As we all know, the United Nations are an international organisation whose stated aims are 'organising cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights and the achievement of world peace'.
The UN agency in question this time is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a highly specialised agency created to focus solely on telecommunications and ICT over 100 years ago. The ITU has previously disclaimed any authority to regulate domestic communications, stating specifically in their constitution the: 'sovereign right of each state to regulate its telecommunication'.
The remit of tasks performed by the ITU includes; allocating global satellite orbits and radio spectrum, developing interconnection by promoting technical standards, and working to improve telecommunications accessibility for underprivileged and underserved communities.
Although ITU regulations do not carry the weight of the law, per se, they set out detailed regulation suggestions and requirements for all national level regulatory authorities, and address a wide range of topics including standardisation and economic and technical issues.
At the forthcoming conference - which will take place in Dubai later this year - a significant treaty made in 1988 known as the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) will be renegotiated.
The ITRs was instrumental in providing a framework of governing principles concerned with international telecommunication transport and services along with the interconnection of telecommunications facilities. The ITRs also provided the guidelines for mutual and private agreements between countries and non-governmental organisations respectively.
An overhaul of the ITRs has long been on the cards, and although any alterations made will not become law, it is widely acknowledged that any decisions made at the conference will play a big part in the way internet and telecommunications are regulated internationally over the coming years.
So as to whether or not the changes (which seem inevitable) will have any long lasting or far reaching implications it remains to be seen. But one thing that is for sure is that a review of the regulations is long overdue, and whatever changes are made, it is certain that the ICT and telecommunications industries will continue to grow at an alarming rate for many years to come, guaranteeing that another review will never be far away.
The UN agency in question this time is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a highly specialised agency created to focus solely on telecommunications and ICT over 100 years ago. The ITU has previously disclaimed any authority to regulate domestic communications, stating specifically in their constitution the: 'sovereign right of each state to regulate its telecommunication'.
The remit of tasks performed by the ITU includes; allocating global satellite orbits and radio spectrum, developing interconnection by promoting technical standards, and working to improve telecommunications accessibility for underprivileged and underserved communities.
Although ITU regulations do not carry the weight of the law, per se, they set out detailed regulation suggestions and requirements for all national level regulatory authorities, and address a wide range of topics including standardisation and economic and technical issues.
At the forthcoming conference - which will take place in Dubai later this year - a significant treaty made in 1988 known as the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) will be renegotiated.
The ITRs was instrumental in providing a framework of governing principles concerned with international telecommunication transport and services along with the interconnection of telecommunications facilities. The ITRs also provided the guidelines for mutual and private agreements between countries and non-governmental organisations respectively.
An overhaul of the ITRs has long been on the cards, and although any alterations made will not become law, it is widely acknowledged that any decisions made at the conference will play a big part in the way internet and telecommunications are regulated internationally over the coming years.
So as to whether or not the changes (which seem inevitable) will have any long lasting or far reaching implications it remains to be seen. But one thing that is for sure is that a review of the regulations is long overdue, and whatever changes are made, it is certain that the ICT and telecommunications industries will continue to grow at an alarming rate for many years to come, guaranteeing that another review will never be far away.
About the Author:
Saul Saresi writes regularly about Voip communications and technologies for his site which can be found here business voip previous examples of his work can be found here voip for business
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