Looking to the Future of Telecommunications

The region’s highest telecommunications authorities will meet in Costa Rica from February 20 to 23 to consider the challenges and opportunities ahead. Such ministerial meetings are organized every four years by the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL).

On the first day of the event Special Sessions will bring together government decision-makers and major players from the private sector to talk about “An Agenda for the Future.” Several panel discussions will offer perspectives of technology leaders and providers of services and infrastructure in the region.

“This type of interaction between the public and private sectors is crucial to the development of the telecommunications industry in the region,” said Mr. Claudio Bermúdez, ViceChair of COM/CITEL. “We hope this forum will help both government officials and company executives have a better understanding of each other’s concerns and priorities,” he added.

The Fourth Regular Meeting of the CITEL Assembly, which opens on the evening of February 20, will elect new authorities for the regional commission and consider structural reforms, programs and proposals to help countries face new challenges. The Assembly will adopt a political declaration that will define the region’s goals and mandates in telecommunications, as well as the CITEL Strategic Plan for 2006-2010.

Part of the Organization of American States (OAS), CITEL brings together the countries of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean to advance connectivity and promote the dynamic, efficient and harmonized development of telecommunications.

1.          Draft agenda

The XIV meeting of COM/CITEL per Resolution COM/CITEL RES. 187 (XIV-04) approved the draft Agenda of the Fourth Regular Meeting of the CITEL Assembly, that can be downloaded here.

The General Assembly of OAS considered the Topic and adopted Resolution AG/RES. 2100 (XXXV-O/05), which takes note of the preparations for the organization of the Fourth CITEL Assembly and requests “the Secretary General to use his good offices with the governments of the member states to ensure participation by the highest governmental telecommunications authorities.”

2.          Draft calendar

The XV meeting of COM/CITEL continued with the preparations for the Assembly and, by Resolution COM/CITEL RES. 189 (XV-05), decided to hold Special Sessions of the Assembly comprised of representatives of governments, the private sector and regional organizations on February 20, 2006 to discuss matters of common interest in the area of telecommunications with a view to producing a series of recommendations intended to direct CITEL’s future work, thereby contributing to the advancement of regional telecommunications.  Please download the draft calendar of the Fourth Assembly here. A draft calendar of the Special Sessions can be downloaded here.

3.          Invitations to participate in the Fourth CITEL Assembly

Pursuant to Article 9 of the Regulations, the Secretary General of the Organization, Mr. José Miguel Insulza, convened the Fourth CITEL Assembly and forwarded the invitations to the participants. 

Who can participate in the Fourth CITEL Assembly?

OAS Member States and Observers are invited to attend the Assembly, as provided in the Statute and Regulations of CITEL.  In particular, active associate members of the Permanent Consultative Committees of CITEL may attend as Observers.

Accreditation of the members of each delegation shall be made by the respective governments by means of written note to the Executive Secretary.  Such accreditation grants delegates full powers to participate in the decisions on subjects included in the agenda of the sessions of the Assembly.

The provisions for participating in the Assembly can be found in the Statute and Regulations of CITEL.  The Articles of the Regulations that specifically explain the conditions to participate are indicated below:

Table 1. Participation in the CITEL Assembly

Plenary sessions of the Assembly and of the working committees shall be public.  However, upon request by the Chair or by any representative of a Member State the session may be private and shall continue private unless the members participating in that session decide otherwise.

Individuals or entities that wanted to participate as guests to the meeting of the CITEL Assembly, under Article 21 of the Regulations, had to apply in writing to the Chair of COM/CITEL, by January 6, 2005, that is, forty-five days prior to the scheduled start of the CITEL Assembly meeting.  The Chair of COM/CITEL consulted with COM/CITEL members and, with their consent, extended the corresponding invitations, unless the Government of the host country objected.

Who can participate in the Special Sessions?

The Special Sessions of the Assembly shall be public and all those indicated in the Articles of Table 1 of the present report shall be able to participate.

Individuals or entities that wanted to participate as guests to the Special Sessions of the CITEL Assembly had to apply in writing to the Chair of COM/CITEL, by January 6, 2005 at the latest, that is, forty-five days prior to the scheduled start of the CITEL Assembly meeting.

