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www.itu.int/itunews

The future of voice

The road to next-generation networks Reforming spectrum management

ContentsThe future of voice

Cover photos: Alamy, P. Ramakers, 2 ITU at a glance ` ITU receives Cisco Partnership Award ``` Siemens, Télécoms Sans Frontières, ` ITU goes to Silicon Valley ITU/M. Zouhri ` Preparatory meeting paves the way for WRC-07 ` ITU and GSMA sign agreement on promoting access

4 Editorial Deputy Secretary-General Houlin Zhao comments on telephony in transition ISSN 1020–4148 www.itu.int/itunews 10 issues per year Copyright: © ITU 2007 5 The future of voice ` ITU workshop looks at the issues (pages 5–9) Managing Editor: Patricia Lusweti ` The status of VoIP (pages 10–12) Production Editor: Janet Burgess ` Voice in developing countries (pages 13–14) Art Editor: Christine Vanoli

Printed in Geneva by the ITU 15 The road to next-generation networks Printing and Dispatch Division. ` Global Symposium for Regulators issues best practice guidelines (pages 15–18) Material from this publication may ` Early adopters of NGN (pages 19–21) be reproduced in full or in part, provided that it is accompanied by the acknowledgement: ITU News. 22 New ways to manage spectrum A workshop by ITU and the Ugo Bordoni Foundation examines market mechanisms Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not engage ITU. The designations employed and presentation of material 25 Telemedicine in Zambia in this publication, including maps, do A remote diagnosis system in action ``` not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of ITU concerning the legal status of any country, territory, 26 Pioneers’ Page city or area, or concerning the delimita- How the biggest ship in the world laid the transatlantic telegraph cable ``` tions of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or of certain products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ITU in 28 Obituary preference to others of a similar nature Remembering Ilija Stojanovic that are not mentioned.

Editorial ofﬁ ce/Advertising information 30 Ofﬁ cial announcements Tel.: +41 22 730 5234/6303 Fax: +41 22 730 5935 E-mail: [email protected] Mailing address: International 32 Meeting with the Secretary-General Telecommunication Union Place des Nations CH–1211 Geneva 20 (Switzerland) Subscriptions Tel.: +41 22 730 6303 Fax: +41 22 730 5939 E-mail: [email protected] 1

No. 2 ` March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 ITU at a glance

Cisco Partnership ITU goes to Silicon Valley A sound regulatory system that encour- Award for ITU / On 28 February, ITU Secretary-Gen- ages fair competition and innovative busi- ITU has received a “Cisco Part- eral Hamadoun I. Touré attended the “UN ness models is also a pre-requisite, said nership Award” in recognition Meets Silicon Valley” meeting in California, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré. of the excellent collaboration United States. The event was jointly organ- “I want to challenge you to think beyond between the Union and Cisco ized by the United Nations Global Alliance the borders of Silicon Valley, beyond even Systems Inc., an Internet net- for ICT and Development and Intel Corpora- the borders of the United States, to the working technology company tion. Its aim was to identify areas where the emerging markets in the rest of the world,” based in the United States. In United Nations and Silicon Valley can work the Secretary-General told the meeting. He particular, the award recog- together to expand the benefi ts of ICT in the urged industry in Silicon Valley to join ITU, nizes the successful ITU-Cisco developing world. Among the participants through Sector membership or through oth- Internet Training Centre initia- were executives from such fi rms as Intel, er partnerships, “so that we can together tive, launched in 2002. So far, Cisco Systems, Nokia Siemens Networks, respond to the challenge of connecting the more than 65 centres have Hewlett Packard, Google, IBM Venture Cap- world.” been set up to provide train- ital Group, Visa International, and Micro- On 27 February, Dr Touré also addressed ing in computers and net- soft, as well as representatives of Stanford a meeting of the Global Alliance Steer- works to students in develop- University and the University of California, ing Committee, of which he is a member. ing countries. Berkeley. Participants focused on the Alliance’s Flag- Bringing down the costs of Internet ac- ship Partnership Initiatives, such as im- cess could set off the same wave of con- proving broadband connectivity in Africa nectivity that has made mobile phone usage and expanding telecentres in developing commonplace in developing countries, said countries. innovators and corporate leaders from some of the world’s leading technology fi rms. But Preparatory meeting paves the way making available low-cost computers and for WRC-07 cheap Internet access depends on a com- The Conference Preparatory Meeting plex chain of practicalities, of which techno- (CPM-07), which took place in Geneva from logical innovation is only one component, 19 February to 2 March, adopted a report pointed out Intel Corporation Chairman that will form the basis for the work of the

ITU/S. Acharya Craig Barrett, who is also Chairman of the World Radiocommunication ConferenceConfe The Cisco award was presented Global Alliance. (WRC-07) taking place later this year.ar. NeNearly to ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré by Rebecca Bender, Senior Manager, International Development Aid & Strategic Partnerships, Corporate Affairs, Cisco Systems, Inc.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 ITU at a glance

1100 participants from over 100 countries A proposal has been formulated that Agreement signed on attended the meeting, which addressed a gives better protection to maritime frequen- improving access in variety of frequency-related matters. cies around 156.5 MHz used for distress developing countries CPM-07 reached consensus on the ad- and safety purposes. ITU and the GSM Association ditional spectrum needed for the future de- CPM-07 also discussed technical shar- (GSMA) have agreed to join velopment of 3G mobile communications, ing and regulatory issues for the operation forces to boost mobile ac- including IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, as of high altitude platform stations (HAPS), cess in developing countries. well as the management of existing band which are capable of providing expanded On 6 February, during the ITU usage. Discussions took into account both coverage of high-capacity, competitive serv- Global Symposium for Regula- terrestrial and satellite aspects, with special ices to urban and rural areas, especially in tors held in Dubai, a Memo- attention to the needs of developing coun- tropical countries experiencing high rainfall. randum of Understanding tries. Agreement was also reached on the WRC-07 will also take decisions on new (MoU) was signed by ITU Sec- technical basis and compatibility studies frequency bands to be allocated for science retary-General Hamadoun I. for the upgrade of radiolocation services to services. Earth-exploration and meteorologi- Touré and Tom Phillips, Chief primary status in the 9000–9200 MHz and cal satellites provide valuable services world- Government and Regulatory 9300–9500 MHz. wide. CPM-07 examined approaches that Affairs Offi cer of the GSMA, There is mounting pressure to shorten explore further development and protection whose members serve more timescales for the development of new air- of different science services, including radio than 2 billion mobile phone craft. WRC-07 will consider the growing de- astronomy services. customers worldwide. Under mand for spectrum for aeronautical telem- CPM-07 outlined possible options to im- the MoU, ITU and the GSMA etry and telecommand systems. Flight tests prove the effectiveness of the Radio Regula- will, among other things, sup- led to CPM-07 identifying fi ve candidate tions in the areas of spectrum usage and op- port projects to create low- bands: 4400–4940 MHz, 5030–5091 MHz, erational characteristics of electronic news cost access to ICT in under- 5091–5150 MHz, 5150–5250 MHz and gathering systems (ENG), technical parame- served areas. They will also 5925–6700 MHz. CPM-07 also discussed ters for planning broadcasting-satellite serv- compile a comprehensive, aeronautical mobile services, the alloca- ice in the band 21.4–22 GHz in Regions 1 shared resource of key indus- tion of additional spectrum in parts of the and 3, and using spectrum at frequencies try performance indicators bands between 108 MHz and 6 GHz, and above 3000 GHz. and benchmarks. the modernization of civil aviation telecom- Valery Timofeev, Director of ITU’s Ra- munication systems. diocommunication Bureau, explained that Discussions on fi xed-satellite, mobile- the CPM Report represents a complete and satellite and broadcasting-satellite services up-to-date description of the technical, op- below 3 GHz saw agreement on the protec- erational and regulatory environment upon tion of terrestrial digital television services in which WRC-07 can make its decisions. CPM the 620–790 MHz band. However, WRC-07 Chairman, Kavouss Arasteh of the Islamic is likelyy to witness intense debate on space Republic of Iran, said that, at the meeting, and terrestrialrrestri services sharing the 2500– “one basic principle prevailed, that of con- 2690 GHz band.ban sensus building”. /

A farmer in Bangladesh

The World Radiocommunication Conference will take place in Geneva from 22 October to 16 November 2007 3

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Editorial

The changing environment for telephony

Houlin Zhao Deputy Secretary-General of ITU

/ On 15–16 January, ITU held Innovation and new technologies offer an important workshop in Ge- prospects for enhanced economic growth.

