it’s the future. and it’s for you - itu. · pdf filecontinent is as bright as its...

HOSTED BY THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

ITU TELECOM www.itu.int/Africa2001 E-mail: [email protected].: +41 22 730 6161 Fax: +41 22 730 6444

Africa. With one-eighth of the world’s pop-ulation, the future of this vast and diversecontinent is as bright as its sunny skies,and the oppor tunities for opening it upto the benefits of moderninfo-communications are sim-ply enormous. It’s a futurethat will star t to roll this

November in Johannesburg at ITU TELECOM

AFRICA 2001, organized by the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU). Make sureyou answer the call. Participate in the region’s

major telecom Exhibition andForum of 2001. And take yourplace in Africa’s future. Fordetails, check the website below:

It’s the future. And it’s for you

Afr

ica

it’s

the

futu

re_I

TU N

ews_

210x

297_

#60_

Ang

l.

ITU News 7/2001 1

READER SERVICES AND ADVERTISING INFORMATION

2 COMMENTARY: Rolling out 3G

4 MOBILITY�THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME:Location-based services and emergencycommunications in IMT-2000 (p. 4)� Privacy (p. 7)� Market for location-based services (p. 8)� Wireless location technologies (p. 11)� IMT-2000 standardization (p. 13)

14 COUNCIL 2001: Decisions (The end)

22 STANDARDIZATION: ITU reaches agreementon BICC protocols

23 DEVELOPMENT:� Connecting rural communities, Yasuhiko Kawasumi (p. 23)� Asia�s Centre of Excellence (p. 27)

29 ENVIRONMENT: A new voice emerges

31 OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

32 PUBLICATIONS

33 DIARY

No. 7 SEPTEMBER 2001

C O N T E N T S

ITU News: ISSN 1020�4148http://www.itu.int/itunews/10 issues per year

Managing EditorPatricia LuswetiProduction Editor (English)Patricia LuswetiProofreader (French)Pierre BuschiProofreader (Spanish)Beatriz Ayala-MartinezArt EditorDominique de Ferron

Copyright: © ITU 2001

Material from this publication maybe reproduced in full or in part, pro-vided that it is accompanied by theacknowledgement: ITU News.

Disclaimer: opinions expressedin this publication are those ofthe authors and do not engageITU.

EDITORIAL OFFICE

Tel.: +41 22 730 5234Fax: +41 22 730 5321E-mail: [email protected] mail:International Telecommunication UnionPlace des NationsCH-1211 Geneva 20 (Switzerland)

Cover design: Nicolas Stäuble(ITU).

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tel.: +41 22 730 6303Fax: +41 22 730 5939E-mail: [email protected] mail:International Telecommunication UnionOffice T1201Place des NationsCH-1211 Geneva 20 (Switzerland)

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Editorial Calendar/Media KitTel.: +41 22 730 5234Fax: +41 22 730 5321E-mail: [email protected]

ONLINE EDITION

http://www.itu.int/itunews

ITU News 7/20012

CCCCCOMMENTARY

T he third generation (3G) mobile race isfinally set to begin. Known internation-ally as IMT-2000, 3G mobile systems aim

to provide a plethora of services: simple voice,rich voice (consumer videophone and multime-dia conferencing), location-based services,business and consumer multimedia messag-ing services, mobile Internet/intranet/extranetaccess and customized infotainment. Our featurearticle on pages 4 to 13 takes a close look atlocation-based services.

What will it take to be a winner in 3G? Someanalysts point to speed as an essential element.Not only enhanced transmission speeds, butspeed in network roll-out and in anticipating,developing and delivering the services thatcustomers will want.

Japan�s NTT DoCoMo has taken �a leap for-ward� with its pre-launch operation of 3Gmobile communication services. Introduced on30 May 2001, this operation will run until 3Gcommercial services branded FOMA (freedomof mobile multimedia access) are launched on1 October 2001. A lucky 4500 people or �moni-tors� are trying out these services using freehandsets provided by NTT DoCoMo. They havealso been exempted from paying monthly sub-scription fees and are responsible only for com-munication charges. In return they will fill outquestionnaires about the 3G services and offercomments and suggestions regarding possibleimprovements. All introductory handsets areequipped to access the Internet and the verypopular i-mode browser services � some areeven equipped with videophone capability!

FOMA services will be expanded from Octo-ber and launched nationwide thereafter. ManxTelecom in the Isle of Man is also expected to

launch its 3G system later this year, with muchof Europe to follow in 2002.

The stage for the mobile industry to deliveron its promise of 3G mobile systems based onITU Recommendations (standards) was set inIstanbul in May-June 2000 where ground-breaking decisions were taken. Firstly, the ITURadiocommunication Assembly formally ap-proved the IMT-2000 standard, which accom-modates five possible radio interfaces based onthree different access technologies (FDMA,TDMA and CDMA). NTT DoCoMo�s system isbased on W-CDMA technology. Secondly, righton the heels of the Assembly, the World Radio-communication Conference identified addi-tional frequency bands for 3G use.

Already, in October 2000, SK Telecom of theRepublic of Korea had started a commercialservice using a cdma2000 system.

The huge sums of money that operators wereprepared to invest in obtaining licences showthe degree of confidence in the technology andthe potential market demand. For example,mobile operators in Europe have invested morethan USD 100 billion in acquiring licences for3G spectrum. Globally, more than 80 mobileoperators have received 3G licences and 50more are expected to be awarded over the nextyear or so.

As part of its New Initiatives Programme, ITUis organizing a Strategic Planning Workshopon the subject of 3G mobile licensing policy inGeneva from 19 to 21 September 2001. The work-shop will bring together policy-makers, nationalregulators, and industry to exchange informationand perspectives on this topical issue. As wellas raising awareness on the benefits and pitfallsof various regulatory approaches, the workshop

Rolling out 3G

ITU News 7/2001 3

CCCCCOMMENTARY

Market watch

Despite huge costs, anticipated delays,and unfavourable market conditions, someanalysts believe that 3G is the only way for-ward for mobile operators. �Recent opinionson 3G have almost exclusively focused onthe short term and consequently have beenrather pessimistic.� In a new report entitled�3G in Europe: Expensive but Essential,�the Yankee Group analyses the real cost oflaunching 3G services, assesses the extentto which 3G will alter the European carrierlandscape and presents a five-year 2.5G *and 3G market forecast. According to thereport, the total investment in 3G in Europewill be approximately USD 274 billion overthe next five years.

The Group takes the approach that 3G isa long-term strategy and must be viewedas such.

It predicts that during 2001, next-genera-tion mobile networks will attract few usersbut uptake from 2002 will be rapid withGPRS achieving widespread adoption by theend of 2002 and W-CDMA in common useby year-end 2004. New-entrant 3G operatorsface a far tougher challenge than incumbent2G players by having higher start-up costs

will seek to identify critical policy issues withrespect to the deployment of 3G services, in-cluding the regulatory status of virtual mobileoperators and the facilitation of global roam-ing. Indeed, one of the key visions of IMT-2000is to provide seamless global roaming, enabling

users to move across borders while using thesame number and handset. The workshop willalso explore the potential role the ITU could playas a facilitator of harmonized approaches for theglobal mobile information society.

The Editor

and limited market penetration opportuni-ties. Though 3G networks in Europe will notbe launched until 2002, next-generationservices will be launched this year on GPRS.

Regional forecasts of the UMTS Forum citethe Asia-Pacific region as the highest growthmarket in the world. Some 64 per cent of 3Grevenues are expected to come from simplevoice and customized infontaiment services.Incumbent operators in this region and inother parts of the world are already using 3Gtechnology based on cdma2000, part of theIMT-2000 standard. This is a clear sign thatindustry is rolling out ITU-based 3G tech-nology more quickly than anticipated.

North America�s demand for 3G data serv-ices is continuously growing in both theUnited States and in Canada. The NorthAmerican customer base boasts a rich expe-rience in high speed fixed Internet services.The bandwidth and capacity of 3G networksare expected to quench the thirst of thiscustomer base for mobile Internet services.Some 37 per cent of the North American 3Grevenue is expected to come from mobileInternet/intranet/extranet access � servicesthat are designed for the Internet-centric user.

In Latin America, some 54 per cent of rev-enue is expected to come from customizedinfotainment and simple voice. In the ArabStates and Africa, many countries areexpected to commercialize 3G servicesafter 2007.

*This refers to general packet radio service(GPRS) and enhanced data for GSM evolution(EDGE) in Europe.

ITU News 7/20014

MOBILITY THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Mobile location technologies offerenormous possibilities for new wire-less services and applications. Poten-

tial applications include emergency servicessuch as the E911 in the United States and E112in Europe, commercial end-user services (forexample, local yellow pages), corporate serv-ices, of which fleet management is often citedand network optimization (e.g., location-aidedhandover).

Calling for a taxi from an airport withoutknowing the local number or calling an ambu-lance for help after witnessing a traffic accidentin a remote area without knowing the location,finding a hassle-free route around a traffic jamor getting the closest parking space availableat the push of a button � these are just a few of

the many service offerings contributing to theexcitement over location-based services. Mostof these services have one thing in common thatdifferentiates them from �plain� wireless serv-ices: they all use location awareness and deliverservice to the user accordingly.

Given the global reach of IMT-2000 systems(the ITU name for the third generation (3G) ofpersonal mobile communications), the growingimportance of location-based services makesit urgent to harmonize national regulatoryrequirements for emergency communications;guarantee interoperability through globallyagreed technical standards to enable the roam-ing of at least a basic set of these services; andaddress the complex legal issues of liability andprivacy rights.

Location-based services and emergencycommunications in IMT-2000

Fabio S. LeiteIMT-2000 Project Manager, ITU

Jorge M. PereiraScientific Officer, DG Information Society, European Commission

Imagine calling for a taxifrom an airport without knowingthe local number or findinga hassle-free route around a traffic jam ...

Photo: Swisscom (ITU 960056) Photo: PhotoDisc (ITU 010564)

ITU News 7/2001 5

Different drivers in the United Statesand in Europe

Initially, the emergence of location-basedservices was neither driven by revenue expec-tations nor by a clear market demand but,rather, by government regulation of emergencyservices. In the United States for example, regu-latory requirements for emergency calls incellular systems were first established in 1996when the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) adopted the wireless Enhanced 911 rules(www.fcc.gov/e911). These rules apply to allcellular, broadband personal communicationsservice (PCS) and certain specialized mobileradio (SMR) licensees.

Many people recognize that a wire-less phone is a valuable emergencytool that can be taken almost any-where. For some users, the ability tocall for help in an emergency is theprincipal reason they own a wirelessphone. But that help my never come,or may come too late, if the 911 calldoes not get through or if emergencyresponse teams cannot locate thecaller quickly. In 1995, there were34 million wireless subscribers in theUnited States, who, according to theCellular Telecommunications andInternet Association, made 20 million911 calls a year. Today, there are morethan 116 million wireless subscribersand the number of wireless 911 callsis said to have more than doubledto over 50 million a year.

In this regard, the wireless E911rules seek to improve the reliability ofwireless 911 services and to provideemergency services personnel at theappropriate Public Safety AnsweringPoint (PSAP) with location informationthat will enable them to locate wire-less 911 callers much more quickly andto carry out their life-saving work moreeffectively and efficiently. Wirelesscarriers are required to provide Auto-matic Location Identification (ALI)from 1 October 2001.

