The ITU and the Internet

International Telecommunication Union

The ITU and the Internet

Robert Shaw

ITU Internet Strategy and Policy Advisor


Baker & McKenzieEuropean Telecommunications Law Practice Group

Geneva, 11 May 2001


Agenda

• 1998 Plenipotentiary Resolutions

• ITU activities in IP-based networks

• ITU Involvement in Management of Internet Domain Names and Addresses


1998 Plenipotentiary Resolutionson the Internet

• Resolution 101 on “Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks”

• Resolution 102 on “Management of Internet Domain Names and Addresses”

• See www.itu.int/infocom/


Resolution 101 (IP-based networks)

• Resolves– ITU shall fully embrace the opportunities for

telecommunication development that arise from the growth of IP-based services;

– ITU shall clearly identify, for its Member States and Sector Members and for the general public, the range of Internet-related issues that fall within the responsibilities incumbent on the Union under its Constitution;

– ITU shall collaborate with other relevant organizations to ensure that growth in IP networking delivers maximum benefits to the global community, and participate as appropriate in any directly related international initiative.


Resolution 102 on “Management of Internet Domain Names and Addresses

• Instructs the Secretary-General:– to take an active part in the international

discussions and initiatives on the management of Internet domain names and addresses, which is being led by the private sector, with special attention to the activities conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), bearing in mind the purposes of the Union;

– to report annually to the Council on the activities undertaken on this subject.


Impact of the Net on ITU since Plenipot 1998

• Support for IP-related technologies is now strategic element in design, development and use of telecommunication networks

• “Net result” is significant impact on the ITU’s core activities in standardization, radiocommunication and development

• Difference between “Internet” and “telecoms” is increasingly just shades of grey


Key Trends (1)

• IP networks demand for bandwidth and capacity is driving continuous innovation in access and transport networks– leveraging copper wire “last-mile” networks

through digital subscriber line (“DSL”) technologies

– re‑architecturing of cable networks to support IP services

– new advances in optical networking techniques


Key Trends (2)

• Unification and interoperability of IP-based and PSTN network services and applications

• Decomposition and unbundling of services in PSTN

• Gateway devices that can exchange voice, video, facsimile and data traffic between PSTN and IP networks

• Toward the “holy grail” of voice and data integration


Key Trends (3)

• Emergence of differentiated Quality of Service (“QoS”) IP-based services

• Needed for isochronous (real-time) traffic (e.g., video, voice)

• New pricing & accounting models emerging• Difficulty of retrofitting this on public

Internet means a separate QoS/bandwidth tariffed Internet/Intranet could emerge (3G networks?)


Key Trends (4)

• Popularity of wireless networks and mobile data services

• Mobile systems will merge with handheld computers to become a (the?) strategic IP platform

• One of world’s first mobile Internet operators has now grown to more than 23 million subscribers: 2nd largest ISP in the world


Key Trends (5)

• New wave of Internet growth with hundreds of millions of IP-enabled appliances (especially wireless)– WebTV, Palm Pilot, Compaq iPaq, Nokia

9210,Sony Clié, Nintendo, Sega– Bluetooth for inter-device near-range

communication

• 2.5 & 3G data speeds are key enablers• ITU’s 3rd generation mobile initiative,

IMT‑2000, lays cornerstone for the mobile information society


Science Fiction?


ITU’s Involvement in Internet Domain Names & Addresses

• Addressing paradigms: Telecoms: E.164 number; Internet: Domain Name System (DNS)

• Catalysts of Change:– policy development related to the introduction of

competition– addition of new top-level domains– Multilingual issues– Intellectual property dispute resolution

• Dispute resolution framework creating new international “law”?

• New WIPO DNS process forging new concepts in IPR?

• Significant changes in Internet administration structure (ICANN)


Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

• ITU-T is member of ICANN’s Protocol Supporting Organization (PSO)

• ITU participates in ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

• Unusual construct: governments advising private corporation…• Clarifying relationships between governments, ccTLD

administrators, and ICANN• See http://www.noie.gov.au/gac

• Meta-issue of future: whether converged communications infrastructure should be subject to international public oversight or private control (or “co-regulation”)?


Case in Point: ENUM Protocol

• Maps PSTN E.164 numbering plan into DNS:– +41227305338 = 5.3.3.5.0.3.7.2.2.1.4.foo.tld

• In telecommunication numbering, there is a regulatory tradition with strong government involvement;

• In the Internet, management of naming and addressing has been left to “industry self-regulation”

• In converged addressing environment, which model should predominate?


ITU “New Initiatives”

• Strategy and Policy Unit “think tank” to discuss emerging or difficult telecoms policy/regulatory/convergence issues:

• Internet Policy Issues• Strategic Planning Workshops:

– Electronic Signatures & Digital Certificates– Fixed/Mobile Interconnect– IP Telephony (also subject of World Telecommunication

Policy Forum in 2001)– Broadband– 3G Licensing (September 2001)– Network Security and Trust in Cyberspace (early 2002?)

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The ITU and the Internet

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