ITU neva on “The Future of Voice”. It Nevertheless, policy-makers, regulators, and was the fi rst meeting that I had user groups around the world must serious- the honour of opening in my new role as ly consider how best to protect the public Deputy Secretary-General. interest in a converged environment, as tra- In a survey conducted under the ITU New ditional concepts of “voice” as a universal Initiatives Programme, our Member States service continue to evolve. Questions are and Sector Members said that the future of being asked as to whether voice communi- voice services is a fundamental strategic is- cation will remain a marketable commodity sue for today’s telecommunication industry. and whether network access will be afford- For many years, these services have been the able for everyone. Regulatory paradigms too principal source of revenue for telecommu- must be adjusted to the requirements of an nication operators. But now, convergence industry in which boundaries between tele- and the migration to an infrastructure based communications, Internet and broadcasting on the Internet protocol (IP) pose challenges services are blurring, changing the structure to traditional business models. of the traffi c over the networks. Convergence is a growing reality at dif- Widely diverging opinions have been ex- ferent levels: between voice and data, for pressed on these complex issues — and that example, as well as between fi xed and mo- is one of the reasons the ITU event provided bile telephony. Delivery of multiple services a forum for an open and frank debate. It al- over one network is no longer a technical lowed experts and industry representatives challenge. In fact, in some countries, it is to share experiences and exchange views now regarded as the new standard. on how the future of voice will evolve in an Migration to an all IP-based environment all IP-enabled environment in all the regions has signifi cant implications for the industry, of the world, and how best to respond to including market structure, competition and this transition. regulation. Network operators are respond- I would like to express my appreciation ing to this transition by investing in multi- to the speakers and moderators for their billion-dollar modernization programmes, active role in making this workshop a by changing their business models and by success. / introducing new services with the potential to generate future revenue streams.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Future of voice

ITU workshop

The future of voice

/ Despite the advanced, new services that enter the territory of mobile phone compa- are on offer via telecommunications, most nies that provide Internet access: once con- people still use their phones simply to speak nected to the web, you can switch to a VoIP to someone at a distance. In this sense, service instead. the future of voice is secure. However, big changes are occurring in the way phone Club together conversations are transmitted. Now, as well To protect incumbent carriers, some ad- as sending calls through a copper wire or ministrations have tried to block VoIP serv- radio waves, you can use the Internet. ices. However, the technology is likely to be the wave of the future. The challenge for Internet infl uence service providers is to adopt or adapt. Operators have been investing heavily For many, the answer is convergence — ITU/Alamy in next-generation networks (NGN) that are of industry sectors and of services. In several based on the Internet protocol (IP). These countries, telecommunication fi rms now broadband “pipes” allow massive fl ows of have “triple play” or “quadruple play” offer- several kinds of data, among which voice ings combining fi xed and mobile telephony over Internet protocol (VoIP) calls can also with television and Internet access. These be carried. And as long as you can fi nd an converged multimedia services often come Internet connection, you can use your VoIP about through mergers or agreements be- phone number anywhere. Mobile calls are tween incumbent carriers and mobile phone possible too, through wireless systems for companies. Cable television fi rms (which are M. Largu Internet access. VoIP technology makes lo- adding phone calls to cation, distance, or the length of a call, ir- their original tel- relevant. Thus, in future, phone calls could evision serv- The future of voice is likely to be “free” just as e-mails are, once you are ice) are also be mobile and based on the connected to the web. joining the Internet protocol The new infrastructure makes it cheaper market. for operators to provide services — but, in liberalized markets, it also makes it easier for newcomers to compete. Using Internet access provided by telecommunication or cable companies, VoIP services can be offered by other fi rms. These competitors could also BT

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Future of voice

ITU workshop

ITU workshop looks at the issues Consensus These were among issues considered at an ITU workshop in mid-January on “The Still a core service Future of Voice.” Some 100 participants, in- Participants noted that voice services

ITU/JKP cluding experts from industry and academia, are still at the core of telecommunication policy-makers, regulators, and representa- revenues, and have remained broadly sta- Professor Glenn Woroch chaired the ITU workshop tives of international organizations, focused ble. According to ITU statistics, they were on the role of voice services in a ubiquitous around 85 per cent of total telecommu- network environment. nication revenue worldwide in 1991, and The event was opened by ITU Depu- 82 per cent in 2004. This is true even in ty Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. It was the industrialized member countries of the chaired by Glenn Woroch, Professor of Eco- Organisation for Economic Co-operation nomics and Executive Director of the Center and Development (OECD). Taylor Reynolds, for Research in Telecommunication Policy, from the OECD’s Directorate for Science, University of California, Berkeley, United Technology and Industry, told the workshop States. He summarized the discussions dur- that voice services represent at least 79 per ing the workshop under three headings that cent of total telecommunication revenues in described the level of agreement or debate OECD countries. And although the number on the future of voice services: consensus, of ﬁ xed lines is falling in some regions, it is confusion and contention. still rising worldwide. ITU/JKP

Workshop participants

Details of the ITU workshop on “The future of voice” can be found on the ITU website at: www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/voice/meeting.phtml

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Future of voice

ITU workshop

Ofcom, that says mobile data services pro- ing. It is the principal source of growth in vide a growing proportion of total telecom- voice telephony, in terms of access and us- munication revenue in OECD countries. age. According to Nokia, a fi fty-fi fty split between fi xed and mobile traffi c is likely to The benefi ts of bundling be achieved this year. Jean-Pierre Bienaimé, Workshop participants generally agreed Chairman of the UMTS Forum, (which is that voice is likely to fi nd its future in being concerned with mobile networks), said that bundled with other data services. Some said voice will remain a key service. He said the market expectations are high that television UMTS Forum predicts that in 2012, voice will via the Internet (IPTV), for example, can re- still be “the fi rst service category in terms of place lost voice revenues. Andrew Odlyzko, daily traffi c volumes”. Director of the Digital Technology Center at the University of Minnesota, United States, Moving from PSTN to IP said that opportunities for voice services The workshop agreed that voice traffi c include higher-quality and toll-free calling, is increasingly shifting from public switched and commercial opportunities could also telephone networks (PSTN) to those based come from innovative applications that al- on the Internet protocol (IP) which can carry low people to speak to each other when us-

data too. Margit Brandl, a Vice President at ing online social networking sites. Zygmunt Mario Alberto Magallanes Trejo Siemens and Chairman of the European Tel- Lozinski, the Technical Leader for IBM’s Tel- ecommunications Platform, noted that, by ecommunication Industry in Northern Eu- 2012, voice could become just another data rope, also noted the strong growth in social application. Eric Burger, the Deputy CTO networking sites and user-generated con- of BEA Systems Inc, stressed that resisting tent. People will still communicate, he said, VoIP technology might “inhibit the develop- but the mechanisms will change. ment of new, wealth-creating applications, often worth more than the displaced voice The problem of pricing revenues”. Now that phone calls are increasingly being carried over data channels, pricing calls Data services are growing according to distance or length is becoming Broadband Internet connections, which irrelevant. This is a challenge for telecom- carry many types of data including voice, munication companies as they try to sustain are spreading fast in developed countries. their incomes in the new environment. Mr Earnings from data services in the European Reynolds noted that, with the transition to Union will rise to 43 per cent of total ﬁ xed- VoIP, the marginal cost of a phone call has line revenues in 2007, said Harald Gruber, dropped to nearly zero. Consequently, voice Deputy Economic Advisor, Projects Directo- tariffs will fall, said Sergio Antocicco, Chair- rate, European Investment Bank. As regards man of the International Telecommunica- mobile data services, Mr Woroch cited a re- tion Users Group, and operators must try to port from the United Kingdom’s regulator, offset this by offering new applications.

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Future of voice

ITU workshop

Numbering in a borderless world Unit, KT Group, Republic of Korea, sug- One of the issues to be considered by gested that the market for voice services regulators is numbering. What should hap- is evolving from a price-driven one cen- pen to telephone numbers when there is no tring on operators, to an application-driven longer any geography associated with the ITU/JKP market centring on consumers. As VoIP of- network? Each user might have to use a Geunhyung Kim, of the KT fers enhanced features and becomes more PSTN number, an IP-number, and a network Group, Republic of Korea, widespread, customers’ usage patterns will identiﬁ er. Mr Antocicco suggested that a suggested that the market for voice services is evolving from change and the market will become more worldwide VoIP numbering scheme, with a a price-driven one centring on segmented. Companies could try to retain number for each citizen, could be overseen operators, to an application- their market share, he said, through seg- by ITU. driven market centring on mentation, branding and bundling of voice consumers services to suit customers’ needs. Connection bottlenecks Another topic for regulators is the issue Confusion of how to structure the interconnection pric- While sharing a similar view of today’s ing of asymmetric networks and VoIP servic- telecommunication environment, the par- es. Ms Godlovich suggested that VoIP/PSTN ticipants in the “Future of Voice” workshop termination remains a bottleneck. Operators expressed uncertainty about some aspects. with large customer bases have a lot of bar- gaining power — and thus little incentive Regulation to interconnect with competitors, so regu- ITU’s background paper on the status latory intervention is essential where there of VoIP worldwide gave the workshop an are dominant operators, she said. Eli Katz, overview of regulatory approaches to VoIP CEO of XConnect, United States, pointed in some 130 countries (see pages 10–12). out that the launch of new services needs At the meeting, there were varying opinions cross-network availability and end-to-end IP on the topic. Some participants, such as Ilsa connectivity. This means that VoIP provid- Godlovich, Head of Regulatory Affairs at the ers must agree to carry each other’s trafﬁ c European Competitive Telecommunications (“peering”). Federated (multilateral) peering Association, and Mr Gruber from the Euro- would permit scalable, cross-network VoIP pean Investment Bank, said that regulators interconnections among what are now iso- must ensure that markets are as competitive lated “VoIP islands”. as possible. On the other hand, Ms Brandl said that it is vital to have general rules (such Contention as those on emergency calls) and quality of There were some areas upon which service obligations for VoIP providers. At the agreement was not reached at the work- same time, regulations must not be discrimi- shop. The most fundamental concerned the natory: new entrants should be subject to future of telecommunication companies. regulation, as traditional carriers are now.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Future of voice