Reports from wireless carriers(www.fcc.gov/wtb/e911), however,

indicate that the wireless industry is facingdifficulties meeting the E911 requirementsbecause of the reluctance from major handsetmanufacturers, who consider the cost of deploy-ing new chips to be too high, and also, manyof them do not yet see a compelling case forlocation-based services.

In Europe, the 1999 Communications Reviewset 1 January 2003 as a target for the provisionof Enhanced 112 services: �It is feasible and inthe public interest to set a date by which allfixed and mobile operators provide caller loca-tion details to the emergency authorities whenemergency calls are made. In view of the sen-sitivity of location data to the privacy of mobile


For some users, the ability to call for help in an emergency isthe principal reason they own a wireless phone. But that helpmay never come, or may come too late, if the calls to emergencynumbers do not get through or if emergency response teamscannot locate the caller quickly

Photo: Siemens (ITU 010512)

ITU News 7/20016


callers, appropriate safeguards for personaldata and privacy protection must be estab-lished to ensure compliance with the EuropeanUnion (EU) rules in this area. Given the impor-tance of such a facility for the European citi-zen and the state of technological development,location information for emergency authoritiesshould be made available by 1 January 2003.�

By contrast to the United States, there isneither a distinction between mobile and fixedoperator obligations nor a mention of any

prescribed accu-racy levels, but pri-vacy is recognizedas a major issue.Furthermore, theimportance of multi-lingual issues wasrecognized by theEuropean Councilin Lisbon in March2000 and mentionedin �eEurope: AnInformation Societyfor All.� This initia-tive states that bythe end of 2001, �allcitizens on the movethroughout Europe

should have full access everywhere to multi-lingual support, call localisation and fully organ-ized provision of emergency services through the112 number.�

On 5 May 2000, the European Commission(EC) launched a Coordination Group on Accessto Location Information by Emergency Services(CGALIES). The group�s objective is to providesupport and expertise regarding the definitionof a future Location-Based Emergency Call Serv-ice in Europe, taking into account all aspectsrelated to the implementation of such a service,namely: user needs, institutional, technical andtechnological issues, as well as convergencewith other applications.

The EC has proposed this enhancement of112 emergency services in the context of its pro-posals for the new regulatory framework ex-pected to enter into force in 2002 or 2003. Animproved level of safety and security cannot,however, be achieved by compromising the

principles of privacy. The EC has proposed dataprotection and privacy safeguards for the useof location data.

Europe follows a minimalist approach toregulation in particular with respect to mobilelocation and emergency services. This approachrelies upon existing generic regulation (thePrivacy Directives and rule of competition) andsubsidiarity. In the case of the latter, responsi-bility for the E112 remains with national emer-gency authorities � a few countries are eithercurrently considering issuing, or have alreadyissued, E112 mandates.

In summary, while the uptake of location-based services in North America seems to beaffected by the technology push resulting fromthe E911 mandate, Europe�s approach is mainlydriven by location-based value-added services(market pull) � the E112 emergency service onlyappearing recently on the political agenda. �

Given the global reachof IMT-2000 systems,the growing importanceof location-basedservices makes it urgentto harmonize nationalregulatory requirementsfor emergency communi-cations and to guaranteeinteroperability throughglobally agreedtechnical standards

Japan is a special case as its cities are noto-riously difficult to navigate. Street names areincreasingly popular but are still not universal.Instead, addresses have traditionally been writ-ten with respect to �chome,� or urban districts.So, navigation systems such as those used incars and for street maps are quite popular there.But this application has evolved beyond thevehicular environment, with NTT DoCoMooffering, since January 2000, its Global Posi-tioning System or GPS-based mobile personallocation service known as DokoNavi. Callers inJapan can access the GPS-based DokoNavilocation service using a cellular phone linkedto a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Densocalled Naviewn to locate themselves in a widerange of environments.

DokoNavi users have been offered a varietyof information services such as town or areaguidance (subscribers can get directions tobusinesses and points of interest, such asrestaurants, movie theatres, amusement parksor museums) or personal route navigation.Here, subscribers can not only find their cur-rent location, but they may enter their desti-nation and get detailed directions and mapssent to their Naviewn while on the move. �

ITU News 7/2001 7


Privacy

C omplex ownership, privacy and liability issues are being raised relativeto the provision of the positioning information and its usage followingthe US FCC E911 Report and Order. In fact, the E911 Report and Order

has also added provisions dealingspecifically with wireless locationinformation to the section of theCommunications Act that governstreatment of customer proprietarynetwork information (CPNI) andsubscriber list information (SLI).Furthermore, the FCC initiated aproceeding to interpret and clarifythese provisions in early 2001.

In Europe, the Privacy Directives(95/46/EC and 97/66/EC) applywith the following general prin-ciples: obtain the subscriber�sexplicit consent; provide completeinformation about the use andstorage of data, only use data forthe purpose for which it was col-lected, erase personal data afteruse or make it anonymous, givethe user the possibility to restrictor prevent transmission of per-sonal data, and do not transfer thedata to a third party without thesubscriber�s explicit consent.

Without question, the most im-portant issue confronting the newindustry of wireless signal loca-tion technology and applications

relates to personal privacy. The difficulty is how to strike the right balancebetween solutions that will maintain both the value of protecting individualprivacy and the value of achieving the benefits of new wireless location tech-nologies.

Recently, the ITU Secretary-General received a letter from the Chairman ofthe International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunicationsasking ITU to take into account their common position on privacy and locationinformation in mobile communication services adopted at the group�s 29thmeeting in February 2001 in Bangalore (India). �

Photo: PhotoDisc (ITU 010568)

The mostimportant issueconfrontingthe new industryof wireless signallocation technologyand applications relatesto personal privacy

ITU News 7/20018


L ocation-based services represent a majormarket opportunity for mobile communi-cations, particularly for IMT-2000 systems.

Market projections (Ovum Research) indicatethat by 2005, some 55 per cent of the cellularsubscribers will subscribe to location-basedservices and will generate revenues in theorder of USD 20 billion worldwide. Anotherstudy (Allied Business Intelligence) predictsthat worldwide location-based service revenueswill grow from some USD 1 billion in 2000 toover 40 billion in 2006.

But what are these location-based services?Within the context of IMT-2000 standardizationbased on 3GPP (Third Generation PartnershipProject) Specifications*, they can be defined asvalue-added services (VAS), network enhanc-ing services, emergency services and lawfulintercept. This section of the article focuses onVAS, as the gains from internal network use of

location information are difficult to assess andemergency services performance is measuredin terms of human lives.

A number of market studies define location-based VAS as a business or consumer 3G serv-ice that enables users or machines to find otherpeople, vehicles, resources, services or machines.It also enables others to find users, as well asenabling users to identify their own location viaterminals or vehicles. The potential of location-based services to attract users lies in two things:personalization (making existing services more

Market for location-based services

* Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)is a standardization initiative made up of ChinaWireless Telecommunication Standard Group(CWTS), the Association of Radio Industriesand Businesses (ARIB), and the Telecommuni-cations Technology Committee (TTC) of Japan,the Telecommunications Technology Associa-tion (TTA) of the Republic of Korea, the Stand-ards Committee T1 of the United States andthe European Telecommunication StandardsInstitute (ETSI). The reference made here is tothe �Location Services Stage 1 SpecificationTS 22.071� (www.3gpp.org). A complementaryindustry group, known as 3GPP2, is made upof CWTS, ARIB, TTC, TTA, T1 and the Telecom-munication Industry Association (TIA) of theUnited States (www.3gpp2.org).

Photo: Alcatel (ITU 010523)

The potential of location-basedservices to attract users liesin two things: personalization(making existing services morerelevant for the user)and enabling completelynew services

ITU News 7/2001 9

relevant for the user) and enabling completelynew services.

A study commissioned by the UMTS Forumestimates the total location-based VAS revenueto be in the order of USD 10 billion by 2010 for3G operators alone, with North America pro-viding the greatest revenue opportunity. Thesefindings were released in April 2001 in a reportentitled The UMTS Third Generation Market� Phase II: Structuring the Service RevenueOpportunities (www.umts-forum.org/reports/report13.pdf). Whatever study one endorses, thereis a general consensus that a huge opportunity isup for grabs (see Figures 1 and 2).

Location-based VAS also represent an excit-ing opportunity to forge strategic partnershipswith content providers, wireless applicationservice providers, and other third parties. Suchpartnerships may open up entirely new revenueopportunities not yet envisioned by the market.

Some analysts see location-based services asa service enabler, rather than a service whichwill provide tremendous amounts of direct rev-enue. For example, adding location awarenessto services such as voice portals, short messag-ing service (SMS) or mobile games potentially


increases their value withoutnecessarily impacting net-work infrastructure, userinterfaces, or tariffs. In thissense, location awarenessincreases the value of wire-less-based services in a waythat is meaningful for mobiledevices. Rich services are toreplace rich content: relevantinformation would be valuedmore highly by mobile usersthan less relevant full multi-media (colourful graphics)content. By enabling richer

services, location-based services will take thewireless content industry one step closer tomass market and ultimately, to profits. Intelli-gent agents based on XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) Web content are seen as anotherimportant step in that direction. �

Location awareness increases the value of wireless-based services. Whatever study one endorses, thereis a general consensus that a huge opportunity is upfor grabs

Photo: Siemens (ITU 010517)

Figure 1� Worldwide location-based service market in 2005(USD billions)

Networks8 billion

Infrastructure6 billion

Applications/content6 billion

Source: Ovum Research.

ITU News 7/200110


Figure 3 � Examples of wireless location technologies

Source: Nokia.

Network based (TOA)

Servingcell

Legacyhandset

LMU

LMU

LMU

Neighbourcell#2

Neighbourcell#1

Servingcell

Locationcapablehandset

LMU

Neighbourcell#2

Neighbourcell#1

Handset assisted (E-OTD)

Assisted-GPS

Assisted data + GPSreceiver

LMU Location measurement unit

Figure 2 � Location-based service revenues by region in 2005 and 2010(USD millions)

Source: UMTS Forum and Telecompetition Inc., July 2000.

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0Asia-Pacific

755.62439.6

Europe1144.83321.1

North America679.7

3768.6

Rest of the world84.4

396.720052010

ITU News 7/2001 11

base stations. Different techniques are used, forexample, angle-of-arrival (AOA), time difference-of-arrival (TDOA), and enhanced-observed timedifference (E-OTD).

GPS chipset in the phone. The position ofa wireless device is estimated by measuringdistance from the visible satellites to the receiverby determining the pseudo ranges (codephases); extracting the time of arrival of thesignal from the contents of the message trans-

mitted by satellite; com-puting the position of thesatellites by evaluatingthe ephemeris data at theindicated time of arrival;and calculating the posi-tion of the receiving an-tenna and the clock biasof the receiver by usingthe above data items.This technique is limitedby the need for line-of-sight to the satellites anddoes not work well unas-sisted inside cars or inbuildings.

Combination of tech-niques. These are tech-niques (see Figure 3 onpage 10) which, amongother things, augment aGPS signal, add signal-strength or timing ad-vance/round trip time(TA/RTT).

There is no technologythat performs optimally in

all environments or serves all terminals. Thus,operators will be forced to combine technologies,in many cases, across second and third genera-tion networks in order to offer ideally, commonlook-and-feel location-based VAS and achievemass market.

