Preparations are finished, the engines are lubricated and the equipment is ready. Today, the green light is given to begin discussions on the new ITRs.
On December 3rd more than 1600 participants in Dubai start a race of only two weeks to reach a final result on 14 December. There are many official teams -riders in national delegations of countries – but also other riders out of competition – industry members, content providers and civil society.
An indication of the importance of the race could be determined by the size of the teams, as they have very different sizes: there are large teams, as the USA team of 123 people and the UAE team of 160, and medium size teams like Russia (50), Nigeria (72), South Africa (45) and Brazil (45). Others, like most Europeans, except UK (31), have a discrete size between 10 and 15 components.
Spectators of the race are many millions, since the new ITRs will affect all users of international Telecommunications, in a greater or lesser degree, depending on whether or not the include Internet provisions. For some teams (mainly Africans, Arabs and Russia) the award is the inclusion of the Internet in the new ITRs. On the other hand, for other teams like the USA and Europe, the award is precisely the opposite: keeping the Internet out of the new ITRs. Minor awards will be related to roaming, double taxation, the role of the ITU, cybersecurity, etc.
Telefónica, along with major operators worldwide, will also be on the Dubai track with three representatives to promote its vision of Sustainable Internet. Stay tuned!
You can also find the official information concerning WCIT here.
or through Twitter @ITU.