ITU workshop

New business models mercial terms. However, Stephen Banable, Given the shift of voice towards mobile from the European Commission’s Informa- and IP telephony, some participants thought tion Society and Media Directorate-General, that traditional ﬁ rms would become simply said the EU regulatory framework provides a providers of “hollow pipes” to carry other good model, with its objectives of promot- companies’ services. Other participants saw ing competition, consolidating the single a future for incumbents as providers of con- market and protecting consumers. Regula- verged services. Mr Lozinski, for example, tion should be removed once competition suggested that the challenge for operators is effective, he said, arguing that a market- is to transform their networks into multime- based approach facilitates convergence. This dia platforms that can drive future growth. viewpoint was shared by Mr Gruber, who However, Kali Kan observed that there said regulation must encourage investment is a massive surplus of optical bandwidth and should not represent a permanent claim and its cost has fallen to nearly zero. (Mr on incumbents’ assets, but rather stimulate Kan is Professor and Director of the Policy facility-based competition. (Regulatory is- and Development Institute of Information sues for NGN are examined in the article on Industries, at Beijing University of Posts and pages 15–18.) Telecommunications, China.) He said this makes it hard for traditional carriers to insist Conclusion BT on providing the full range of services from Chairman Glenn Woroch noted the infrastructure to consumer (“vertical integra- complex and continually evolving relation- tion”). Instead, they would have no choice ship between voice and data services. Data but to become hollow pipe providers. Re- came ﬁ rst, he said, with the invention of the garding mobile phone companies, Mr Kan telegraph, before being displaced by voice, predicted that they will “become extinct” as in the form of the telephone. “The rise of they do not even have hollow pipes to sell. the Internet has reasserted the role of data, while mobile telephony has promoted voice, Unbundling rules but also enabled data as well,” he added. Michael Bartholomew, Director of the Voice and data can be competitors on European Telecommunications Network either platform. Looking to the future, how- Providers’ Association, described how in- ever, Mr Woroch suggested that they will innovation and investment can be affected creasingly be used together and to comple- by regulations. Rules that make incumbents ment each other in converged services. This open their networks to newcomers (“un- interplay will affect the pace and direction bundling”) do not encourage the high-risk of innovation in communications, he said, investments involved in NGN, he said, and adding that “the transition to IP will open operators should be able to negotiate ac- up new markets and could help to close the cess to their networks on their own com- digital divide”. /

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Future of voice

Status of VoIP

The status of VoIP

Voice over Internet / Around the world, voice over Internet For service providers protocol (VoIP) protocol (VoIP) services are being offered by ` Lower investment, capital and op- broadly includes: local and long-distance telephone operators, erating costs: These can be achieved ` Voice over broadband cable television companies, Internet service through innovation, economies of scale, (VoB) providers, non-facilities-based independ- reductions in the bandwidth required to ` Voice over digital ent providers and mobile operators. VoIP send a voice message, and the possibil- subscriber line (DSL) is showing strong growth in the number of ity of offering converged services over a ` Voice over Internet (VoI) subscribers and the revenues it generates. single, unifi ed network. ` Voice over wireless local ` Entry into new markets: IP networks area network, and Why VoIP is gaining ground can be used to offer telephony, Internet ` Internet telephony. The main factors driving VoIP take-up access, and a host of other services. This and deployment include: may expand incumbents’ dominance, All these technologies involve but it also means that VoIP can be of- the digitization, conversion For businesses: fered by fi rms that previously specialized and compression of voice sig- ` Security at a lower cost: For institu- in content, for example. VoIP can also nals into data packets that tional and business users, a private net- lower barriers to entering new geo- are transmitted over an IP work can offer cost effi ciencies as well graphical markets. VoIP revenues could network, to be reassembled as greater security and reliability, with no compensate for fl agging traditional voice and converted back into voice discernible loss in quality of service. revenues and enable operators to enter communication at the receiv- the growing broadband market. er’s end. For consumers: ` Enhanced innovation: It is relatively ` Cheaper and simpler pricing: The ex- simple to add media to IP-based com- plosive growth of companies such as munications. New services can also be Skype and Vonage demonstrates the offered over a converged IP network, power of consumer demand in driving and some of these can be added via in- the growth of VoIP. Consumers can also terfaces with existing PSTN equipment. fi nd bundling and fl at-rate pricing pack- ` New business models: VoIP offers the ages attractive in an increasingly com- possibility of moving to new business plex multimedia environment. models, such as fl at-rate pricing, or by- passing the traditional accounting rate settlement system.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Future of voice

Status of VoIP

The obstacles to VoIP traffi c, is diffi cult, as it is part of a general In some markets, however, VoIP does migration to IP-based services. What is clear, not seem to be achieving its full potential. however, is that the VoIP market is growing Some of the obstacles to growth are: rapidly worldwide in terms of subscribers, ` Problems with QoS and reliability: revenues and traffi c. Voice, video and high-speed data services have different requirements, so VoIP subscribers bundled products place different bur- Excluding calls made from computer dens on networks in terms of quality of to computer, the number of subscribers to service (QoS). The ability of the network VoIP services has been estimated for the to function despite power shortages is a end of 2005 at 25 million worldwide, ac- particular problem in developing coun- cording to French research company iDATE. tries. In terms of security, only limited This number surpassed 47 million subscrib- calling party information may be avail- ers at the end of 2006, and is expected to able over VoIP. grow to approximately 250 million by the ` Resistance by incumbents: Established end of 2011 (see Figure 1). operators may see VoIP as a threat to their PSTN revenues, mainly in countries Figure 1 — Estimates of VoIP subscribers, where the market is monopoly-based or total and as a proportion of mainlines Cisco less mature. worldwide, 2005–2011 ` Regulatory uncertainty. Operators ar- gue that, in order to justify heavy invest- 18% ment in broadband networks for VoIP, 300 16% they must have a clear and predictable 14% regulatory framework that helps to guar- 250 12% antee returns on investment. 200 10% ` Specifi c regulatory requirements: 8% Some countries are developing regula- 150 6% tions on VoIP (e.g. emergency call obli- 4% gations) that may make it harder for new 100 2% entrants to offer VoIP services. 50 0% 2011 0 2009 2010 Market prospects 2007 2008 2005 2006 Estimates of the total VoIP market size vary signifi cantly, in part due to the prob- VoIP subscribers (millions) lems of defi nition, and because of the dif- VoIP (%) share of total mainline subscribers ferent technologies in use. Quantifying the number of VoIP subscribers, or minutes of Source: iDATE.

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Future of voice

Status of VoIP

Regulatory responses Japan is the largest market for VoIP, with share by VoIP services based on computer- Faced with such strong mar- more than 60 per cent of the worldwide to- to-computer communication is also seen in ket growth of VoIP, regula- tal of subscribers in March 2005, according the United States, where it represents the tory responses can be broadly to UK-based broadband analysts Point Topic bulk of US subscriber growth. classifi ed into those countries (see Figure 2). Strong growth has been regis- where: tered in France, where the regulator, Autorité VoIP traffi c and revenues ` VoIP has been made il- de Régulation des Communications électro- Voice traffi c sent over the Internet looks legal, often to protect the niques et des Postes (ARCEP), reported that no different from most other types of data, revenues of the incumbent the number of VoIP subscribers amounted so it is diffi cult to discover its volume. Nev- (and government, where to 1.5 million in March 2005. In the United ertheless, estimates have been made of the the incumbent is State- Kingdom, the regulator, Ofcom, estimated total proportion of voice traffi c carried over owned). These are often that by March 2006, there were more than IP networks worldwide. They show a strong developing countries. 1.8 million VoIP households. Of these, Of- upward trend. ` Regulation is absent, often com estimated that around 1.35 million (or Point Topic estimates that revenues temporarily while the 75 per cent) were using such services as from IP telephony services grew from USD regulator reaches a deci- Skype and Vonage. This capturing of market 833 million in 2004 to USD 1 834 million sion regarding VoIP, often in 2005, a rise of 89 per cent. US analysts through public consulta- Telegeography predict that revenues from tion. VoIP will reach USD 5 billion by 2010. Other ` VoIP is unregulated, follow- Figure 2 — Distribution of VoIP estimates are much higher. According to ing a policy decision to subscribers worldwide, March 2005 Juniper Research, of the United Kingdom, that effect. revenues from VoIP services in the business ` VoIP is subject to the same sector alone will reach USD 18 billion by 2% 1% (or similar) regulation as 2% 0.5% 2010, with hosted VoIP business revenues 4.5% 0.5% PSTN, or some forms of 11% reaching USD 7.6 billion. VoIP are subject to some 16% In some countries, a “grey market” ex- or all of the PSTN regula- ists for VoIP services that are not provided tions, depending on the legally, and signifi cant losses of revenue are technology used (hence the 62.5% reported by legitimate operators (see article importance of defi nitions). on pages 13–14). In Pakistan, for example, ` Specifi c VoIP regulations the Telecommunications Authority says are in place, including for that grey traffi c costs USD 50 million each licensing. Japan Republic of Korea year. The grey market in African countries A number of countries have North America Netherlands is similarly signifi cant. The Nigerian operator France Sweden yet to formally decide their Nitel, for instance, estimated that before its Germany Norway framework for VoIP regula- Italy 2004 reduction in the price of international tion, including those which calls, 90 per cent of international calls went have held formal public con- through the grey market. / Source: Point Topic. sultations, and those where the framework is “under consideration”.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Future of voice