Wireless location technologies



In view of the current fragmentationin the mobile location industry,with numerous proprietary locationtechnologies, there is an obvious needfor standardization so that economiesof scale can be realizedin integrating location and positioningtechnologies into mobilehandsets and infrastructure

C urrently, every location solution is basedupon a different, mostly proprietarylocation technology. This makes it

extremely difficult for network operators andother companies looking to invest in location-based services to decide between all non-stand-ardized systems. There is an obvious need forstandardization in this area so that economiesof scale can be realized in integrating locationand positioning technologies into mobile hand-sets and infrastructure.

Basic approaches inlocation technologies

Cell or sector ID. Theposition of a wirelessdevice is estimated usingthe information on theserving base station or sec-tor. This can be enhancedwith signal strength or tim-ing information.

Triangulation. A callto a wireless device ispicked up by a number of

Photo: A. de Ferron(ITU 010063)

ITU News 7/200112


services solution. Such a solution will:� Define a simple and secure access

method that allows user appliances andInternet applications to access locationinformation from the wireless networksirrespective of their underlying airinterface technologies and positioningmethods.

� Promote a family of standards-based location determination methodsand their supporting architectures.

� Work with industry experts andorganizations to define and adopt com-mon solutions that facilitate billing andrevenue sharing of location services andapplications in multi-network, multi-vendor and multi-service environments.

� Work with industry experts andorganizations to define and adopt com-mon solutions that facilitate the provi-sioning of location services and appli-cations in multi-network, multi-vendorand multi-service environments.

� Establish a framework for contrib-uting to the global standards-settingbodies and specification organizationsto define common methods and pro-cedures for the testing and verificationof the LIF-recommended accessmethod and positioning technologies(www.locationforum.org/).

Open LocationServices (OpenLS)Initiative

The vision for the OpenLS Initiative isthe successful provision and integrationof geospatial data and geoprocessing

In view of the current fragmentationin the mobile location industry withnumerous proprietary location tech-nologies patented by their variousmanufacturers, two industry groupshave been formed to drive standardi-zation: the Location InteroperabilityForum (LIF) and the Open LocationServices (OpenLS) Initiative. Anotherinitiative, the Wireless Location Indus-try Association (WLIA), focuses more onpolicy issues, including privacy.....

LocationInteroperabilityForum (LIF)

The major mobile vendors set up LIFwith this statement: �LIF is a globalindustry initiative formed jointly byEricsson, Motorola and Nokia in Septem-ber 2000 with the purpose of developingand promoting common and ubiquitoussolutions for mobile location services(MLS). LIF�s recommendations will benetwork protocol and positioning tech-nology independent. Location-basedservices will allow mobile users to re-ceive personalized and lifestyle-orientedservices relative to their geographiclocation. MLS are predicted to becomeone of the most compelling value-addedservices, allowing wireless applianceusers to combine mobility with theInternet.�

LIF�s purpose is to define and pro-mote � through the global standardsbodies and specification organizations� a common and ubiquitous location

ITU News 7/2001 13


resources into the location services andtelecommunications infrastructure.

The first activity, the OpenLS Testbed,aims at developing candidate interfacespecifications in support of interoper-able location services to be made avail-able through mobile terminals and todevelop multi-vendor, specification-based mobile demonstrations of theseinterfaces in action. The candidateinterface specifications, may becomeofficial Open GIS Consortium (OGC)Specifications and, potentially, may becontributed to other standards-settingbodies. (www.openLS.org).

Wireless LocationIndustry Association(WLIA)

The WLIA was founded in December2000 by eight leading companies in-volved in the wireless location indus-try, from the United States, Europe andCanada. WLIA interfaces with govern-ment, administrative and regulatorybodies on behalf of the industry andprovides a forum to develop standardsand self-regulation on privacy andother key policies, network and shareinformation among members of the in-dustry. It also provides references andinformation about the industry to thepublic and to policy-makers, both in theUnited States and internationally(www.wliaonline.com/). �

Location capability requirementsexist for IMT-2000 and are describedin the service and capability Recom-mendations of the ITU�R M seriesand ITU�T Q.1700 series. The mobile

industry has been emphasizing the need forcommon global standards for location-basedservices. It seems necessary to consider howto coordinate the various bodies involved inthe standardizationof these services,namely: ITU, the3GPPs, LIF andOGC. In order toachieve tangibleresults, a consen-sus is necessary onthe role each bodywill play in thisarea.

Already, detailedstandardization forl o c a t i o n - b a s e dservice specifi-cations is beingcarried out in the3GPPs. In particular,the 3GPPs are eachdefining networkinterfaces and otherrelated technicalstandards for loca-tion-based services.There is a potentialrole for ITU to pro-mote the harmoni-zation of various approaches, the convergence oftechnologies (especially on an �all-IP� network)and to make global the appropriate national orregional specifications. �

IMT-2000standardization

Photo: A. de Ferron (ITU 010062)

There is a potential rolefor ITU to make globalthe appropriate nationalor regional specifications

ITU News 7/200114

Councillors and ITU�s top management during Council 2001Photos: A. de Ferron (ITU 010064)

ITU News 7/2001 15

COUNCIL 2001

Council 2001 decisions(The end)

In the July-August issue of ITU News, wefocused on the conclusions of the 2001 ses-sion of the ITU Council on reform matters.

This report looks at the other key decisions ofthe governing body.

Money mattersBalancing the budget for 2002�2003

A biennial budget of CHF 341 947 736 wasapproved for the years 2002 and 2003 andcomes in two parts. An ordinary budget of CHF332 600 000, which corresponds to the ceilingestablished by the Plenipotentiary Conference(Minneapolis, 1998) and an extraordinarybudget covering principally activities undercost recovery representing CHF 9 347 736. Inbalancing the budget, account had to be takenof the exchange rate fluctuations between theUnited States dollar and the Swiss franc thathave prevailed since that ceiling was estab-lished. The annual value of the contributory unitremains at CHF 315 000 for Member States andCHF 63 000 for Sector Members. Levels of thefinancial contributions for Associates havebeen fixed at:

� CHF 10 500 for Associates participating inthe work of the Telecommunication Standardi-zation Sector (ITU�T) and the Radiocommuni-cation Sector (ITU�R).

� CHF 3937.50 for Associates participatingin the work of the Telecommunication Devel-opment Sector (ITU�D).

� CHF 1968.75 for Associates from developingcountries participating in the work of ITU�D.

Activities under cost recovery include theprocessing of satellite notifications; the holdingof a Regional Radiocommunication Conference

or RRC (the full costs of which will be recoveredfrom the participating Member States of theUnion); registrar functions to be assumed by ITUfor the universal international freephone number(UIFN), the universal premium rate number(UIPRN) and the universal international sharedcost number (UISCN); and the implementationof technical cooperation projects.

Key among the specific initiatives approvedby the Minneapolis Plenipotentiary Conferenceand covered in this ordinary budget is thegradual lifting of interim limitations on the useof official and working languages of the Union.


The Councilapproved abiennial budgetof 341 947 736Swiss francs forthe years 2002and 2003.It also authorizedthe Secretary-Generalto implementa forward-purchasingpolicy for theUS dollar so asto maintainthe purchasingpower of theSwiss franc atthe budgetedexchange rate

ITU News 7/200116

COUNCIL 2001

In this regard, appropriations have been madefor documentation in six languages for the WorldTelecommunication Development Conferencescheduled to take place in Istanbul (Turkey) from18 to 27 March 2002 and for the Plenipotentiary

Conference to be held in Marrakesh(Morocco) from 23 September to18 October 2002. Furthermore, theCouncil decided to open an areaoffice in Moscow in a bid tostrengthen the ITU regional pres-ence in Europe, notably in theCommonwealth of IndependentStates (CIS). Around CHF 1 448 000has been earmarked for the estab-lishment of this new area office,

with the Russian delegation announcing that itsadministration would meet some of the initialstart-up costs.

The Council has authorized the Secretary-General to implement a forward purchasingpolicy for the US dollar so as to maintain thepurchasing power of the Swiss franc and thusensure the full implementation of the programmeof activities foreseen in 2002�2003. In this con-nection, he has also been authorized to developand implement an accounting procedure bywhich ITU would keep its financial transactionsat the prevailing budgeted exchange rate.

Furthermore, a working group of experts hasbeen set up to review the Union�s FinancialRegulations and recommend improvements tothe 2002 session of the Council.

Registrar function for the ATM EndSystem Addresses

The Council adopted a resolution authorizingITU to act as registrar for the ATM End SystemsAddresses (AESA) as from 1 September 2001,in accordance with ITU�T RecommendationE. 191.1. It further set the registration fee atCHF 100 per number issued. An AESA is anumber that is used to provide a unique iden-tity to an ATM endpoint in a global network sothat traffic can be routed correctly to any end-user. International Network Designator codesor INDs form part of the AESA addressingscheme. To ensure a true any-to-any connec-tivity, INDs have to be unique, hence the needfor a central registrar. The registrar is responsi-ble for the processing of registration requestsfrom applicants for INDs in a fair and unbiasedmanner. Further, the Secretary-General hasbeen authorized, between Council sessions, toimplement future similar registrar functionsarising from ITU�T Recommendations on thebasis of full cost recovery.

ITU Strategic Plan for 2003�2007An informal group has been set up to draft

the Union�s Strategic Plan for the period 2003�2007. This group is open to all Member Statesand Sector Members and is chaired by KathleenG. Heceta, Deputy Commissioner, National Tele-communications Commission (Philippines).

To avoid adopting a new strategic plan at eachPlenipotentiary Conference, the MinneapolisConference amended the Convention to allow foran existing plan to be updated on the basis ofchanges that will have taken place in the tele-communications sector in the interval betweenthese four-yearly conferences.

In ITU�T, a permanent strategic planninggroup works under the TelecommunicationStandardization Advisory Group (TSAG) to de-velop the Sector�s part of the plan. In ITU�R, theRadiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG) car-ries out strategic planning. In ITU�D, WTDC-02is expected to finalize the strategic plan for thatSector.

On the basis of contributions from the sec-retariat and from Sector Advisory Groups and/or conferences or assemblies, the informalgroup will prepare and publish a preliminary

The WorldTelecommunication

DevelopmentConference will take

place in Istanbul(Turkey) from 18 to

27 March 2002Photo:

A. de Ferron(ITU 002153)

ITU News 7/2001 17

COUNCIL 2001

draft strategic plan on the website no later than1 December 2001. The group will then use thecomments received to produce a second draftto be considered by the Council at its sessionin 2002.

Venezuela to host WRC-03The Council approved by acclamation

Venezuela�s invitation to host the World Radio-communication Conference in Caracas from9 June to 4 July 2003. As always, WRC-03 willbe preceded by the World RadiocommunicationAssembly (also in Caracas) for a duration of fivedays from 2 to 6 June 2003. In addition, theCouncil decided that the Conference Prepara-tory Meeting (CPM) to WRC-03 would takeplace over a two-week period. This annuls itsdecision taken in 2000 to reduce the durationof the Assembly from five to three days and thatof CPM from two weeks to oneweek.

