South Africa's ICT Leadership at ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, Antalya 2006

1. PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS: RATIFICATION OF THE FINAL ACTS OF THE ITU PLENIPOTENTIARY CONFERENCE, ANTALYA, TURKEY FROM 6th TO 24th NOVEMBER 2006 Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

2. BACKGROUND – ITU • The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the leading United Nations agency providing a platform for the governance of the information and communication technology sector. • The ITU comprises 191 Member States and more than 700 Sector Members (private companies and other institutions) and Associate members. The ITU has 3 core sectors: radiocommunication (ITU-R), telecommunication standardization (ITU-T) and telecommunication development (ITU-D). • The Plenipotentiary( PP) Conference took place in Antalya, Turkey from the 6 – 24 November 2006. The Republic of South Africa signed the Final Acts of PP Conference (Antalya, 2006), subject to approval by competent authorities. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

3. The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference • In terms of the ITU constitution, the Plenipotentiary Conference is the supreme organ of the ITU and it is usually convened every four years. Its main functions are: • to decide on the 4 year Strategic and Financial Plans • elect the management of the ITU, including the Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General and Directors of the Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT), the Telecommunications Standardization Bureau (TSB) and the Radiocommunications Bureau. • In addition, the PP Conference also elects Members of the Executive Council and the Radio Regulations Board. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

4. The Final Acts of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2006 • The Final Acts contains amendments to ITU Constitution and Convention as well as Resolutions of the Conference. • The Chief State Law Adviser: International and the Chief State Law Adviser at the Department of Justice have indicated that the Final Acts are not in conflict with South African National Legislation, nor with our international treaty obligations • The Chief State Law Adviser: International has indicated that the Final Acts constitute a binding International Treaty and as such must be ratified by Parliament Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

5. Structure of ITU Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

6. Structure (continued) • Article 7 of the Constitution: • Executive Council • World Conferences on Telecommunications • 3 Sectors of the ITU: • Radiocommunications sector • Telecommunication Standardisation • Telecommunication Development • The General Secretariat Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

7. Elections • Elections • South Africa was re-elected as a member of the Executive Council. Currently, the ITU Council consists of 46 Member states and the seats are divided into different regions, ensuring seats are distributed according to the number of countries in each region. • For the first time an African was elected to the post of Secretary-General of the ITU. The election of Mr Hamadoun Toure’ of Mali was a reflection of the effective mobilisation of the Africa group during the ITU PP Conference. - SECRET Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

8. MANDATE OF THE ITU • Article 1 of the Constitution: Purposes of the Union: • International cooperation for improvement and rational use of telecommunications • Foster fruitful cooperation and partnership between entities involved in activities of Union with Member States • Technical assistance for developing countries, and mobilisation of resources, and access to information • Development of technical facilities to improve the efficiency, usefulness and availability of telecommunication services Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

9. Mandate/2 • Cooperation with other world and regional intergovernmental organisations and NGOs with respect to role of telecommunications in global information economy and society • Allocation of radio-frequency spectrum bands, allotment of radio-frequencys, registration, orbital positions of satellites, avoiding interference between countries • Eliminate harmful interference between radio-stations and improve the use of radio frequency spectrum • International standardisation of telecommunications Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

10. Mandate/3 • International cooperation and solidarity for technical assistance to developing countries and creation, development and improvement of telecoms • Harmonise development of telecommunication facilities • Collaboration for affordable telecommunications • Safety of life • Undertake studies, adopt resolutions and recommendations and regulations • Social projects for underserviced areas • Promote participation in activities of the union Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

11. Key Outcomes on the Final Acts cont… • International Telecommunications Regulations • It was agreed to review the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), through a World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) to be convened in 2012, which is a treaty level conference. • The ITRs deal with the definition of international telecommunication services; cooperation between countries and national administrations; safety of life and priority of telecommunications; and charging and accounting principles. • South Africa supported the resolution, as the issue is important to many developing countries, and the regulations have not been updated since 1988. Since then there has been an explosion of activity in the ICT sector in terms of technology and infrastructure development, and demand for ICT based services. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

12. Key Outcomes on the Final Acts cont… • Internet Issues • The Conference adopted new/revised resolutions on IP-based networks; the role of Member States in the management of internationalized domain names; and the ITU’s role with regard to international public policy issues pertaining to the internet and the management of internet resources, including domain names and addresses. These resolutions put into practice some of the decisions taken at the World Summit on the Information Society. • Strengthening the role of ITU in building confidence and security in the use of ICTs • This resolution called on the ITU to assess and address existing and future threats in order to build confidence and security in the use of ICTs. The ITU is also instructed to facilitate access to tools to assist in enhancing confidence and security in the use of ICTs for all Member States. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

13. Key Outcomes continued • Strengthening Regional presence • A revised resolution required an evaluation for strengthening the ITU regional presence, and a review to meet the evolving requirements and priorities of each region. • Contributory Units for Member States • The Conference increased the size of the contributory unit from 318,000 Swiss Francs to 330,000, for the years 2008-2011. In addition, Member States were requested to indicate their respective classes of contribution (number of contributory units) for their forthcoming subscriptions to the ITU. South Africa elected to increase its number of contributory units, from three to four. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development SECRET

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