The developing world GSMA Alcatel GSMA

Voice in the developing world

/ To get satisfactory quality in voice over core service for operators that can follow a Internet protocol (VoIP) services, you need high volume/low-cost strategy. Mr Judijanto a broadband connection — which in turn stressed that if the bottlenecks to distribu- implies advanced infrastructure such as tion can be broken, huge and previously next-generation networks (NGN). Many neglected markets will open up — such as industrialized countries are preparing their in Indonesia, where he said a quarter of the transition to NGN (see article on pages 19– population (or 55 million people) live on less 21) but this is still some years away in other than USD 2 a day. Governments need to parts of the world. Meanwhile, people in support infrastructure investment to reach developing countries are using their phones this part of the population, he added. to make voice calls, mostly through mobile telephony that has low infrastructure costs. The African example This voice market has great potential for growth. Moving towards VoIP A paper on the situation of voice servic- A mass market es in Africa was presented to the ITU work- At the ITU workshop on “The Future of shop by Russell Southwood, Chief Executive Voice” (see pages 5–9), Rauno Granath, No- of Balancing Act, a consultancy and online kia’s Director of New Growth Markets and publishing company specializing in African ITU/JKP Networks, predicted that the worldwide telecommunications. He explained that in Russell Southwood, number of subscribers to mobile telepho- 36 out of 54 countries and territories in Af- Chief Executive of ny will reach 4 billion by 2010, and about rica, commercial VoIP services remain for- Balancing Act 80 per cent the growth will come from low- bidden, but the picture is changing fast. “In er income, emerging markets (see chart). a few short years, VoIP in Africa has gone Loso Judijanto, Special Advisor to In- from being seen as a threat to the existing donesia’s Minister for Communication and order to something that is now viewed as Information Technology, told the workshop an inevitability. For the majority of Africa’s that some telecommunication ﬁ rms are policymakers and regulators, the discussion overlooking the market for basic voice serv- is now not about if, but how, they can legal- ices and moving into more advanced serv- ize VoIP,” said Mr Southwood. ices that are not necessarily the most in de- In his paper, he quotes Ernest Ndukwe, mand. However, voice will continue to be a Chief Executive Ofﬁ cer of the Nigerian Com-

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Future of voice

The developing world

Grey markets munications Commission, as describing VoIP business areas like call centres,” noted Mr In Africa, “grey markets” for as “the engine that will drive telephony in Southwood. He stressed that “taken to- VoIP services (which lie some- developing countries.” Mr Ndukwe is quot- gether with IP networks, VoIP offers the where between the legal and ed as saying that “a sure way to promote potential for creating new market structures the illegal) have been compet- universal access to telecommunication serv- that can simultaneously encourage local in- ing with incumbent operators ices, at this stage of the industry’s develop- vestment and deliver lower cost voice and for some time. According to ment, is to evolve a policy framework that data services to consumers.” Russell Southwood of Balanc- recognizes the issues relating to VoIP as an VoIP technology does not achieve these ing Act, in most African coun- engine for the development of telephony in benefi ts on its own, however. “Over a quar- tries the grey markets can the country.” ter of Africa’s telecommunication incum- be substantial (accounting Countries are moving towards VoIP be- bents have international VoIP gateways, but for between a quarter and a cause it is relatively cheap to build an IP far fewer have passed the savings made on third of international call rev- network, and there are economic benefi ts. to their consumers,” pointed out Mr South- enues), and this has exerted “VoIP service providers have contributed wood. “It is VoIP taken together with wider strong downward pressure on to lowering the cost of international call- competition that produces real change in prices. ing from Africa, something that has made how markets operate,” he added. / Grey markets can offer cheap- Africa globally more competitive for new er rates because of the high profi t margins that may be charged by incumbents that enjoy a monopoly. For ex- Evolution of business models to reach low-income consumers. Growth in worldwide mobile subscribers from 3 billion in 2007/2008 to 4 billion in 2010 means new business models ample, a caller might have must be created to meet the needs of low-income subscribers in emerging markets. to pay the equivalent of USD 1 for an international call that costs the incumbent opera- World population split according to income segment (USD per capita per day) Business model tor about 3 cents, according 4 billion mobile phone users to Mr Southwood. Against 3 billion mobile phone users 2008 this background, and despite 2 billion mobile phone users 2005 legal crackdowns in various Postpaid Prepaid Microprepaid Microfinance Phone sharing countries, the grey market 0.8bn looks set to fl ourish in Africa. >40$/day

1.5bn 4-40$/day

1.3bn 4$/day

1.4bn 2$/day

1.3bn 1$/day

Source: “Voice services in new growth markets,” presentation by Rauno Granath, Nokia.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Road to NGN

Best practice guidelines

The road to next-generation networks Global Symposium for Regulators issues best practice guidelines

/ usually heavily regulated, is very different a new era: the migration to next-genera- from the Internet model which has little or tion networks (NGN), based on the Inter- no regulation. What will be the appropriate The theme of this year’s Glo- net protocol (IP). It heralds the shift from model in a converged environment? bal Symposium for Regulators a “one network, one service” approach, to Regulators also have to decide between was “The road to next-gen- the delivery of many services over a single ex ante and ex post regulatory models, eration networks (NGN): can network. where these exist. Under ex ante regulation, regulators promote invest- NGN can be developed using a number rules are established to prevent anti-com- ment and achieve open ac- of technologies, including wireless and mo- petitive or other undesirable activity by op- cess?” The meeting examined bile, fi bre and cable, or by upgrades to ex- erators before it occurs. With ex post regu- such pressing issues as invest- isting copper lines. A number of traditional lation, which relies primarily on competition ment, competition, consumer fi xed-line operators have begun to deploy law, few (or no) rules are set in advance, but protection, universal access, next-generation networks, mainly to offer regulatory measures can be applied later, if and international Internet television service in addition to voice calls required, to remedy a market failure or to interconnection. and broadband Internet access (see pages deal with anti-competitive behaviour. 19–21). In some countries, regulators have re- Discussion Papers were is- Some market analysts predict that in the quired incumbent operators to provide their sued for the global gather- developed countries, full fi xed-line NGN will competitors with mandatory access to their ing of regulators to help be in place by 2012 and mobile by 2020. networks (local loop unbundling, bitstream form a common understand- ITU predicts that by 2008, at least 50 per or wholesale access and/or resale). But with ing of key regulatory issues cent of all international telecommunication the transition to NGN, which will require sig- raised by the move to NGN. traffi c will be carried on IP networks. nifi cant investments by the incumbent op- These papers are available at erators, should the new IP-based networks http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/ Regulatory challenges be subject to the same access obligations? Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR07/ Many of the regulatory challenges arise In considering this issue, regulators are as- agenda-documents.html from the obvious technical differences be- sessing the level of competition in their mar- tween circuit-switched and packet-switched kets to determine whether a shift towards networks as most of the current regula- an ex post model could sustain existing lev- tory principles and practices worldwide are els of competition and enhance consumer based on a circuit-switched environment. welfare. On the other hand, regulators also Next-generation networks are often regard- have to determine whether NGN leads to ed as a combination of the telecommunica- new services and markets that should be tion and Internet environments. However, free from existing ex ante regulation. the telecommunication regulatory model,

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Road to NGN

Best practice guidelines ITU/TRA ITU/TRA

Developed and Best practice guidelines Following extensive discussions, the sym- developing countries Policy-makers and regulators must re- posium reached consensus on a set of Best Until recently, the debate respond effectively to regulatory challenges in Practice Guidelines that can serve as a road garding the appropriate regu- the emerging world of NGN. To help with map for migration to NGN. “The migration latory framework for the NGN this, some 500 participants, including na- to NGN is an ideal time for regulators to environment focused mainly tional regulators from around the world, as develop innovative regulatory frameworks on developed economies such well as representatives of industry and inter- that better enable developing countries to as Australia, Japan, Singa- national organizations, attended the 7th ITU meet their ICT development goals,” ITU Sec- pore, the United States, and Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) on retary-General Hamadoun I. Touré told the some European Union Mem- 5–7 February 2007. It took place in Dubai, symposium. “We believe the best practices ber States, notably the United hosted by the Telecommunications Regula- adopted at this meeting will ultimately of- Kingdom, Germany, and the tory Authority of the United Arab Emirates fer the possibility of delivering real benefi ts Netherlands. In these coun- (UAE). The authority’s Director-General, Mo- to providers and consumers, through cost tries, issues such as extending hamed Al Ghanim, chaired the event, which reduction as well as offering innovative new existing ex ante access obliga- he described as “the industry’s premiere services,” he added. tions to NGN, IP-interconnec- symposium for ICT regulators”. The Best Practice Guidelines for NGN tion, and the universal service UAE’s Minister for the Development of cover all aspects of service provision, includ- implications of IP-based serv- the Government Sector, Sultan Bin Saeed Al ing authorization, access, interconnection ices (particularly voice) have Mansoori, underscored the role that tele- and interoperability, numbering, universal been at the top of the regula- communications and information and com- access, quality of service, consumer aware- tor’s agenda. munication technologies (ICT) play in driving ness, and security. Some developing economies, economic and social progress. The UAE’s Commenting on the guidelines, Sami Al such as India, have also ICT strategy is designed to support and de- Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU’s Tele- initiated consultations and are velop the non-oil economic sectors, includ- communication Development Bureau (BDT), promoting public awareness ing trade and commerce, fi nancial services, said that they “will be immensely useful in of NGN through various education, transportation and healthcare the diffi cult task faced by national regula- regulatory processes and services. The minister said that the govern- tors in developing the necessary political initiatives. Also, regulators ment plans to increase broadband services, support to create an effective regulatory en- in Costa Rica, Morocco and and to use the best technology available for vironment which leverages the benefi ts of Poland have indicated that fi xed-line NGN services. they believe access obligations are a good way to increase broadband penetration and deployment of NGN.