RegionalRadiocommunicationConference

The Council considered the re-sults of a consultation undertakenin 2000 with the countries of theEuropean Broadcasting Area(EBA) concerning the possibleconvening of a Regional Radio-communication Conference (RRC)for the purpose of revising theStockholm Agreement of 1961 onradio and television terrestrialbroadcasting in the bands 174�230 MHz and 470�862 MHz. Thisconsultation follows a requestfrom 15 Member States of theEBA motivated by the fact thatthe forty-year old plan in theStockholm Agreement was drawnup for analogue broadcasting.While there is no clause in theagreement that would prohibitthe use of these bands for digitaltelevision, the provisions do notcover the introduction of terres-trial sound broadcasting in theband 174�230 MHz. Moreover,

the introduction of digital television in the cur-rent plan is not considered to offer an optimalsolution for an all-digital environment, which isexpected in the region in the future. A completereplanning of the bands for both television andsound digital broadcasting was therefore consid-ered essential.

According to a resolution adopted by theCouncil (Resolution 1185), an RRC will be con-vened in two sessions: a technical sessionscheduled to take place in Geneva from 10 to28 May 2004 and a planning session envisagedfor the year 2005. The first session is expectedto produce a report on the technical basis forthe work of the second session on the planningprinciples and parameters and to determine therequirements for the planning exercises. Thesecond session will then review the StockholmAgreement and adopt a new frequency plan

Europe is moving quickly towards an all-digital environment.According to Resolution 1185 adopted by the Council, the secondsession of the Regional Radiocommunication Conference,envisaged for the year 2005, will review the 1961 StockholmAgreement and adopt a new frequency plan for terrestrial digitalsound and television broadcasting in the band 174�230 MHz andterrestrial digital television broadcasting in the band 470�862 MHzPhoto: MEDEA (Micro-Electronics Development for European Applications)(ITU 010066)

ITU News 7/200118

COUNCIL 2001

for terrestrial digital sound and televisionbroadcasting in the band 174�230 MHz andterrestrial digital television broadcasting in theband 470�862 MHz.

In addition, the Council decided to proceedwith further consultations as to the possibleextension of the planning area, following thewish expressed by African countries that the RRCshould not be limited to revising the StockholmAgreement but should also revise the RegionalAgreement relating to the planning of VHF/UHFtelevision broadcasting in the the African Broad-casting Area (ABA) and neighbouring countries,better known as the Geneva 1989 Agreement.

Satellite network filingsApart from establishing the Satellite Backlog

Action Group (SAT-BAG) to oversee a coordinatedapproach for treating the factors contributing tothe backlog in the processing of satellite networkfilings, the Council also decided to revise Deci-sion 482 on the implementation of cost recoveryfor these filings. The main implication of thisrevision is to make modification notices submit-ted to the Radiocommunication Bureau (BR) sub-ject to a flat fee. Furthermore, from 1 January2002, all notices will be subject to payment of aflat fee at the time the filing is submitted to BR(rather than after publication, some two years orso later, as is currently the case). This should alsohave a constraining effect on the numbers ofsatellite filings submitted.

The Bureau is already moving to implementsteps recommended by the Council to reducethe backlog, particularly the addition of profes-sional staff to the Space Systems CoordinationDivision, which undertakes technical and regu-latory examination of space network filings.

Group of Experts to preparefor PP-02 on ITU reform

A number of recommendations on ITU reformwere singled out as requiring changes to theConstitution or Convention (see ITU News, July-August 2001, page 19) and have been transmit-ted to the Group of Experts set up by the Councilto prepare draft legal texts and resolutions. Theaim is to prepare the required amendments toITU�s basic instruments ahead of time, shouldthe Marrakesh Plenipotentiary Conference

endorse proposals tabled by Member States inconnection with these recommendations. ThisGroup of Experts is composed of 24 Council Mem-ber States representing ITU�s five administrativeregions as follows:

� Region A (the Americas): Argentina, Bra-zil, Canada and the United States.

� Region B (Western Europe): Denmark,France, Italy and Portugal.

� Region C (Eastern Europe): Bulgaria,Czech Republic and Russia.

� Region D (Africa): Algeria, Cameroon,Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa.

� Region E (Asia and Australasia): Australia,China, India, Japan,Philippines and SaudiArabia.

The group is expected to complete its work byyear-end 2001 and to report to the next sessionof the Council in 2002. Draft legal texts devel-oped by the group will be circulated to MemberStates to assist them in their preparations for theMarrakesh Plenipotentiary Conference.

International TelecommunicationRegulations

As these International TelecommunicationRegulations (ITR) were last updated in 1988, somecountries feel that they are no longer relevant.The practice among ITU Member States varieswidely. A number of countries rely on the exist-ence of clear and stable international regulatoryarrangements, such as ITRs, as a foundation orreference for their own laws and regulations.Some apply the regulations directly by givingthem the status of domestic laws. Others havetheir own detailed domestic regulations and donot rely on international regulations.

Resolution 79 of the 1998 PlenipotentiaryConference instructed the ITU Secretary-General,in consultation with the Director of the Telecom-munication Standardization Bureau (TSB) and abalanced group of experts, to advise the Councilon any action the Union should take in relationto ITRs. The Council, having considered the find-ings of the group of experts at its session in 2000,decided that a wider consultation of the mem-bership was necessary through another survey.

An analysis of the responses to that surveyhas revealed very divided views among the ITUmembership. For example, the majority of

ITU News 7/2001 19

COUNCIL 2001

responses from developing countries accept thenecessity for updating the existing ITRs, in linewith market changes, but they wish to keepthem as a treaty-level agreement. In contrast,the majority of the responses from developedcountries and competitive markets disagreewith updating or retaining ITRs on the groundsthat it would be difficult to keep up with therapidly changing environment while retainingthese regulations as a binding treaty-levelinstrument.

Views in the Council itself were just as divided.A number of countries stated that the presentsituation could not be allowed to continue andpressed for the convening of a world conference,with Morocco announcing that it would makea proposal to the Marrakesh PlenipotentiaryConference along these lines.

Australia, also in an attempt to offer a wayforward, stressed that to achieve consensuson ITRs, Member States would need to agreeon an outcome that balances two things. Firstly,the reasonable expectation of a stable internatio-nal telecommunication business environment.Secondly, the practical need to accommodaterapid change and to recognize a wide varietyof regulatory situations relevant to interna-tional telecommunications.

Noting the lack of consensus on a way for-ward, the Council has requested the Secretary-General to report to its 2002 session on thepossible timing and budget implications of afuture conference on ITRs so that it can prepareits own report to the Marrakesh PlenipotentiaryConference.

ITU New Initiatives ProgrammeNoting the value which this programme has

demonstrated through a series of strategic plan-ning workshops held in recent times on topicsof high current interest, the Council selectednew topics to continue strengthening the roleof the Union and enhancing its relevance andleadership in policy and regulatory affairs. Top-ics for future workshops include competitionpolicy in telecommunications, promotingInternet diffusion, network security and trustin cyberspace, Internet peering and transit andthe emergence of m-commerce. The Councilalso expressed appreciation for the generous

donations made by Japan and the Republic ofKorea to fund the expanded programme ofworkshops. During the discussion of this item,the Republic of Korea announced that it willhost the workshop on network security in Seoul.

Some countries have suggested that in future,conclusions of the workshops should be subjectto some form of consultation prior to their beingmade public. While the results of the workshopsheld so far were of tremendous value to the mem-bership and were available on the Web, it wouldappear that Members themselves are not awareof the existence of this good work. Makingresults available on the Web should not excludetheir availability in print form, some councillorsremarked. The Secretary-General called forvoluntary contributions to this end.

World Telecommunication PolicyForum on the themeof IP telephony

The Council was pleased with the conclu-sions of this Forum, which was held in Genevain March 2001 and ended with four Opinionsaddressing the implications of IP telephony forthe ITU membership. Furthermore, the Coun-cil welcomed the programme of work whichthese Opinions set out for the ITU Sectors, no-tably the regional workshops carried out byITU�D. The first in the series of these workshopswas held in Bamako (Mali) in April 2001 on�Internet and IP telephony�. A second one tookplace in Peru from 11 to 13 July 2001. But inorder to plan more regional events of this kind,as envisaged in Opinion B, voluntary contribu-tions from Member States, Sector Members andother industry participants will be necessary.

ExemptionsThe Council decided to exempt the following

international organizations from any financialcontribution to defraying the expenses relatingto their participation in the work of the Union�sSectors:

� Communauté Economique et Monétaire del�Afrique Centrale (CEMAC), Bangui (ITU�D).

� Commonwealth TelecommunicationsOrganisation (CTO), London (ITU�D).

� Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), Geneva(ITU�R).

ITU News 7/200120

COUNCIL 2001

Preparations are well on track

Addressing the Council, Nasr Hajji, Moroccan Secretary of State for Posts andTelecommunication and Information Technologies told councillors that prepa-

rations for the Marrakesh Plenipotentiary Conference werewell on track.

�My presence here testifies to the importance attachedby His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco and bythe Moroccan Government, to the organization of nextyear�s top event, the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference,which my country will have the privilege of hostingin Marrakesh from 23 September to 18 October 2002,�Mr Hajji said.

�We are aware of the many challenges involved, bothon an intellectual level and on the structural andorganizational levels, and we are ready to face them withyou. I should like at this point to express the hope of

the Moroccan community, and that of the city of Marrakesh in particular, thatMorocco will succeed in living up to the expectations of the entire internationaltelecom-munication community, by making of this event a success which risesto the challenges of the dawn of the new century and ushers in the informationsociety.� He called on ITU to reposition itself and, in close collaboration withother interested international organizations, seek concrete solutions to theproblems that are inherent to the information society, while also seeking by allpossible means to bridge the digital divide, which must not continue to widen witheach passing day between the least developed countries and other countries.

Morocco itself is endeavouring to develop a national strategy based on theprinciples of liberalization, competition, privatization and the widespread avail-ability of information technologies. In the words of Mr Hajji: �Our strategy andthe E-Maroc strategy together consist in ensuring that information technologiesand telecommunications serve as a powerful development tool by making themwidely available in the spheres of education, administration, government, busi-ness, economics, trade and society at large. In this way, we are contributing bothto the international development of telecommunications and to the correspond-ing international debates and forums.� �

Marrakesh 2002

ITU News 7/2001 21

COUNCIL 2001

� European Competitive Telecommunica-tions Association (ECTA), Wokingham (ITU�R,ITU�T and ITU�D).

� International Telecommunications UsersGroup (INTUG), Brussels (ITU�T and ITU�D).

� International Telecommunication Academy(ITA), Moscow (Study Group 13 of ITU�T).

� Society of Motion Picture and TelevisionEngineers (SMPTE), White Plains, New York(ITU�R).

� World Broadcasting Unions � TechnicalCommittee (WBU-TC), Toronto, Ontario (ITU�R).

� World Forum for Digital Audio Broadcasting(World DAB Forum), London (ITU�R).

This exemption shall be valid only until theMarrakesh Plenipotentiary Conference.

Change and genderGender perspective in ITU humanresources management

According to a resolution adopted by theCouncil, gender balance, like geographicalrepresentation, should become an integral partof ITU policy and practices�including humanresources management. The resolution encour-ages Member States and Sector Members to putforward suitably qualified women candidates forleadership and elective positions. It also callsfor appropriate resources to be allocated, withinexisting budgetary limits, for the recruitment ofa gender perspective full-time dedicated staff.

The secretariat has been invited to developan action plan and procedures to address gen-der representation, especially in the professionaland higher categories, and to propose appropri-ate modifications to the Staff Regulations inorder to better promote gender perspectivein ITU. A progress report on incorporating thegender perspective in the work of the GeneralSecretariat and of the Union�s three Sectors(ITU�R, ITU�T and ITU�D) is to be presented tothe next session of the Council in 2002.

