By Felix Castro Rojas, Alternate Chair PCC.I
From April 11 to 14, 2005 was held, with outstanding success, the VI meeting of the Permanent Consultative Committee I, Telecommunication Standardization. We highlight in particular the resolutions approved on:

• IETF RFC 3261 - “SIP: Session Initiation Protocol”.

• Technical Notebook on the Economic Aspects of Universal Service.

• Economic and regulatory aspects of broadband over power lines (BPL/PLC).

• Study on practical cases for the capital cost estimation in the telecommunication sector of the countries of the region.

Also, it was decided to hold two workshops at the VII PCC.I meeting on:

• Number portability: Technology, standards, regulatory and service deployment issues.

• International Telecommunications Regulation.

The final report will be available soon in the CITEL web page.

The Workshop on “Wireless Broadband Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges” organized by the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) and sponsored by the World Bank’s Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) will be held on April 25, 2005 from 8:00 am to 11:00 am (Guatemala time), before the V meeting of the Permanent Consultative Committee II, Radiocommunications including Broadcasting (PCC.II)

This workshop will afford an opportunity for participants to engage in a detailed discussion with experts on the key topics referred to below:

• Wireless Broadband Technology: Available options and their benefits for the Americas

• Deployment Options and Obstacles, spectrum considerations

• Regulatory and security aspects, Interoperability

For this Regional Dialogue, videoconferencing will be used to link Guatemala City with Washington., D.C. Panama city, La Paz and San José of Costa Rica. We urge participants at the V Meeting of PCC.II to attend it at the venue of the PCC.II meeting (Hotel Westin Camino Real).

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By Andy Kwan, Co-Chair of WG on Mutual Recognition Agreements and Certification Processes
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), along with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Telecommunication Certification Body Council (TCBC), are hosting an International Mutual Recognition Agreement /Conformity Assessment Bodies (MRA/CAB) Workshop at NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America, October 3 to 7, 2005. This workshop will include concurrent sessions in order to accommodate countries who are new to the MRA process, as well as those who are already participating.

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By Ciprian Popoviciu PhD, Cisco Systems
Going beyond the benefits of addressing, Service Providers (SP) are also taking advantage of the extraordinary opportunity offered by IPv6 to redesign their networks and services in a better way based on the experience gained in the IPv4 world. Nevertheless, before adopting the new protocol, network operators have to find a comforting answer to the question: Is IPv6 ready for deployment? Part I of this paper provided a positive answer to this question for most important features of IPv6. Part II intends to piece these features together into relevant deployment scenarios for several network types.

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By Ruben Kustra, Director Graduate courses in telecommunications
(ITBA)
Since the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology was founded as a private university in 1959, its vocation for innovation, technology, and academic excellence have been recognized.

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By Institute of Telecommunications Research and Training of Peru (INICTEL)
Since the regulations adopted in a country correspond to solutions addressing the interests of diverse sectors and their needs, it may be said that all regulatory matters must be examined in terms of different sectors, such as the state, the regulator, the operator, and the users.

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By Colombian Association of Engineers (ACIEM)
Voice-over-IP technology (VoIP) was developed during the past decade and has reached operating levels during the last two or three years that make it competitive with traditional telephone services. In many regards, it is posing a challenge to many aspects of the conventional structure and market paradigms that have held sway for voice services for more than a century, including per-minute charges, numerous usage and access charges, and end-user control through access network control.

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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced a decision that addresses the requirements for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service providers to offer emergency 9-1-1 service. (CRTC, 4 April 2005)

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At the close of the event “CANTV abriendo caminos” [CANTV Clearing the Way], held this Tuesday in the Manzanares Room at the Hotel Gran Meliá Caracas, the President of CANTV, Gustavo Roosen, emphasized that the telecommunications market is undergoing significant changes, not only in Venezuela but the world over.  (CANTV-Venezuela, 5 April 2005)

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The sectoral authority emphasized that private enterprise should actively participate in bringing Chile into the Information Society, and that the Government would take vigorous action to foster growth in the telecommunications industry. (SUBTEL, 8 April 2005)

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In response to the interagency agreement signed by CONATEL and FIDES, four alternative radio stations in the municipality of Guaicaipuro received this benefit, involving an investment of close to 250 million bolívares. (CONATEL-Venezuela, 8 April 2005)

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The counselor of the Telecommunications National Agency (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) – Anatel, Elifas Chaves Gurgel do Amaral, assumed the position of president of the Agency Director Council (Conselho Diretor da Agencia)  on April 11, 2005, in the Ministry of Communications.  The nomination of Elifas, who in this function also assumes the position of executive president to the Agency, was published last Wednesday, 6, in the Official Journal of the Union (Diario Oficial da Uniao, DOU). (ANATEL, 11 April 2005)

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In pursuance of the provisions of the Organic Public Administration Law, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) began, on April 11, 2005, the public comment procedure for the proposed Technical Regulations for Management of the Radio and Television Social Responsibility Fund. (CONATEL-Venezuela, 8 April 2005)

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The telecommunications market is about to be liberalized and this is expected to bring tremendous opportunities and benefits to investors, entrepreneurs, the business community and citizens. It is for this reason that the Caribbean Telecommunications Union chose Port of Spain for its inaugural World Telecommunication Day Symposium and Exhibition (16 to 18 May 2005).

In a climate that is ripe for the further development of the information and telecommunications sector, this Symposium presents a unique opportunity for organizations to understand the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in transforming businesses, creating new revenue streams, facilitating participation in the global economy and promoting social development.

There will presentations by practitioners and experts from the business community, the health, education and tourism sectors and from telecommunications operators. The programme is structured to facilitate networking among delegates, forging strategic alliances and identifying new business opportunities. (CTU)

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Unless otherwise indicated, the materials published on this web site, including opinions expressed therein, are the responsibility of the individual authors/compilers and not those of the Organization of American States (“OAS”), GS/OAS, CITEL and the OAS Member States or its member countries.

VI Meeting of PCC.I
Workshop on “Wireless Broadband Technologies:  Opportunities and Challenges”
International Mutual Recognition Agreement/Conformity Assessment Bodies Workshop
A Second Chance to a Fair Share of IP – IPv6
ITBA and Telecommunications Education in the Americas Region
Regulation in the Telecommunications Sector
Voice-over-IP Telephony