December 18, 2012

A Lebanese delegation presided by Dr. Imad Hoballah, TRA Acting Chairman and CEO and Lebanon’s representative to the ITU, participated in the World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012 (WCIT) in Dubai from 3 to 14 December 2012. Mr. Gaby Daniel and Mr. Antoine Boustani, representing the Ministry of Telecommunications, and TRA spectrum experts Mr. Mohamad Ayoub and Mrs. Jinane Karam were part of the Lebanese delegation.

WCIT is an ITU event destined to review the ITRs – a treaty that is the basis of today’s connected world. The ITRs underpins the way we communicate with each other by phone or computer, by voice, video or data, across the globe.

The ITRs set out the principles that ensure that networks can connect with each other smoothly and that international services will be offered in a fair and efficient manner. They compromise ten articles dealing with such matters as cooperation among national administrations, giving priority to emergency telecommunications, and charging for traffic exchanged between carriers in different countries.

Most of the proposed changes or additions to the ITRs can be summarized under the following headings:

- Fundamental right of access to communications
- Security in the use of ICT
- Protection of critical national resources
- International frameworks
- Charging and accounting including taxation
- Interconnection and interoperability
- Quality of service
- Convergence

The newly updated treaty contains:

- Provisions for increased transparency in international mobile roaming charges, and the fostering of competition, which should benefit consumers.

- A new provision that mandates greater connectivity for people with disabilities.

- A new Resolution covering land-locked developing nations and small island developing states. This Resolution will set the framework for increased investment and roll out of broadband and mobile broadband, bringing vital services to populations that are still unconnected.

- A new provision for dealing with the growing scourge of e-waste and promoting greater energy efficiency.

- Provisions to deal with misuse of numbering resources. One provision says that "Member States shall endeavour to ensure that international telecommunication numbering resources specified in ITU-T Recommendations are used only by the assignees and only for the purposes for which they were assigned; and that unassigned resources are not used." Another stipulates that "Member States shall endeavour to ensure that international calling line identification (CLI) information is provided taking into account the relevant ITU-T Recommendations."

To view the final acts of the WCIT 12 click here
For more info about the event, click here