World Telecommunication Day 2002�ICT for all: empowering people to crossthe digital divide�

This is the theme that has been chosen tomark World Telecommunication Day 2002. Eachyear, on 17 May, World Telecommunication Dayoffers a unique opportunity to disseminate

information on telecommunication issues in sup-port of ITU�s main strategic orientations and tostimulate reflection on public policy issues andencourage debate with all partners in society. Theinformation and communication technologies(ICT) sector forms part of what is referred toas the knowledge sector, which is among thefastest growing areas of the global economy.Despite the very rapid diffusion rates of ICTs,the pace of expansion has been uneven, bothgeographically and among various segments ofa country�s population. Given the broad appealof the theme, and the need to have a wideroutreach, a number of joint initiatives are en-visaged with other organizations. While thetheme addresses all groups of society that arenot fully benefiting from the availability of ICTs,special emphasis will be placed on women, andin particular, women in developing countries asthis category is the most severely affected bythe lack of access to ICTs.

Silver medal to the ChairmanCouncil 2001 ended on a high note with Yoshio

Utsumi, ITU Secretary-General, awarding the

ITU silver medal to Yuri Grin (Russia) in recogni-tion of his leadership as Chairman of this year�ssession. The next session of the Council will takeplace in Geneva from 22 April to 3 May 2002. �

Yoshio Utsumi, ITU Secretary-General, awardingthe ITU silver medal to Yuri Grin (Russia) inrecognition of his leadership as Chairman of thisyear�s session of the Council

Photo: A. de Ferron (ITU 010065)

ITU News 7/200122

ITU reaches agreementon BICC protocols

STANDARDIZATION

On 3 July 2001, the International Tele-communication Union announcedthe completion of its second set of

bearer independent call control (BICC) protocols.The announcement was made following anagreement reached at a special meeting of StudyGroup 11 of the ITU Telecommunication Stand-ardization Sector (ITU�T), which is responsiblefor signalling requirements and protocols.

Thanks to this agreement, today�s networkscan evolve from general public switching sys-tems to next generation server-based networks.Built as it is on a server, proxy and media gate-way network architecture, BICC supports allservices currently deployed on circuit-switched,asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) andInternet protocol (IP) networks, including third-generation (3G) wireless services. All of this isachieved without limiting the future introductionof innovative multimedia, multi-mode servicesand applications.

�The completion of the BICC protocols is anhistoric step because it allows network opera-tors to seamlessly migrate their current circuit-switched networks to high-capacity broadbandmultimedia networks,� said Yukio Hiramatsu,Chairman of Study Group 11. �BICC is a vital stepin the evolution towards integrated multi-serv-ice platforms, which can offer both voice and dataservices that are IP-enabled,� he also stated.

The BICC suite not only allows networkoperators to offer a complete set of services over

the public switched telephone network and theintegrated services digital network (PSTN/ISDN), but also, all supplementary services overa variety of data transport networks. BICC-basednetworks are highly scalable because they aredesigned with state-of-the-art techniques. Allprotocols offer seamless interconnection andinteroperability because they are designed tooperate on high-speed IP or ATM-based net-works and with existing network signallinglinks.

In addition, BICC Capability Set 2 (CS-2) pro-vides the network signalling protocols for 3Gwireless networks, enabling a transcoder-freecall to be established, ultimately leading toreduced cost while maintaining all the call�sfeatures.

Already, there is widespread acceptance ofBICC protocols in the market-place among fixedaccess and mobile network communities. Fur-thermore, the Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) has included these protocols andthe associated network architecture into UMTSRelease 4 � one of IMT-2000 family membersfor 3G wireless systems. 3GPP2 is expected tofollow the same approach soon.

Looking ahead, the next phase of BICCspecification activities in ITU�T, for which anaggressive workplan has been established, willaddress advanced service support and the in-tegration of more proxies, such as the SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) proxy. �

ITU reaches agreementon BICC protocols

An historic step for the evolution towardsnext generation server-based networks

Avay

a In

c.

ITU News 7/2001 23

DEVELOPMENT

Introducing voice andmultimedia communi-cation services to rural

areas � especially in thedeveloping countries � isone of today �s greatestchallenges for governments,operators and industry.Within the ITU Telecommu-nication Development Sector(ITUD), a Task Force of FocusGroup 7 is working hand inhand with the Telecommuni-cation Development Bureau(BDT) to find solutions to thischallenge. The Task Force isa follow-on committee to the1999/2000 Focus Group onRural Applications known tomany simply as FG7.

FG7 recently released amajor report entitled �NewTechnologies for RuralApplications�. After a yearand a half of work, mainlyconducted over its website(www7.itu.int/itudfg7), FG7had collected some sixtycase studies from around theworld. The FG7 report isbased on the analysis ofthese studies, and recom-mends new technologies forrural applications such as

telemedicine, distance edu-cation, community and smallbusiness development, emer-gency support, disaster reliefand environmental monitor-ing. It presents six recom-mendations to BDT, whichshould serve to acceleratethe development of ruralcommunications as a meansof bridging the digital divide.In essence, the recommen-dations highlight the needfor BDT to:

� Promote the develop-ment of low-cost informa-tion appliances for rural use.

� Create a renewableenergy handbook on small-scale power systems for ruralinformation and communi-cation technologies (ICT).

� Increase collaborationwith micro-financing or-ganizations to help developcommunica t ion -basedrural business and applica-tions.

� Conduct pilot projectsof packet-based wireless ac-cess infrastructure for mul-timedia applications.

� Maintain and expandthe FG7 website.

Connectingrural communities

Multimedia services for rural areas usingwireless IP technologies

Yasuhiko KawasumiVice-Chairman

Telecommunication Development Advisory Group (TDAG)

*Focus Group 7 was set up inApril 1999 by TDAG with themandate to study ways of promot-ing the development of new tel-ecommunication technologies forrural applications. FG7 derives itsname from Topic 7 of the WorldTelecommunication DevelopmentConference (Valletta, March1998). It works under the auspicesof Study Group 2 of ITU�D.

ITU News 7/200124

DEVELOPMENT

� Hold a symposium on new technologies forrural applications.

The report also provides guidelines for design-ing ICT systems for the rural areas of developingcountries.

Recommended technologiesThe FG7 report recommends �packet-based

wireless technology combined with Internet pro-tocol (IP) routers� as being suitable for the ruralareas of developing countries for a number ofreasons. For example, packet-switched networksbreak up the data to be transmitted and sendthem in the form of packets, along variousroutes, to their destination. Packet-based net-works have certain advantages over traditionalcircuit-based networks. One advantage is thatbreaking communication down into packets al-lows the same data path to be shared simulta-

neously among manyusers in the network.This type of communi-cation between senderand receiver is knownas a connectionlessservice (as opposedto a dedicated one).Most traffic over theInternet uses packetswitching, and theInternet is basically aconnectionless net-work. Voice calls usingthe Internet�s packet-switched system are

possible. Contrasted with packet-switching iscircuit-switching technology where, for exam-ple, the regular voice telephone network inwhich the communication circuit (path) for thecall is set up and dedicated to the participantsin that call. For the duration of the connection,all resources on that circuit are unavailable forother users. In a relatively short time, packet-based networks have become the platform ofchoice for new telecommunication networks.

Wireless refers to telecommunication inwhich electromagnetic waves, rather thanwires, carry a signal over the communicationpath. Wireless infrastructure can be dividedbroadly into four categories, namely: portable

wireless, mobile wireless, fixed wireless, andinfra-red wireless. Wireless technology is evolv-ing rapidly and is viewed, at present, as one ofthe most important tools for reducing the dig-ital divide. Wireless infrastructure providesfaster roll-out times, lower maintenance costsand greater network flexibilities. FG7 identified,through its case studies, ten types of wirelessaccess systems, illustrating existing andemerging access options for rural communities.

A wireless router is a device, or in somecases, software in a computer, that determinesthe next network point through which a packetshould be forwarded to its destination. Therouter is connected to at least two networksand decides which way to send each informa-tion packet, based on its current understand-ing of the state of the networks to which it isconnected. A router creates or maintains a ta-ble of the available routes and their conditionsand uses this information, along with distanceand cost algorithms, to determine the best routefor a given packet. It is technologically possi-ble, using available products, to establish anaccess network in rural and remote areas us-ing routing technology.

Router-based local access networks usingTCP/IP and transport layers (OSI layers 3 and 4)can be interconnected with the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) using gateways thatcomply with ITU�T Recommendation H.323.Real-time voice calls can be transmitted at anyquality over closed router networks with the useof voice over IP (VoIP) software. The quality ofservice can be maintained on a properly config-ured and managed network because traffic iscontrolled from the subscriber to the PSTN gate-way by a single service provider. In this way, arouter-based access network using IP is moreanalogous to a local area network (LAN) thanto the global Internet. When combined withwireless technology in the local loop, such anetwork may provide an affordable and sustain-able solution for rural areas, particularly whenthe primary services delivered over the networkemploy multimedia.

The wireless router provides circular coveragewith a radius of up to 5 km when configured incompliance with certain regulations on fre-quency use and maximum transmission power

Glossary

TCP/IP Transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol.

OSI Open systems intercon-nection. The OSI model classi-fies data transfer protocols ina series of layers. It sets world-wide standards of design forall data telecommunicationprotocols, ensuring interwork-ing capability of equipmentprovided by different manufac-turers.

ITU News 7/2001 25

DEVELOPMENT

(this is dependent on coun-try regulations). In general,if higher power is allowed,the wireless reach can bemuch longer. Some manu-facturers have designedtheir wireless routers forusage in the 2.4 GHz bandallocated to industrial, sci-ence and medical (ISM)services.

Modularity andscalability

Service providers in ruralareas often lack sufficientdata to assess accurately thedemand for services in agiven region. Modular sys-tems that allow the networkto expand as needed, and atthe lowest incremental costare, therefore, preferable. Since rural networkscan serve anywhere from a few tens to thousandsof subscribers, scalability is also an extremelyimportant economic consideration.

Remote network managementOne of the most successful technology strat-

egies for minimizing operation and mainte-nance costs of rural installations has been theshift from network functions to remote man-agement systems. Travel to rural areas for net-work configuration, maintenance and repairsincreases the risks and expenses for networkoperators.

Simplified user terminal configurationand operation

Rural communities often lack the technicalskills needed to install, configure and upgradesoftware on a typical personal computer (PC).This makes it difficult to promote effective andbroad-based use of Internet resources. Comput-ers and thin clients**, which can be managedover communication lines, can help reduce thecost resulting from poor maintenance, as wellas the high failure rate associated with train-ing rural inhabitants in the complexities of PChardware and software configuration.

Flexible user interface designThe end users of connectivity-based services

in the rural areas of developing countries maybe unfamiliar with telephones, computers andtechnology in general. A certain proportion ofpotential users will be illiterate or semi-liter-ate, and they may have cultural behaviourwhich makes it difficult to use certain types ofuser interfaces. Input and output mechanismsincorporating icons, voice-based instructions,choice of language and text may improve us-ability for rural customers, and hence revenuegeneration for service providers.