Sultan Bin Saeed Mohamed Al Ghanim, Al Mansoori, UAE’s Director-General, UAE Minister for the Telecommunications Development of the Regulatory Authority Government Sector ITU/TRA ITU/TRA

16 The Best Practice Guidelines are available at www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR07/consultation.html

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Road to NGN

Best practice guidelines ITU/TRA ITU/TRA ITU/TRA ITU/TRA

technological and market developments”. protocol (VoIP), and the bundling together Participants in the symposium noted that of voice, video and data services (commonly national regulators may be perceived as only known as triple play). In doing so, regula- ITU/TRA one of many competing voices in national tors should consider applying the same rules debates. However, policy-makers are more to all operators, irrespective of how services Regulators take part in “speed likely to adopt regulatory practices which are delivered to consumers. exchanges”, a new part of the GSR programme designed for they know are supported by countries Regulators are also urged to adopt in- participants to share views around the world. vestment-friendly regulation considered as informally at round-table The Best Practice Guidelines state that of paramount importance for the success meetings an enabling regulatory regime for NGN of NGN deployment, while maintaining a must include: level playing fi eld and protecting consumer ` establishment of an effective regulator interests. For instance, regulators should see separated from operators; NGN as a continuation of their broadband ` adoption of clear and transparent regu- and convergence policies, and provide oper- latory processes; ators with a stable framework that permits ` regulatory fl exibility and technology them to take the risks associated with de- neutrality to promote technological ployment of such networks. However, regu- innovation; lators should keep in mind that their role is ` regulatory certainty for both incumbent not to provide incentives to make particular and competing providers, so as not to investments. Rather, they should ensure that stifl e innovation; incentives for effi cient investment are not ` regular reviews to remove undue reg- distorted, particularly as a result of dispro- ulatory barriers to competition and portionate regulation. / ITU/TRA innovation. Ernest Ndukwe, Chief Because the deployment of NGN will Executive Offi cer, Nigerian Communications Commission, take time, the best practice guidelines en- moderating the “Interactive courage regulators to allow for the co-exist- Panel Discussion” on creating an ence of legacy and IP networks, alternative enabling environment for NGN voice services, such as voice over Internet

Sami Al Basheer Hamadoun I. Touré, Al Morshid, ITU Secretary-General, Director of ITU’s addressing the Telecommunication symposium Development Bureau ITU/TRA ITU/TRA

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Road to NGN

Awards at GSR

Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau; Cuthbert Lekaukau, former Executive Chairman of the Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) accompanied by his wife; and Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General.

Mr Lekaukau, who retired from BTA in December 2006, is the fi rst recipient of the Honorary GSR Chairmanship Award, given in recognition of his commitment to effective regulation. “You have been a role model for all of us,” Mr Al Basheer said presenting the award. Botswana was one of the fi rst countries in Africa to establish an independent and effective regulator. Mr Lekaukau was the fi rst Chairman of the Global Symposium for Regulators in 2000. ITU/TRA

Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General receiving, on behalf of the Union, the ﬁ rst GSR Trophy from Mohamed Al Ghanim, Director-General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates. ITU/TRA

Farah Khuram, Secretary-General, Afghanistan Regulatory Telecommunication Authority receives the G-REX Award from Mr Al Basheer. Other recipients of the G-REX Award were the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India; the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority; the National Telecommunications Corporation of Sudan; the Ofﬁ ce of the Telecommunications Authority of Hong Kong (OFTA); the Nepal Telecommunications Authority; as well as the regulators of Ethiopia, St Vincent, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru. The annual G-REX Award is presented to the most active users of the Global Regulators’ Exchange (G-REX), an online forum for regulators and policy-makers. ITU/TRA

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Road to NGN

Early adopters

Early adopters of NGN

/ The deployment of next-generation net- ed to have joined them. BT will then review works (NGN), using the Internet protocol the project before moving (from early 2008) (IP) to support fi xed, wireless and mobile to the planned national upgrade of all re- voice, video, data, and broadcast television maining customers across the United King- services, is expected to provide new oppor- dom — some 30 million lines supported ITU defi nes a next-genera- tunities to increase consumer choice. from over 5500 telephone exchanges. There tion network as a packet- Although ITU has defi ned NGN (see box), is a forum where regular consultations take based network able to pro- views still vary and operators and vendors place with all other operators in the country, vide telecommunication r that have begun the process of develop- so they can understand and infl uence BT’s services including multiple ment or migration have different claims and plans. broadband, which use qual- defi nitions. In the Republic of Korea, Korea “Big ideas usually start with simple ity of service (QoS)-enabled Telecom uses the name BcN (Broadband thoughts,” BT Wholesale Chief Executive transport technologies and in which service-related func- l convergence Network), and plans to have Offi cer Paul Reynolds, said at ITU TELECOM tions are independent from an entirely IP-based network by 2012. Tel- WORLD 2006, commenting on his fi rm’s fi rst ekom Austria aims to do the same by 2009. NGN system. “BT’s 21st Century Network underlying transport-related In Canada, Telus and Bell Canada have programme started life as a simple thought technologies. also announced plans to implement NGN, — BT would transform its business, elimi- as well as Sprint and Qwest of the United nate cost and complexity and make life sim- States, and Italy’s Telecom Italia. Japanese pler and more fl exible for our customers,” Singapore’s Next Genera- carrier, NTT, is building an NGN and devel- Mr Reynolds explained. tion National Infocomm In- oping ubiquitous broadband services. BT says that the new network will de- frastructure (Next Gen NII) liver voice, data, broadband and multime- project, announced in Febru- BT rolls out NGN dia services, more quickly and cheaply than ary 2006, is intended to be In the United Kingdom, BT has named before. These include a new generation of the country’s new “digital its NGN the 21st Century Network, to which broadband with speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s super-highway”. The project

ITU/TRA it transferred the fi rst customer lines in No- — three times faster than those currently comprises a wired broadband vember 2006. The fi rm’s fi rst NGN custom- available for most UK customers. The com- network called Next Genera- ers live in the village of Wick, near Cardiff in pany’s move to an all-IP network is estimat- tion National Broadband Net- y Wales. By the end of summer 2007, around ed to cost around GBP 10 billion. work (or Next Gen NBN). It is 350 000 households in the area are expect- planned to deliver speeds of 1 Gbit/s to all homes, offi ces f and schools. In addition, a l Wireless Broadband Network (WBN) is expected to offer “pervasive connectivity”.

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Road to NGN

Early adopters Siemens

In future, it is expected that Broadband policy matters Operators seek savings and access networks will pro- NGN evolution may differ between de- effi ciency vide bandwidth of up to veloped and developing countries because Among the factors driving operators 100 Mbit/s for individual us- of access and affordability, since these re- to migrate to NGN is the growing compe- ers and transmission rates in main pressing issues in the developing world. tition in old markets and newly liberalized the gigabyte range for com- NGN development is expected to fl ourish in ones. Falling revenues from voice calls (and mercial customers. All of countries with robust broadband policies or the multiplicity of networks that can deliver these can support multimedia extensive broadband penetration. In these them using VoIP technology) are prompting services, including broadband countries, mainly in the developed world, operators to convert to a fully IP-based ar- Internet, television and fi xed consumer demand for high-end, innovative chitecture (see article on pages 5–9). and mobile telephony. A sam- services is matched only by limitations on Traditional fi xed-line carriers have gener- pling of bandwidth offerings bandwidth. ally been the leaders in broadband Internet at present includes 24 Mbit/s Meanwhile, countries such as India, Pa- access using digital subscriber line (DSL) in France, and 100 Mbit/s and kistan and Malaysia have adopted facilitative technology. But they are faced with pressure rising in markets such as Ja- broadband policies, making these markets from competitors such as mobile operators, pan, the Republic of Korea, ideal candidates for NGN migration. new VoIP providers, or wireless carriers, as Hong Kong (China) and Sin- well as from cable television networks that gapore (the last having set What users want can now support bi-directional IP-based 1 Gbit/s as a target). How people pay for services is also infl u- services. encing demand for NGN. Consumers want In Romania, for instance, competitive simpler billing systems that cover everything pressure from cable television operators has they receive through the network, and more led the incumbent to modernize its network personalized services of a higher quality. and decide to move towards NGN. In an- Demand is being fuelled too by increasing ticipation of joining the European Union on communication across national borders for 1 January 2007, Romania passed legislation both personal and business purposes, re- in 2002 that includes a general authorization quiring high performance, widely available, regime. Its resulting regulatory framework secure voice and data services. promotes competition in infrastructure, with Business users are already looking for cable television operators offering triple-play fl exible, virtual private network (VPN) solu- voice, Internet and television services at the tions. Future demand is likely to focus on equivalent of EUR 9 per month. innovative services and network intelligence Convergence and growing competition — security, storage and ways to support have made traditional operators invest in better integration of their networking and common IP-based core infrastructure. These information systems. investments will eventually lead to savings, through reducing the cost of running different networks while increasing the products offered and thus (potentially) the number of subscribers. Operational effi ciencies can also be anticipated.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Road to NGN

