including the United Nations, regional telecommunication organizations, intergovernmental organizations operating satellite systems, specialized agencies of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The UAE, through the TRA, has also officially invited CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to participate in the event. Issues including mobile roaming, misuse and fraud, taxation, transparency of routing, cooperation on cyber security, cooperation to combat spam, energy efficiency and accessibility are being discussed.
“Hosting key United Nations conferences that will determine the future path of telecommunications is raising the profile of the UAE as a leading international telecommunications hub, but what the TRA and UAE are doing here actually goes far beyond hosting a big event,” Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General of the TRA, said.
“These are discussion and decision-making forums, at the highest level, and the UAE is taking a leading role in debating and proposing recommendations, standards and regulations for international telecommunications. The UAE is taking a leading role in garnering support and eliciting cooperation from and between various countries and stakeholders, the private sector and government agencies, and a host of other interested parties in the ICT sector. We should be proud of hosting and participating in this event not only because of how important it is, but also because of the key role we are playing in it, and the international recognition the UAE will receive because of this.”
The ITRs, signed by 178 countries, is an international treaty that underpins how we communicate with each other and establish general principles on the provision and operation of international telecoms and facilitate global interconnection and interoperability as well as supporting development and improving efficiency, quality and ease of use. The ITRs were signed in 1988, and since then the world of telecoms has transformed completely with mobile communications and Internet rising to prominence and creating a new set of challenges for the industry. Also in 1988 there were very few countries with a liberalized market, and most operators were a monopoly regime, under government or state control, giving WCIT a unique position in the telecom industry as a global platform for this treaty to be revised to keep pace with the transformative technological and economic changes the industry has witnessed over the past two decades.