Long life cyclesUnlike business and consumer markets in

developed countries, rural markets in devel-oping countries cannot sustain rapid turnoverof equipment every two to three years. Mostsystems will take at least three years to recoverinitial investment, others will take much longerthan that. Equipment designed for deployment

** Thin client, when applied to computing de-vices, generally indicates a client with reducedprocessing or overall computing capabilities.

Wireless IP-based networks at PSTN edge

Source: KDD.

WAN linkover rough

terrain

Wireless IPphone network

Gateway toPSTN

ITU News 7/200126

DEVELOPMENT

in the rural areas of developing countriesshould be durable, rugged and future-proof tothe extent possible. Provisions must also bemade for servicing, repairing and providingspare parts for the equipment over at least fiveto ten years.

Multi-user terminalThe developed-country standard of a tel-

ephone in every household � and a computeron every desktop � is much too costly for theincome levels in the rural areas of developingcountries. As a result, many countries have en-couraged the development of local phone shopsand multi-purpose community telecentres(MCT) where villagers can access telephones,e-mail, educational media, training courses,telemedicine, and other related services on apay-as-you-go basis. Telephones and informa-tion technology devices installed in shared fa-cilities may require metering functions, softwareto manage multiple accounts or users, and otherspecialized payment or billing.

Compliance with standardsA wide variety of actors are involved in the

design of applications and information technol-ogy (IT) networks in rural areas. Governmental,educational, international and non-governmen-tal organizations in developing countriesroutinely design and implement IT projects tosupport their own applications. As a result, it iseven more important, now and in the future,that equipment used in rural and remote areasconforms to standards approved by ITU andother recognized standards-setting bodies. Soft-ware applications should support open proto-cols applicable to OSI layers 3 and higher, andshould comply fully with relevant ITU Recom-mendations on LAN/PSTN interconnection.

Low-power requirementsSince many rural areas are not connected to

their country�s main power grids, power require-ments are a critical consideration in selectingtechnology for them. Devices should be designedfor minimal power consumption, efficient powermanagement, compatibility with off-grid andrenewable energy systems, and other energy-conserving features.

OutlookThe FG7 Task Force is lending its support to

BDT in following up the recommendations listedat the beginning of this article. Already, the TaskForce has drawn up a pilot project model de-signed to test the use of wireless, packet-basedcommunication technologies in delivering mul-timedia applications to rural areas. Access tech-nologies meeting this description will be testedin rural areas, under the leadership of BDT, inorder to begin assessing their capability to de-liver voice, facsimile, text, image, audio andvideo communications cost effectively in ruralareas in an affordable and sustainable manner.

As a first phase, pilot projects will be con-structed in five countries to be selected fromAfrica, Asia, Latin America, Arab States, andthe Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS). In this regard, the Task Force has drawnup a Request for Proposals on pilot projects tobuild packet-based wireless IP networks in ru-ral areas and to spur the spread of Internet serv-ices. In addition, it has developed criteria forselecting locations for such pilot projects.

BDT invites project proposals from develop-ing countries in response to the pilot projectmodel document, which is now available fromeach ITU regional office and from the Bureau�smain office in Geneva. This document was alsopresented to regional preparatory meetings inBali (April, 2001) and in Yaoundé (May, 2001),and will be presented to the forthcoming meet-ing in Trinidad and Tobago (October, 2001) toencourage interested countries to send in theirapplications. The expectation is to expand pi-lot projects to an even larger-scale programmein the next phase.

Meanwhile, BDT is mobilizing the necessaryfunds and resources from within and outsideITU to support the pilot projects, which aredirected at bridging the digital divide. Admin-istrations of developed countries, major ITUMember companies, United Nations agenciesand other related organizations and institutionsare invited to respond to the BDT initiative. Thisis the first step towards a universal fund to belaunched by ITU to promote accessibility toInternet services with multimedia servicecapabilities in the rural and remote areas ofdeveloping countries. �

ITU News 7/2001 27

DEVELOPMENT

T he International TelecommunicationUnion and the Australian NationalOffice for the Information Economy

(NOIE) have signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) to enhance the training of theAsia-Pacific region�s policy-makers, adminis-trators, regulators and corporate directors inmanaging telecommuni-cation networks and serv-ices. This training will beoffered through the ITUAsia-Pacific Centre ofExcellence (CoE) project.

Under the terms of theMoU, the Australian Com-munications Authority(ACA) will share its knowl-edge and expertise in tele-communication regulationwith the developing coun-tries in the region. The Australian Governmentwill underwrite the CoE financially for a periodof six months and has further agreed to trans-form ACA�s training material from lecture notesinto visually-rich, online multimedia productsthat are appealing and easy-to-use. It will alsodevelop downloadable training modules suitableprimarily for senior managers and executivesdrawn from the region�s private and publicorganizations in the information and communi-cation technologies (ICT) sector.

�Transfer of knowledge is one of the keys tounlock human capacity in our sector,� saidHamadoun Touré, Director of the ITU Telecom-munication Development Bureau (BDT).�Through this agreement to diffuse the benefits

of its unique experience in liberalization, Aus-tralia is contributing to efforts deployed forbridging the regional divide in ICT-readiness,�he also remarked.

�The development of all is to the benefit ofall,� said Richard Thwaites, NOIE�s GeneralManager, International. �We are committed to

assisting in the develop-ment of infrastructure andexpertise, particularly withour neighbouring countrieswith whom we have eco-nomic and trading relation-ships. ITU, notably throughits recent regional Centresof Excellence initiative, is aneffective partner in thisprocess.�

The first training modulewill be on the subject of

numbering. The finished product will includeWeb pages with a unique look and feel that willbe replicated throughout the training modules.

�By applying creative design and technologyto existing training materials, the project aimsto make the content more appealing so as toretain the interest of users and to enable them toquickly understand and absorb the topics andissues,� said Arthur Morse, Project Managerof the Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence. Theregion�s cultural, linguistic and developmentaldiversity will be taken into account during thepreparation of the on-line training modules.

The Asia-Pacific CoE project was initiated byBDT in early 2000 to establish a virtual regionalnetwork of research and training centres, which

Asia�s Centre of Excellence

ITU partners with Australian Authorityto enrich Asia-Pacific knowledge pool

Under the terms ofthe MoU, the AustralianCommunicationsAuthority (ACA) willshare its knowledgeand expertise in telecom-munication regulationwith the developingcountries in the region

ITU News 7/200128

DEVELOPMENT

A Memorandum of Under-standing was signed on

1 August 2001 between ITUand the Waseda Universityin Tokyo to bolster humanresources development andresearch in information andcommunication technolo-gies (ICT) in the Asia-Pacificregion.The MoU was signedat the Waseda campus byYoshio Utsumi, ITU Secre-tary-General, and TakayasuOkushima, President ofWaseda University.

Under the terms of theMoU, Waseda University willprovide academic expertiseand technical assistance andshare its knowledge in newtechnologies and distancelearning � a field in which ithas implemented projectswith several neighbouringcountries. Beneficiaries of thisnew cooperation will be pri-marily senior managers andexecutives drawn from privateand public organizations inthe region�s ICT sector.

More than 100 dignitariesattended the signing cer-emony. Among them were

several Congressmen, topofficials of the Ministry ofPublic Management, HomeAffairs, Post and Telecommu-nication including KaoruKanazawa, Vice-Minister forPolicy Co-ordination (Inter-national Affairs) and KoichiUchida, Director-General ofthe International AffairsDepartment, as well as CEOsof major corporations includ-ing Akira Shiomi, President ofANRITSU Corporation andYutaka Hayashi, President ofthe Communications Indus-try Association of Japan.

�This partnership betweenITU and an academic institu-tion brings a new dimensiontowards creating an environ-ment in which relevant infor-mation and knowledge maybe more readily accessed andexchanged,� Mr Utsumi saidduring the signing ceremony.He went on to add that intoday�s global and networkedeconomies, knowledge is amain weapon of success. �Toenable developing econo-mies to compete fairly in thisnew environment, human

resources development mustbe improved in quantumterms. Training institutionsworking hand in hand withITU in a collaborative ven-ture is clearly a promisingand concrete way to makeheadway.�

Established in 1882,Waseda University is a privateinstitution with 50 000 stu-dents. The establishmentboasts academic exchangeagreements with 300 univer-sities and research institutesin some 50 countries. �OurUniversity�s global partner-ship with ITU, as well as withindustry and government, isexpected to be most beneficialto participants in meeting thechallenge of education andresearch in ICT,� said MrOkushima.

As a first step in this part-nership, the Global Informa-tion and TelecommunicationInstitute (GITI) of WasedaUniversity will organize aworkshop in Tokyo in Novem-ber 2001 on new trends inICT technology for regulatorsand policy-makers. �

ITU and Waseda University (Japan) sign MoUto enhance technology transfer in the Asia-Pacific region

are run by governments or academic institu-tions. It provides Web-based courses and pro-grammes on policy, legal and regulatory aspectsin the ICT sector. The CoE was set up withsurplus funds from ITU TELECOM events in

collaboration with partners such as the Officeof the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA)of the Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion (SAR) and the Infocomm DevelopmentAuthority of Singapore (IDA). �

ITU News 7/2001 29

GeSI encourages corporateenvironmental monitoringand the sharing of bestpractices such as saving energyand developing products�designed for the environment�Photos (from left to right):PhotoDisc (ITU 010570)and Actualités Suisse (ITU 940043)

THE ENVIRONMENT

A group of companies in the informationand communication technologies (ICT)sector and their industry associations

have joined hands to form a new alliance calledthe Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).This is the first alliance of itskind to involve both telecom-munication operators andtheir suppliers, who havecommitted to managing theirown business operations in anenvironmentally friendly wayand to promoting sustainablebusiness practices and tech-nologies around the worldthat save energy, minimizewaste and contribute tobridging the �digital divide�.GeSI is supported by theUnited Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP) and ITU.

GeSI was launched on theoccasion of World Environ-ment Day (5 June), which thisyear was celebrated undermodern telecommunications as a major theme.With a common vision to �make a key contribu-tion to a global sustainable future�, foundingmembers of this new voice on the environmentinclude: AT&T, BT, Cable & Wireless, DeutscheTelekom, Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, Mar-coni, Telcordia Technologies, Telenor and theEuropean Telecommunications Network Opera-tors Association.

�At a time in history when our technologiesare bringing people closer together, it followsthat businesses also work together to contrib-

A new voice emergesIndustry launches Global e-Sustainability Initiative

ute to the societies within which they operate,�says Chris Tuppen, Chairman of the Interim GeSIsteering group. �The launch of GeSI will buildon existing voluntary activities and act as thefocus for a global network of companies and

organizations working onsustainability issues in theICT sector.�

Klaus Töpfer, UNEP�sExecutive Director, notesthat �modern telecommu-nications is transformingthe way the world worksand by enabling access tothe global economy can make a major contribu-tion towards human development.� He goes onto add that telecommunications offer �hope for

ITU News 7/200130

THE ENVIRONMENT

reducing some of the great environmental threatsof this new millennium such as climate change�.Under the Valletta Action Plan, approved by itsMember States during the World Telecommu-nication Development Conference in 1998, ITUhas committed to lending tangible support to

environmental protection � notably throughICT applications.

While the telecommunications industry tendsto be relatively clean, like many other industries,it consumes vast amounts of energy, generateswaste and affects the physical environment in

various ways. Responding to thischallenge, GeSI encourages cor-porate environmental monitoringand the sharing of best practicessuch as reducing and recycling ofwaste, saving energy and devel-oping products �designed for theenvironment.�

A key contribution of ICT toenvironmental protection is inthe transport sector. Video con-ferencing, telebanking, tele-learning and teleshopping, forexample, can eliminate the needfor travel and so reduce traffic(less congestion and pollution)and the emission of greenhousegases � the major cause ofglobal warming.