Early adopters P. Ramakers P. HKCS Nokia Many paths, one goal: to bridge the technologies are already changing the way digital divide universal access is being extended to rural Despite dramatic advances in telecom- and remote areas in both developed and South Africa is to host the munications in many developing countries developing countries. In Mongolia, for ex- 2010 Football World Cup. In — particularly via mobile telephony — ma- ample, rural areas are being given spectrum preparation, it is capitalizing jor disparities remain in providing Internet free of charge for Wi-MAX and Wi-Fi in or- on advances in 3G and digital and broadband services. For example, most der to improve Internet access. migration to ensure that every African countries have yet to launch high- India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority has mobile phone in the country speed Internet services, although a few, recommendedmeasures to de-license spec- can receive mobile television, such as Morocco, offer broadband services trum in the 5.1 GHz and 5.3 GHz bands and while visitors from around of up to 20 Mbit/s and Sonatel in Senegal to earmark additional spectrum bands that the world will be able to use has rolled out a triple-play service bundle of- are not in high usage for deployment of mobile multimedia services to fering voice, Internet access and television BWA networks. send images and video foot- programming. Most mobile operators have The Dominican Republic, which has age of the action at South Af- 2G (second-generation) networks. Some already launched 3G services, plans to in- rican stadiums. of these are being transformed into 2.5G troduce Wi-MAX soon. Its state-of-the-art or GPRS (general packet radio service) net- operators use soft switches, with other works, but, for most people in the develop- operators still offering services based on ing world, mobile broadband services such circuit-switched systems. The road to NGN as GPRS and 3G are still out of reach. may take many paths. But developing coun- Service providers in developing countries tries also have certain advantages in the are aware of the potential cost-saving effi - migration process to NGN. Compared to ciency of NGN and in Brazil, India and Viet more developed markets, service providers Nam, for example, they have announced in the developing world generally have few- plans to migrate to core NGN. Projects for er legacy products in their core networks FTTx (fi bre-to-the-home or other building, (for example, ISDN, IP, ATM, FR, and SHDS). or to the curb or node) are also being un- This makes it easier for them to “leapfrog” dertaken in such countries as Bangladesh, to all IP-based systems. Limited deployment Brazil, Pakistan and Viet Nam in anticipa- and penetration of copper networks, and Sources: tion of moving to NGN, although they are the falling cost of fi bre, can also facilitate GSR Discussion Paper on NGN Overview, by Tracy mostly concentrated in highly populated, “greenfi eld” deployment of FTTx projects. In Cohen, Councillor, Independent high-income areas. some developing countries, the absence of Communications Authority of The technological innovations that can complex access-based ex ante regulations South Africa (ICASA). be leveraged when migrating to NGN such also means that there are fewer regulatory GSR Discussion paper on NGN as Wi-Fi or broadband wireless access (BWA) commitments to consider. / Enabling Environment, by Janet Hernández, Senior Vice President, Telecommunications Management Group, Inc., United States. Report of the Chairman, 7th ITU Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR). All of these documents are available at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/ Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR07/ agenda-documents.html

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Spectrum workshop

New ways to manage spectrum

/ Tomorrow’s information and commu- Initiative and was chaired by William Lehr, nication technologies (ICT) will be required Research Associate at the Center for Tech- to provide the necessary ﬂ exibility, cover- nology, Policy and Industrial Development age and transparency for an environment of at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Gianluigi Ferri ubiquitous connectivity. But this infrastruc- United States. ture can only be created if the radio-fre- Some 200 participants took part, includ- The workshop was chaired by William Lehr of the quency spectrum — a limited resource — is ing experts from industry and academia, Massachusetts Institute of shared and used in innovative ways. government policy-makers and regulators, Technology, United States As traditional “command and control” and representatives of international organi- techniques of spectrum management are zations, telecommunication operators, ICT slowly being replaced by market mecha- companies and other stakeholders. The nisms, how can the goals of spectrum ef- aim of the workshop was to identify global fi ciency and equitable allocation be recon- trends and good practice in radio spectrum ciled? Should spectrum be regarded as a management. tradable commodity, or as a public resource that can only be leased for particular purpos- Comprehensive strategy is required es? Is it possible to have different spectrum Guido Salerno, General Manager of the management systems among neighbouring Ugo Bordoni Foundation, opened the work- countries and still maintain a harmonized shop by highlighting the great economic approach at the regional and international and social signifi cance of the growth in ICT. Gianluigi Ferri levels? He said that, in order to reach today’s goal “Spectrum management does of ubiquitous connectivity, it is crucial to not deal with megahertz; it deals with the future of Workshop draws international adopt an innovative approach to spectrum communications” said Guido experts management, and he recognized the vital Salerno of the Ugo Bordoni These were among the issues considered role played by ITU in this fi eld. Foundation at a workshop in Geneva on 22–23 January. Now that Internet access, broadcasting Called “Market Mechanisms for Spectrum and mobile telephony are competing for Management,” it was held jointly by ITU and radio-frequency spectrum, the issue of its the Ugo Bordoni Foundation, a telecom- management is one of public policy that re- munications research institute in Italy. The quires a comprehensive strategy, Mr Salerno event was organized within the framework said. Rational use of the spectrum means of ITU’s Shaping Tomorrow’s Networks managing various aspects, such as:

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Spectrum workshop

` a user-driven approach, amid growing Participants were asked their opinions demands for spectrum; on the contribution that spectrum might ` guaranteeing the availability of speciﬁ c make to economic development. ITU Secre- radio-based services, such as emergency tary-General Hamadoun I. Touré responded

response; by emphasizing the need for international ITU/S. Acharya ` reduction of the digital divide, through cooperation. The airwaves are not only an Italy’s Minister of worldwide, harmonized allotment of important economic resource, but one that Communications Paolo Gentiloni spectrum for radio access to networks; is equally available to all countries, he said. told a press conference after ` faster digitization, and use of the result- Catalin Marinescu, President of the General the workshop that “having ing ‘digital dividend’ to allow new oper- Inspectorate for Communications and In- rational use of the spectrum is absolutely essential — not only ators and services to enter the market; formation Technology of Romania, stated for the future, but now” ` introduction of new technologies and that data is the lifeblood of the information innovative architecture for radio-based economy. Erkki Ormala, Vice President, Tech- networks; nology Policy, Nokia Corporation, agreed. ` convergence onto Internet protocol (IP) Dimitri Ypsilanti, Head of the Telecommuni- networks; cation and Information Policy Section at the ` protection of operators’ investments Organisation for Economic Co-operation to obtain the sole right to use specifi c and Development (OECD), pointed out that, frequencies; in richer countries, value creation comes ` fl exibility in the use of different technolo- mostly from the service sector, in which the gies related to the same service, accord- availability of spectrum plays a crucial part. ing to fair competition principles; Italy’s Minister of Communications Pao- ` interoperability of consumers’ digital de- lo Gentiloni agreed that spectrum policy is vices with existing analogue networks; important for economic growth, but em- ` ensuring quality of service, particularly phasized that it also serves important social in planned networks based on the sole and cultural functions. Censu Galea, Malta’s right to use specifi c frequencies. Minister for Competitiveness and Commu- The overall aim is to provide a reliable nications, expressed a similar view. This led Gianluigi Ferri framework for the modern world. “Spec- to a discussion of whether market mecha- trum management does not deal with meg- nisms should be applied to broadcasting. A Full details of the ITU work- ahertz; it deals with the future of communi- defi nite “no” was the resonse of Brendan shop, including links to the ITU cations,” Mr Salerno said. Tuohy, Secretary General of Ireland’s De- Survey on Spectrum Manage- partment of Communications, Marine and ment and other background Executive Round Table Natural Resources. He said that discussions materials, can be found at: An Executive Round Table was held as about spectrum must include a wide range www.itu.int/spectrum part of the workshop. It provided top-level of stakeholders, since broadcasting is such You can also learn more about representatives of governments, interna- an important medium for cultural transmis- ITU’s “Shaping Tomorrow’s tional organizations and the ICT industry sion. Don Whiteside, Vice President, Techni- Networks Initiative” at with the opportunity to share their views on cal Policy and Standards, Intel Corporation, www.itu.int/stn the future of spectrum management. argued that ubiquitous broadband is the key

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Spectrum workshop

ITU Survey to closing the digital divide and empower- stressed the importance of considering more on Spectrum ing citizens around the world, but said it than just commercial interests and market Management was a complement to — rather than a re- effi ciency when weighing spectrum man- Launched at the workshop — placement for — broadcasting. agement reforms. They stressed that it is and providing a background also important to consider matters of public to it — was the ITU Survey Sharing the future interest, such as broadcasting, and protec- on Spectrum Management, There was general agreement at the tion of safety and emergency response. which gathers together infor- workshop on a number of issues, including The workshop heard several options for mation on the most important the critical role of wireless services in the fu- reforming spectrum management, high- issues related to spectrum ture of ICT, and that those services will rely lighting that there is no one approach that management policies around on sharing the radio-frequency spectrum. is best for all situations. There is a role for the world. This includes de- Among the many such factors that are driv- command and control, market-based fl ex- tails of the initiatives under- ing moves towards spectrum sharing, Mr ible licensing, and unlicensed systems. Fi- taken by authorities responsi- Lehr highlighted technical innovations that nally, a recurring theme was how to meas- ble for the allocation of radio enable more intensive sharing of spectrum, ure spectrum scarcity, and how to share frequencies in each country. as well as demand from consumers for con- spectrum while balancing market fl exibility The survey shows that there tinuous, ubiquitous, seamless mobility of with the need to prevent radio-frequency does not appear to be one applications across different platforms. In interference. single solution that would addition, he cited the need to control the bring about complete techni- cost of provisioning networks, especially Continuing dialogue cal and economic effi ciency. given the increase in bandwidth-hungry At the end of the workshop, chairman Because of the multitude of multimedia applications. Mr Lehr also said Mr Lehr summarized some of the insights forces infl uencing frequency that spectrum sharing is being encouraged that it had revealed. He said that an impor- management, countries have by regulatory reform that recognizes the tant theme had been the need to improve been investigating and im- need to change legacy rules to eliminate ar- the multidisciplinary dialogue between pol- plementing various solutions. tifi cial spectrum scarcity arising from restric- icy-makers, economists, lawyers and engi- “The challenge for policy- tive regulatory systems. neers; between industry, government, and makers is to create a regula- academia — and between nations. “There is tory environment, especially in Market mechanisms, and other much important work left to be done,” said the management of the radio options Mr Lehr in his closing remarks. “While the spectrum, that allows innova- Workshop participants agreed that mar- challenges are great, the need for reform is tion (particularly new wireless ket mechanisms should be introduced into also great and it is important that progress technologies) to fl ourish,” the spectrum management, but they differed continues to be made towards increased re- survey says. about the pace of change. Generally, in- liance on market forces in managing how cumbent mobile operators and broadcast- spectrum is used.” / ers called for an evolutionary approach that would ensure protection for legacy interests. New entrants to the market, and vendors of new technology such as WiMAX, wanted a faster transition. A number of speakers