The companies participatingin GeSI have agreed on a numberof exciting activities rangingfrom environmental manage-ment in their internal operationsto exploring options for remoteand disadvantaged communitiesin developing countries to get�online�.

Over the next two years, GeSIwill support research on the rolethat ICTs can play in promotingsustainable development � cli-mate change, waste reductionand the digital divide are amongthe main issues that will beaddressed first. GeSI membersare also looking into how best toshare their knowledge and expe-rience to enable businessesaround the world to seize new op-portunities and expand marketswhile displaying corporate socialand environmental responsibilityat the same time. �

Case studies (extracts)

Cutting down carbon dioxide emissionsBT has calculated that employee use of audio and video confer-encing saved over 240 million kilometres of travel in 2000, contrib-uting to a total company saving of 1 million tons of Carbon dioxideper annum. According to AT&T, increased teleworking by their staffin 2000 avoided 170 million kilometres of car travel which they trans-late into preventing almost 50 000 tons of carbon dioxide from beingemitted into the atmosphere. From 1996 to 2000, Deutsche Telekomreduced pollutant emissions from their vehicle fleet by 25 per cent.

Minimizing waste and maximizing energyIn December 2000, Marconi started a best practice �waste man-agement project� at their Liverpool site in the United Kingdom.They installed an auto waste-to-heat recovery system to burn theirwaste and convert the heat to usable energy, resulting in lesslandfill, provision of �free� hot water and also reductions of fossilfuel transport and heating emissions. In an effort to minimize theirwaste, AT&T estimate that they recycled 73 per cent of their wastepaper in 2000 and saved over 73 million sheets of paper by con-verting their office practices into an intranet/Internet paperlessenvironment.

Sustainability and the supply chainA product �life-cycle� approach, from concept to disposal, in thedevelopment and delivery of all products and services minimizesthe depletion of natural resources such as energy and maximizesthe potential for recycling. In support of this approach, the partici-pating companies work closely with customers, suppliers, tradeand industry associations and standards organizations to developand promote sustainable management systems and business so-lutions.

Cable & Wireless has incorporated environmental criteria intothe Request for Quote document for all suppliers in the United King-dom. These cover details of their environmental policy, manage-ment systems, main impacts, audits and regulatory compliance.Lucent Technologies has developed a method that helps businessidentify products that can be characterized as environmentallyfriendly. �

ITU News 7/2001 31

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONSTITUTION AND CONVENTION OFTHE ITU (GENEVA, 1992), KYOTO, 1994,AND MINNEAPOLIS, 1998

The Government of the Republic of Latviahas ratified the above-mentioned Constitutionand Convention.

The instrument of ratification was depositedwith the Secretary-General on 1 June 2001.

The Government of the Federal Republic ofYugoslavia has acceded to the above-men-tioned Constitution and Convention.

The instrument of accession was depositedwith the Secretary-General on 1 June 2001.

FINAL ACTS OF THE WORLDRADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE(GENEVA, 1995)

The Government of Spain has ratified theabove-mentioned Final Acts.

The instrument of ratification was depositedwith the Secretary-General on 13 July 2001.

OPTIONAL PROTOCOLON THE COMPULSORY SETTLEMENTOF DISPUTES RELATING TO THECONSTITUTION AND CONVENTIONOF THE ITU AND TO THEADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS

The Government of the Republic of Latviahas ratified the above-mentioned Protocol.

The instrument of ratification was depositedwith the Secretary-General on 1 June 2001.

CHANGESThe Ministry of Communications of the Is-

lamic Republic of Pakistan has changed itsname and is now called Ministry of Scienceand Technology.

Alcatel � Compagnie Financière, which par-ticipates in the work of the Radiocommunica-tion, Telecommunication Standardization andTelecommunication Development Sectors, haschanged its name. The new denomination isAlcatel S.A.

INTELSAT, which participates in the work ofthe Radiocommunication, Telecommunication

Standardization and Telecommunication Devel-opment Sectors, has changed its name. The newdenomination is Intelsat, LLC.

InTouch Communications Services, S.A.E.,which participates in the work of the Telecom-munication Development Sector, has changed itsname. The new denomination is LINKdotNET.

Pirelli Cavi e Sistemi S.p.A., which partici-pates in the work of the TelecommunicationStandardization Sector, has changed its name.The new denomination is Pirelli Cavi eSistemi Telecom Italia S.p.A.

South Pacific Forum Secretariat, which par-ticipates in the work of the TelecommunicationDevelopment Sector, has changed its name. Thenew denomination is Pacific Islands ForumSecretariat.

NEW MEMBERS

Radiocommunication SectorH3G S.p.A. (Rome), IPSE 2000 S.p.A. (Rome),

Libyan Satellite Project (LIBSAT) (Tripoli) andSharp Corporation (Tokyo) have been admittedto take part in the work of this Sector.

Telecommunication Standardization SectorBandspeed, Pty Ltd (Melbourne, Australia),

Corning International K.K. (Tokyo), H3G S.p.A.(Rome), IPSE 2000 S.p.A. (Rome), Sharp Corpo-ration (Tokyo), Sunrise Telecom, Inc. (San Jose,CA) and Tellium, Inc. (Oceanport, NJ) have beenadmitted to take part in the work of this Sector.

Telecommunication Development SectorGeneva Business Institute S.A. (GBI) (Geneva),

Polo Tecnologico Di Stato Carlo Cattaneo(Castelnovo, Italy), Telecommunication Informa-tion Technology (TIT) (Beirut) and The BoeingCompany (Arlington, VA) have been admitted totake part in the work of this Sector.

NEW ASSOCIATES

Radiocommunication SectorNMT Association (Stockholm) has been admit-

ted to take part in the work of Study Group 8.

From official sourcesFrom official sources

ITU News 7/200132

Telecommunication Standardization SectorBig Bear Networks, Inc. (Milpitas, CA),

Kodeos Communications, Inc. (South Plainfield,NJ), Parama Networks, Inc. (Shrewsbury, NJ)and PMC-Sierra, Inc. (Portland, OR) have beenadmitted to take part in the work of StudyGroup 15.

Zaiq Technologies, Inc. (Woburn, MA) hasbeen admitted to take part in the work of theSpecial Study Group on �IMT-2000 and beyond�.

STRUCTURAL CHANGE

Republic of Lithuania

The Communications Regulatory Authority,an independent telecommunications regulatorestablished on 1 May 2001, has taken over thefunctions of the former State Radio FrequencyService. The new regulator has also been vestedwith regulatory powers in respect of telecom-munication and radio regulatory matters.

ITU�T Recommendation M.2102(02/2000)Maintenance thresholds andprocedures for recovery mecha-nisms (protection and restoration)of international SDH VC trails(paths) and multiplex sectionsSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19602 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation M.2130(02/2000)Operational procedures for themaintenance of the transportnetworkSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19570 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation M.2140(02/2000)Transport network event correlationSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19727 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation M.3400(02/2000)TMN management functionsSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19730 CHF 44

ITU�T Recommendation P.79(09/1999)Calculation of loudness ratings fortelephone setsSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 17584 CHF 22

ITU�T Recommendation P.340(05/2000)Transmission characteristics ofhands-free telephonesSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19665 CHF 22

ITU�T Recommendation P.342(05/2000)Transmission characteristics fortelephone band (300�3400 Hz)digital loudspeaking and hands-free telephony terminalsSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19552 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation Q.763(12/1999)Signalling System No. 7 � ISDNUser Part formats and codesSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19698 CHF 55

ITU�T Recommendation Q.764(12/1999)Signalling System No. 7 � ISDNUser Part signalling procedures

Separate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19701 CHF 44

ITU�T Recommendation Q.765(06/2000)Signalling system No. 7 �Application transport mechanismSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19611 CHF 22

ITU�T Recommendation Q.765.1bis(12/1999)Abstract test suite for the APMsupport of VPN applicationsSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19580 CHF 20

ITU�T Recommendation Q.784.3(12/1999)ISUP �97 basic call controlprocedures �Test suite structureand test purposes (TSS & TP)Separate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19534 CHF 89

ITU�T Recommendation Q.812Amendement 2 (02/2000)Protocol profile for electroniccommunications interactive agentSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19641 CHF 9

ITU�T Recommendation Q.950(06/2000)Supplementary services protocols,structure and general principlesSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19596 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation Q.1521(06/2000)Requirements on underlyingnetworks and signalling protocolsto support UPTSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19605 CHF 22

PUBLICATIONSThe following letters indicate thelanguages in which documents arepublished:

F for FrenchE for EnglishS for SpanishR for RussianC for ChineseA for Arabic

Prices (indicative only) are in Swissfrancs (CHF).A comprehensive list of all ITU publi-cations can be obtained, free of charge,from the Sales and Marketing Service,Place des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 20(Switzerland). Fax: +41 22 730 5194.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLICATIONS

ITU News 7/2001 33

PUBLICATIONS/DIARY

ITU�T Recommendation Q.1600bis(12/1999)Signalling System No. 7 �Interaction between ISDN UserPart ISUP �97 and INAP CS-1: Testsuite structure and test purposes(TSS & TP)Separate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19573 CHF 79

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2150.1(12/1999)AAL type 2 signalling transportconverter on broadband MTPSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 17980 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2150.2(12/1999)AAL type 2 signalling transportconverter on SSCOPSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 17936 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2763(12/1999)Signalling System No. 7 B-ISDNUser Part (B-ISUP) � Formats andcodesSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19668 CHF 39

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2764(12/1999)Signalling System No. 7 B-ISDNUser Part (B-ISUP) � Basic callproceduresSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19636 CHF 73

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2767.1(06/2000)Soft PVC capabilitySeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19549 CHF 17

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2991.1(12/1999)TSS & TPSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19661 CHF 62

ITU�T Recommendation Q.2991.2(12/1999)ICS & IXIT and ATSSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19614 CHF 72

ITU�T Recommendation T.30Amendment 3 (03/2001)Procedures for document facsimiletransmission in the generalswitched telephone networkSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19564 CHF 9

ITU�T Recommendation T.37Amendment 2 (03/2001)Procedures for the transfer offacsimile data via store-and-forward on the InternetSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19555 CHF 9

ITU�T Recommendation X.6Amendment 1 (03/2000)Frame relay PVC multicast servicedefinitionSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19710 CHF 9

ITU�T Recommendation X.171(03/2000)Network-network managementservices for data networksSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19633 CHF 12

ITU�T Recommendation X.509(03/2000)Information technology � OpenSystems Interconnection � TheDirectory: public-key and attributecertificate frameworksSeparate editions in F, E, SArticle: 19454 CHF 61

2001�12�16 November(Johannesburg, South Africa)ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2001(Exhibition and Forum)

2002�18-27 March (Istanbul,Turkey)World TelecommunicationDevelopment Conference(WTDC-02)�22 April�3 May (Geneva)Council 2002 (C-2002)�23 September�18 October(Marrakesh, Morocco)Plenipotentiary Conference(PP-02)

�2�7 December (Hong Kong)ITU TELECOM ASIA 2002(Exhibition and Forum)