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Transatlantic telegraphy

/ International, submarine telegraphy of the project — adding the ultimate aim of began in 1850 with a line between Brit- extending the telegraph across the Atlantic ain and France, as mentioned in Pioneers’ itself. Instead of taking up to 12 days for a Page for December 2006. In that article, we message to be sent from London to New asked how a fl agpole in Liverpool, United York, it might only take a few minutes. Kingdom, connects the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel with the Atlantic Telegraph The fi rst link Company. The answer is Brunel’s last crea- The planned route of the transatlan- tion: the Great Eastern, a ship which laid tic cable was just over 3000 km long and the fi rst, successful transatlantic telegraph involved depths of up to 2400 fathoms cable. After the ship was broken up in 1888, (4.39 km). Success would require accom- one of its masts became a fl agpole outside plishing an unprecedented technical feat. It Liverpool Football Club. And it was in Liver- also meant overcoming political opposition Cyrus W. Field (1819–1892) pool that the fi rst meeting of the Atlantic in the United States and a lack of Ameri- The entrepreneur behind the Telegraph Company took place in 1856. can fi nance during an economic downturn. transatlantic cable, Field was However, Field found backing in Britain’s born in Massachusetts in the United States in 1819, and The Field force main commercial centres, as well as from became wealthy through a Making transatlantic telegraphy into a the British government. He launched the paper-making business. reality required not only technical advances, Atlantic Telegraph Company with a board such as the use of gutta percha to insulate of directors that included Samuel Morse, as submarine cables (see December’s Pioneers’ well as John Watkins Brett, who had opened Page); it also required an entrepreneur with the telegraph between Britain and France a vision. That person was Cyrus West Field few years before. — the force behind the project. Attempts to lay a transatlantic cable be- In 1854, Field was asked by the British gan in 1857, when USS Niagara from the engineer Frederick Gisbourne to invest in a United States Navy set off from Valentia, telegraph line between Newfoundland in an island off County Kerry in south-west Canada and New York. This would allow Ireland, bound for Trinity Bay on the coast messages from Europe to reach the United of Newfoundland. It could only carry half States more quickly, as ships could signal the required length of cable, with the rest ahead as soon as they reached the Canadi- aboard the accompanying Royal Navy ship an coast. Field agreed to fi nance completion HMS Agamemnon. The two halves were W.H. Russel W.H.

The wooden HMS Agamemnon encounters a whale while laying the ﬁ rst transatlantic telegraph cable

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Question for next time T

On board HMS Agamemnon and Great Eastern was the inventor of an important piece of equipment for telegraphy. He is said to have envisioned it as he idly twirled his monocle and observed the light patterns it caused. Who was he?

to be spliced together in mid-Atlantic, and In July 1865, it left Valentia for Trinity Bay. The biggest ship in then Agamemnon would carry the cable to On two occasions, it seemed that the cable the world its destination. had been sabotaged by having a spike driv- Brunel was born in Ports- Cable was played out from Niagara, en through it to cause a short circuit. And mouth, England, in 1806. As while, from time to time, signals were sent after reaching three-quarters of the way to well as many railway projects, back along the line to test it remained intact. Canada, the line snapped. he designed the Great Britain, The cable comprised seven copper wires cov- Nevertheless, the attempt had demon- launched in 1843 and the fi rst ered with three coats of gutta percha, and strated that Great Eastern could lay a deep- iron-hulled, propeller-driven wound with tarred hemp and dense spirals sea cable, and on 13 July 1866, the huge ship to cross the Atlantic. For of iron wire. Unfortunately, it snapped less ship left on its mission once more. This the route to India and Aus- than half way across the ocean. voyage was uneventful. On 27 July, Great tralia, Brunel built the world’s The same two vessels tried again a year Eastern landed at the tiny Canadian port biggest ever ship, the Great later, this time sailing to mid-ocean and join- of Heart’s Content. Field later wrote how Eastern. It was more than ing their halves of the cable before returning sailors took the cable ashore: “I see them 200 metres in length, could to opposite sides of the Atlantic. After sev- now as they dragged the shore end up the carry 4000 people, and was eral mishaps, the fi rst transatlantic telegraph beach at Heart’s Content, hugging it in their intended to travel from Lon- link was completed in August 1858. Brit- brawny arms as if it were a shipwrecked don to Sydney without need- ain’s Queen Victoria and US President James child whom they had rescued from the dan- ing to refuel. Buchanan used it to exchange congratula- gers of the sea.” In 1859, while inspecting the tory telegrams. However, the cable could Only four weeks later, Great Eastern Great Eastern before its maid- not transmit messages reliably and the line returned to Heart’s Content with a second en voyage, Brunel suffered a failed after a few weeks. triumph for Field. The end of the 1865 ca- stroke and died a few days ble had been grappled from the seabed and later. He did not live to see the Success at last joined to a new section to complete anoth- ship’s failure as a commercial Field did not give up. Despite delays er link between Ireland and Canada. By the venture, despite its speed and caused by the American Civil War, he was end of the 19th century, 15 transatlantic tel- luxury. In 1864, the Great able to raise fi nance for a new attempt to egraph cables had been laid — fi ve of them Eastern was sold for refi tting span the Atlantic. This used a much stronger by Great Eastern. / as a cable-laying ship. cable, weighing twice as much as the ear- lier ones. Only one ship was capable of carrying the entire load: the Great Eastern.

Great Eastern at the port of Heart’s Content, Canada. The huge ship was the ﬁ rst to Isambard Kingdom Brunel have a double hull. (1806–1859)

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Obituary

Professor Ilija Stojanovic (1924–2007) ITU/J.M. Ferré Ferré ITU/J.M.

/ In January, the ITU family and the tele- WARC ORB-88 accomplished numer- communication world lost an eminent and ous tasks. It adopted the BSS feeder links well-loved fi gure: Professor Ilija Stojanovic. Plan for Region 1 (Africa and Europe) and He marked many generations of telecom- Region 3 (Asia and Australasia). These plans munication experts and participants in ITU were modifi ed by the World Radiocommu- activities. nication Conferences of 2000 and 2003. The professional career of Professor Sto- It also adopted the allotment plan (still in janovic was closely associated with ITU and force) for the fi xed-satellite service (FSS) for he made signifi cant contributions to the all three regions in several frequency bands, Union’s activities for more than 40 years, and established the regulatory framework to beginning in 1961 with the milestone Euro- govern the use of these bands. All of these pean VHF/UHF Broadcasting Conference in subjects were so complex that, at times, Stockholm. it seemed unlikely the conference would In 1984, Professor Stojanovic served as come up with results. However, Professor Chairman of the Planning Committee at the Stojanovic’s tact made it possible to reach Regional Administrative Conference for plan- decisions on every issue to the full satisfac- ning the VHF sound broadcasting service. tion of the ITU membership. This conference established the GE84 Plan, As an outstanding scientist and expert which is still in force. In 1985 and 1988, in telecommunications, Professor Stojanovic he chaired the fi rst and second sessions of played an active role in many study group the World Administrative Radio Conference meetings of the International Radio Con- (WARC ORB-85 and WARC ORB-88) on the sultative Committee (CCIR), the forerunner use of the geostationary-satellite orbit and of ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). the planning of the space services using it. He chaired the CCIR’s 16th General Assem- His personal involvement in the decision- bly in Dubrovnik in 1986. He also promoted making process at these conferences was the CCIR’s work in the former Yugoslavia highly appreciated, as it allowed solutions and had its Recommendations incorporated to be reached at critical moments. For ex- into national standards. He co-founded the ample, WARC ORB-85 adopted the broad- Yugoslav National Committee for CCIR and casting-satellite service (BSS) Plan and the served as its president from 1976 to 1988. associated BSS feeder links Plan for Region 2 (the Americas). These plans are still in force.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Obituary

A man of vision, Professor Stojanovic Serbia, and lectured at four universities for was involved in planning structural reforms almost 40 years. He also headed numerous of ITU. During 1986–1988, he was Chair- telecommunication projects in Serbia and in man of the ITU Panel of Experts on the fu- the former Yugoslavia and was a member of ture of the International Frequency Registra- the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. tion Board (IFRB), which became the Radio The author of numerous books and scien- Regulations Board (RRB). And in 1990– tifi c papers, Professor Stojanovic received 1991, he was a member of the High-Level several prestigious awards for his work. He Committee on the review of ITU’s structure remained professionally active to the end of and functioning. Some of the recommenda- his life, as an adviser to a telecommunications of these two bodies culminated in the tion operator in the Republic of Serbia. adoption, by the Additional Plenipotenti- The fi nal ITU event in which Professor ary Conference held in Geneva in 1992, of Stojanovic took part was the celebration to structural changes to ITU. mark the 100th anniversary of the fi rst ITU

Professor Stojanovic had a deep knowl- Radio Regulations, in October 2006. Every- ITU edge of radiocommunication services and one at the event in Geneva was very moved Professor Stojanovic cutting the their evolution, and from 1991 to 1994 when he cut the jubilee cake and wished a jubilee cake to mark the 100th took part in the Voluntary Group of Experts long life to ITU. / anniversary of the ﬁ rst ITU Radio (VGE) on the simpliﬁ cation of the Radio Reg- Regulations (30 October 2006) ulations. The VGE reviewed the overall con- cept of the international radio regulatory arrangements and proposed recommenda- Goodbye Ilija, and rest in peace. tions that were later implemented through You are with us as long as our the decisions of the World Radiocommuni- memories last. cation Conferences of 1995 and 1997. Beyond ITU, Professor Stojanovic was Valery Timofeev, Director of the ITU active in many national and international Radiocommunication Bureau forums dealing with telecommunications. He founded the Department of Telecom- munications at the University of Belgrade,

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Ofﬁ cial announcements

From ofﬁ cial sources*

Constitution and Convention of Instruments amending the Constitution The Government of the Republic of ITU (Geneva, 1992) and the Convention of ITU (Kyoto, Botswana has ratifi ed the above- The Government of Afghanistan 1994; Minneapolis, 1998; and mentioned instruments amending the has ratifi ed the above-mentioned Marrakesh, 2002) Constitution and Convention. Constitution and Convention. The Government of the Republic of The instrument of ratifi cation was The instrument of ratifi cation was Lithuania has approved the above- deposited with the Secretary-General deposited with the Secretary- mentioned instruments amending the on 14 November 2006. General on 5 November 2006. This Constitution and Convention. ratifi cation applies to the Constitution The instruments of approval were The Government of the Federal and Convention as amended by deposited with the Secretary-General Republic of Germany has accepted the Plenipotentiary Conferences of on 7 December 2006. the above-mentioned instruments Kyoto, 1994; Minneapolis, 1998; and amending the Constitution and Marrakesh, 2002. Convention. The instrument of Instruments amending the Constitution acceptance was deposited with the The Government of the Republic and the Convention of ITU (Marrakesh, Secretary-General on 6 December of Angola has acceded to the 2002) 2006. above-mentioned Constitution and The Government of the Republic Convention. The instrument of of Rwanda has ratifi ed the above- accession was deposited with the mentioned instruments amending the Change of name Secretary-General on 10 November Constitution and Convention. In the Togolese Republic, the Ministry 2006. This accession applies to the The instrument of ratifi cation was of Equipment, Transport, Posts and Constitution and Convention as deposited with the Secretary-General Telecommunications has changed its amended by the Plenipotentiary on 5 October 2006. name to the Ministry representing Conferences of Kyoto, 1994; the Presidency of the Republic, Minneapolis, 1998; and Marrakesh, The Government of Peru has ratifi ed responsible for Equipment, Transport, 2002. the above-mentioned instruments Posts and Telecommunications and amending the Constitution and Technological Innovations. The Government of the Republic Convention. The instrument of of Montenegro has acceded to the ratifi cation was deposited with the The Agency for Telecommunications of above-mentioned Constitution and Secretary-General on 18 October the Republic of Montenegro, a Sector Convention. This accession applies 2006. Member of ITU–R, ITU–T and ITU–D, to the Constitution and Convention has changed its name to Agency for as amended by the Plenipotentiary The Government of the Republic of telecommunications and postal affairs Conferences of Kyoto, 1994; South Africa has ratifi ed the above- (Podgorica, Republic of Montenegro). Minneapolis, 1998; and Marrakesh, mentioned instruments amending the 2002. The instrument of accession was Constitution and Convention. The Broadcasting Agency of deposited with the Secretary-General The instrument of ratifi cation was Montenegro, a Sector Member of on 21 July 2006, date on which the deposited with the Secretary-General ITU–R, has changed its name to Republic of Montenegro became the on 18 October 2006. Broadcasting Agency (Podgorica, 191st Member State of ITU. Republic of Montenegro).

30 *These ofﬁ cial announcements were made in the last quarter of 2006, but lack of space prevented us from listing them.

ITU News ` 2 | 2007 March 2007 Ofﬁ cial announcements

From ofﬁ cial sources

ITT Industries Inc., a Sector Member Vodafone K.K., a Sector Member of Limited (London, United Kingdom) of ITU–R, has changed its name to ITT ITU–R and ITU–T, has changed its have been admitted to take part in the Corporation (Herndon, Virginia, United name to SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. work of this Sector. States). (Tokyo, Japan).

JAPAN TELECOM Co. Ltd., a Sector VT Merlin Communications Limited, a New Associates Member of ITU–R, ITU–T and ITU–D, Sector Member of ITU–R, has changed has changed its name to SOFTBANK its name to VT Communications Radiocommunication Sector TELECOM Corp. (Tokyo, Japan). Limited (London, United Kingdom). Gennum Corporation (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and FLO Forum Jasper Systems, Inc., a Sector Member (Fremont, California, United States) of ITU–T, has changed its name to Change of status have been admitted to take part in the Jasper Wireless, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. work of Study Group 6. California, United States). (Dallas, Texas, United States) and Operax AB (Lulea, Sweden), formerly Marconi plc, a Sector Member of Associates, are now Sector Members Telecommunication Standardization ITU–T, has changed its name to of ITU–T. Sector Ericsson UK (Coventry, United Oy Cubio Communications Ltd Kingdom). (Helsinki, Finland) has been admitted Structural change to take part in the work of Study Mobile Telecommunications Serbia BK In the United Arab Emirates, Group 2. PTT (MOBTEL), a Sector Member of the Ministry of Communications ITU–R, ITU–T and ITU–D, has changed has been abrogated and the Brüel & Kjaer Sound & Vibration its name to TELENOR Ltd BELGRADE Telecommunications Regulatory Measurements A/S (Naerum, (Belgrade, Republic of Serbia). Authority (TRA) will be responsible for Denmark) and Audience, Inc. regulating, policy-making and licensing (Mountain View, California, United New Skies Satellite, a Sector Member the telecommunication services in that States) have been admitted to take of ITU–R and ITU–D, has changed country. part in the work of Study Group 12. its name to SES New Skies B.V. (The Hague, Netherlands). Wintegra, Inc. (Austin, Texas, United New Sector Members States), Intellon Corporation (Ocola, Siemens AG, a Sector Member of Florida, United States), Actiontec ITU–R, ITU–T and ITU–D, has changed Telecommunication Standardization Electronics Inc. (Sunnyvale, California, its name to Siemens Networks GmbH Sector United States) and Teradyne Inc. & Co. KG (Munich, Germany). The Boeing Company (Arlington, (Deerﬁ eld, Illinois, United States) have Virginia, United States) has been been admitted to take part in the work Siemens S.p.A., a Sector Member admitted to take part in the work of of Study Group 15. of ITU–R and ITU–T, has changed its this Sector. name to Siemens Networks S.p.A. DSP Group (Herzlia, Israel) has been (Milan, Italy). admitted to take part in the work of Telecommunication Development Sector Study Group 16. Vee Networks Limited, a Sector Intercai Mondiale Ltd (Marlow, United Member of ITU–T and ITU–D, has Kingdom), Southern Aerospace and changed its name to Celtel Nigeria Telecom Consulting (Toulouse, France) Limited (Lagos, Nigeria). and Terrestar Networks (Bermuda)

March 2007 ITU News ` 2 | 2007 Meeting with the Secretary-General Official Visits

During February 2007, courtesy visits were made to ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré by the following ministers, and by ambassadors and permanent representatives to the United Nations Ofﬁ ce and other international organizations in Geneva

Lesotho’s Ambassador The United Kingdom’s Ambassador Democratic Republic of Korea’s Senegal’s Ambassador Mothae Anthony Maruping Nicholas Thorne Ambassador Ri Tcheul Moussa Bocar Ly ITU/S. Acharya ITU/S. Acharya Deputy Permanent Representative Venezuela’s Minister of Venezuela’s Ambassador Greece’s Ambassador of the United States Permanent Telecommunications and Oscar Carvallo Valencia Franciscos Verros Mission Judith Chammas Information Jesse Chacon ITU/S. Acharya ITU/M. Lathuille ITU/M. Lathuille Argentina’s Ambassador Romania’s Secretary of State, Monaco’s Ambassador Burkina Faso’s Chargé d’affaires Alberto J. Dumont Communications and Information Robert Fillion Bedializoun Moussa Nebie Technology Balint Porcsalmi ITU/S. Acharya ITU/M. Lathuille Lithuania’s Ambassador Afghanistan’s Ambassador Serbia’s Ambassador Edvardas Borisovas Nanjuyalai Tarzi Slobodan Vukcevic

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