2003�2�6 June (Caracas, Ven-ezuela)Radiocommunication Assem-bly (RA)�9 June�4 July (Caracas,Venezuela)World RadiocommunicationConference (WRC-03)�12�18 October (Geneva)ITU TELECOM WORLD 2003(Exhibition and Forum)�December (Geneva)World Summit on the Infor-mation Society (WSIS)

2001

General Secretariat�27�28 November (Geneva)4th Annual Review Meetingof GMPCS-MoU Group

TelecommunicationDevelopment Sector

�10�14 September (Caracas)Fourth meeting of ITU�D StudyGroup 2�17�19 September (Rabat)Forum on telecommunicationregulation in Africa and in theArab States�18�20 September (Bratislava)Regional seminar on new trendsin tariff policies

ITU conferencesITU conferences

ITU News 7/200134

DIARY

�24�28 September (Castries,Saint Lucia)Regional training workshops onInternet and e-commerce �Organization of the EasternCaribbean States (OECS)�27 September (Salvador daBahia, Brazil)ITU/ITC workshop on teletrafficissues for developing countries�27�28 September (Geneva)Fourth meeting of the Task Forceon Gender Issues�1�2 October (Geneva)Sixth meeting of TDAG Subgroupdealing with private sector issues�2�4 October (Warsaw)Seminar on IMT-2000 for CentralEastern Europe�3�5 October (Geneva)Sixth meeting of the Telecommuni-cation Development Advisory Group(TDAG)�15�17 October (Ouagadougou)ITU/UEMOA seminar onInternet and e-commerce�16�18 October (Port of Spain)Americas regional preparatorymeeting for WTDC-02�22�26 October (Seoul)Asia and Pacific regionalworkshop on equal access ofwomen in ICT�27�30 October (Damascus)Annual regional meeting fortelecommunication developmentin the Arab region�29 October�2 November(Santo Domingo)Workshop on TAL for CentralAmerican countries: set-up,training, applications�5�7 November(Castries, Saint Lucia)Caribbean seminar on financing/costing issues�5�7 November (Nairobi)FES/ITU/URTNA symposium onnew broadcasting technologies�19�23 November (Bangkok)ITU/AIBD workshop on conver-

sion of analogue to digitaltelevision�3�5 December (Geneva)Second annual global sympo-sium for regulators�6�7 December (Geneva)Development agencies collabora-tion meeting�10�12 December (Geneva)Coordination meeting for theWorld Telecommunication Devel-opment Conference (WTDC-02)

2002�18�27 March (Istanbul, Turkey)World TelecommunicationDevelopment Conference(WTDC-02)

2001Radiocommunication

Sector�10�18 September (Geneva)Radio Regulations Board (RRB)�17�19 September (Geneva)Task Group 6/7 (Planningparameters for digital broad-casting at frequencies below30 MHz)�19�21 September (Geneva)Working Party 6P (Broadcastingsystems, production, basebandsignals)�19�28 September (Geneva)Working Party 6E (Terrestrialemission)�19�28 September (Geneva)Working Party 6S (Satellitebroadcasting)�20�26 September (Geneva)Working Party 6M (Interactivityand multimedia)�20�28 September (Geneva)Working Party 6D (Digital coding)�24�28 September (Geneva)Working Party 6R (Recording forbroadcasting)�24�28 September (Mexico City)Regional radiocommunicationseminar

�26�28 September (Geneva)Working Party 6Q (Qualityassessment)�27�28 September (Geneva)Joint Rapporteurs Group6S�9D (Sharing between FS andBSS (sound))�1�2 October (Geneva)Study Group 6 (Broadcastingservice)�1�2 October (Geneva)Satellite Backlog Action Group(SAT-BAG)�1�8 October (Geneva)Working Party 4B (Systems,performance, availability andmaintenance)�1�8 October (Geneva)Working Party 9A (Performanceand availability, interferenceobjectives and analysis, effectsof propagation, and terminology)�1�9 October (Geneva)Working Party 9B (Radio-frequencychannel arrangements, radiosystem characteristics, intercon-nection, maintenance and variousapplications)�2�10 October (Geneva)Working Party 9D (Sharing withother services (except for thefixed-satellite service))�3�12 October (Geneva)Working Party 4A (Efficient orbit/spectrum utilization)�8�10 October (Geneva)Working Party 9C (Systemsbelow 30 MHz (HF and others))�10�16 October (Tokyo)Working Party 8F (IMT-2000 andSystems beyond IMT-2000)�11�12 October (Geneva)Study Group 9 (Fixed service)�15�16 October (Geneva)Study Group 7 (Science services)�15�17 October (Geneva)Study Group 4 (Fixed-satelliteservice)�15�23 October (Geneva)Working Party 4�9S (Frequencysharing between the fixed-

ITU conferences (continued)ITU conferences (continued)

ITU News 7/2001 35

Conferences external to ITUConferences external to ITU

DIARY

satellite service and the fixedservice)�17�19 October (Geneva)Working Party 7E (Inter-servicesharing and compatibility)�22�26 October (Geneva)Joint Rapporteurs Group 8A�9B(Wireless access)�22�30 October (Geneva)Working Party 8A (Land mobileservice excluding IMT-2000;amateur and amateur-satelliteservices)�23 October�2 November (Geneva)Working Party 8D (All mobilesatellite services and radio-determination satellite service)�24 October (Geneva)Joint Study Groups 4 and 9meeting�24 October�2 November (Geneva)Working Party 8B (Maritimemobile service including GlobalMaritime Distress and SafetySystem (GMDSS); aeronautical

mobile service and radiodetermi-nation service)�1�7 November (Geneva)Joint Task Group 1�6�8�9(Multimedia applications)�19�23 November (Geneva)Terrestrial workshop�3�7 December (Geneva)Radio Regulations Board (RRB)

TelecommunicationStandardization Sector

�15-26 October (Geneva)Study Group 15 (Optical andother transport networks) and itsWorking Parties�18�19 October (Dakar)Workshop on QoS and user-perceived transmission quality inevolving networks�22�26 October (Dakar)Study Group 12 (End-to-endtransmission performance ofnetworks and terminals) and itsWorking Parties

�26�30 November (Geneva)Telecommunication Standardi-zation Advisory Group (TSAG)

�3�7 December (Geneva)Study Group 3 (Tariff andaccounting principles includingrelated telecommunicationeconomic and policy issues) andits Working Parties

�3�7 December (Geneva)Study Group 9 (Integratedbroadband cable networks andtelevision and sound transmis-sion) and its Working Parties

�10 December (Hanoi)Workshop on EMC, safety andEMF effects in telecommunica-tions

�10�14 December (Geneva)Study Group 6 (Outside plant) andits Working Parties

�11�14 December (Hanoi)Study Group 5 (Protection againstelectromagnetic environmenteffects) and its Working Parties

2001

�17�18 September (London)Pricing GPRS and mobile dataTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/mobpricing�17�18 September (Monaco)The European IT Forum 2001 �11th EditionTel.: +39 2 2022 6207Fax: +39 2 2845 7313E-mail: [email protected]://emea.idc.com/itforum01�17�18 September (Rome)Mobile multimedia messagingTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/mmm�19�21 September (Amsterdam)On Demand Television

Tel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/ondemandtv

�19�21 September (Paris)Mobile Internet 2001Tel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.mobileinternetexpo.com

�20�21 September (London)Mobile phones � Is there a healthrisk?Tel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/mobilehealth

�20�21 September (Rome)MVNOs: Mobile virtual networkoperatorsTel.: +44 1932 893 855

Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/mvno�24�28 September(Salvador, Bahia, Brazil)ITC 17 � International TeletrafficCongress and Workshop fordeveloping countriesE-mail: [email protected]://www.anatel.gov.br/itc17/�26�27 September (London)Mobile user interfaceTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.handsetech.com/mui�1�4 October (Bordeaux, France)ICIN 2001 � 7th InternationalConference on Intelligencein Next Generation NetworksTel.: +33 5 5615 1151Fax: +33 5 5615 1160E-mail: [email protected]://www.adera.fr/icin2001

ITU News 7/200136

Conferences external to ITU (continued)Conferences external to ITU (continued)

DIARY

�8�11 October (Brussels)International CBO Seminar �Reliability engineering in ad-vanced technology and industryTel.: +31 10 461 2805Fax: +31 10 418 7380

�15�16 October (Barcelona,Spain)Mobile content billingTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/contentbilling

�15�17 October (Newport, RI)KMI � 24th Annual NewportConference on FiberopticsMarketsTel.: +1 401 849 6771Fax: +1 401 847 5866E-mail: [email protected]://www.kmicorp.com/

�17�19 October (Barcelona,Spain)UMTS Congress 2001Tel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.umtscongress.com

�22�25 October (Madrid)European VoIP Congress 2001Tel.: +44 207 840 2700Fax: +44 207 840 2701E-mail: [email protected]://www.access-conf.com

�29�30 October (London)Global Mobile Executive SummitTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com

�6�8 November (Rome)Submarine communicationsTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.submarinecomms.com

�7�9 November (Rio de Janeiro)Mobile Internet in Latin America� Examining the Latin American

opportunities for mobile InternetTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.mobileinternetseries.com

�13�15 November (Amsterdam)Roaming and VHE � 6thAnnual Global Mobile RoamingConference towards full globalinterstandards and data roamingTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com

�14�16 November (Seoul)Digital satellite broadcastingand broadband applicationsTel.: +82 2 508 4883-5Fax: +82 2 568 8593E-mail: [email protected]://www.apscc.or.kr

�19�22 November (Paris)Billing & CRM 2001Tel.: +44 207 423 4616Fax: +44 207 423 4501E-mail: [email protected]://www.billing.co.uk

�21�23 November (London)3G financingTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/3Gfinancing

�22�23 November (Cape Town)GSM AfricaTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/gsmafrica

�22�23 November (Montpellier,France)International Conferenceof IDATE 2001 � Time forbroadband?Debating the transformationin telecommunications,the Internet and mediaTel.: +33 4 6714 4456

Fax: +33 4 6714 4400E-mail: [email protected]://www.idate.fr

�4�5 December (Rio de Janeiro)GSM AmericaTel.: +44 1932 893 855Fax: +44 207 636 1976E-mail: [email protected]://www.ibctelecoms.com/gsmamerica

�11�14 December(Bangalore, India)IRSI-2001 � International RadarSymposium IndiaTel.: +91 80 514 1666Fax: +91 80 524 2860E-mail: [email protected]://www.irsi2001.com

2002

�13�17 January (Honolulu, HI)PTC 2002 � 24th AnnualConference on next generationcommunications: Making ITworkTel.: +1 808 941 3789Fax: +1 808 944 4874E-mail: [email protected]://www.ptc.org

�10�12 April (Luxembourg)Telemedicine and TelecareInternational Trade FairTel.: +32 2 269 8456Fax: +32 2 269 7953E-mail: [email protected]://www.telemedicine.lu

�21�23 April (Doha, Qatar)ARABCOM 2002Tel.: +961 5 450 212Fax: +961 5 455 477GSM: +961 321 4215E-mail: [email protected]://www.arabcom.com

�27�30 June (Wroclaw, Poland)EMC 2002 � Sixteenth Interna-tional Wroclaw Symposium andExhibition on ElectromagneticCompatibilityE-mail: [email protected]://www.emc.wroc.pl

it’s the future. and it’s for you - itu. · pdf filecontinent is as bright as its...

Documents