4.          Elections

The CITEL Assembly shall proceed to elect the members of COM/CITEL, two vice-chairs for the Assembly, and determine the number of Permanent Consultative Committees (PCC), their mandates and to appoint the corresponding host countries taking into account, as much as possible, an equitable geographical distribution.

The Permanent Executive Committee (COM/CITEL) is comprised of the representatives of eleven Member States of CITEL elected at the CITEL Assembly, who shall serve until the next Regular Meeting of the Assembly.  The principles of rotation and of an equitable geographical representation shall be observed, insofar as possible, in the election of nine of these Member States.  One of the two remaining members shall be the representative of the Member State hosting the meeting of the CITEL Assembly in which the election takes place.  The other shall be the representative of the Member State in whose territory the next Regular Meeting of the CITEL Assembly will be held (Article 14 of the Statute).

How should a candidacy be submitted?

To submit a candidacy, the Administration of the interested Member State must send the corresponding communication to the CITEL Secretariat, which will inform the other Member States of CITEL and shall include it as a document for the Assembly submitted by the Member State concerned.  Likewise, it is common practice for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the corresponding Member State to support the corresponding application of the Administration and to carry out the corresponding procedures.

What is the time-limit for the submittal of candidacies?

It is not provided for in the CITEL Statute or Regulations.

5.          Voting

In the absence of consensus in the deliberations, the decisions of the CITEL Assembly shall be adopted by the vote of an absolute majority, that is, more than half of the votes of the Member States participating in a meeting of the CITEL Assembly, except in those cases where the vote of two-thirds of the participating Member States is expressly required.

In the committees, subcommittees, and working groups, decisions shall be adopted by a simple majority, that is, more than half of those present and voting.

Who has the right to vote?

Each delegation of a Member State has the right to one vote.  The right to vote does not imply an obligation to vote.

6.          Deadline for submitting documents to the Fourth CITEL Assembly

According to Article 30 of the Regulations, the CITEL Assembly shall consider two kinds of papers:  reports and proposals.  Reports shall be informative in nature, while proposals shall be submitted to the Assembly for consideration.  During an Assembly meeting, other forms of work or technical contributions may be requested.  The documents thus submitted shall not include any information of a promotional or commercial nature.

February 10, 2005 is the deadline established to submit reports and proposals to the CITEL Secretariat in order to permit their distribution among the Member States in CITEL working languages.  Documents that do not meet the deadline set in this article will be presented at the meeting of heads of delegation to determine whether they are to be considered as information or working documents during said meeting.  It is also recalled that the above-mentioned article provides that, at the beginning of a meeting, the Assembly may establish a period of time in which additional proposals may be submitted for consideration by the Assembly.. Contributions should be uploaded to CITEL’s Electronic Forum at http://citel.oas.org/forum.asp (discussion group: ASSEMBLY), utilizing this template. In case of difficulty, please contact CITEL at: [email protected]. Contributions presented as informative documents will not be assigned priority for translation and the Secretariat of CITEL recommends that your own translation be forwarded or, in the case of very lengthy documents, translated summaries may be accepted in lieu of translations of the full documents.

7.          Structure of working committees and working groups of the IV CITEL Assembly

Pursuant to Article 11 of the Statute, there shall be a Steering Committee, a Credentials Committee and a Style Committee.  The CITEL Assembly may establish such other committees, subcommittees and working groups when required. 

Article 42 of the Regulations provides for the establishment of a Drafting Committee for the working sessions of the plenary meetings and for the Assembly’s Final Report. 

Article 43 of the Regulations provides that the CITEL Assembly shall establish such working committees as it deems desirable for consideration of the various topics on the agenda.  It is proposed to limit the establishment of substantive Working Committees to achieve optimal performance. Working committees shall be made up of the delegations of the Member States and shall advise the Chairman of the CITEL Assembly, before the first working meeting of the committee that they wish to take part in these committees.  The installation meeting of each working committee shall be held with the delegations that up to the time of the meeting, have expressed their desire to form part of it.  Each working committee shall elect a chairperson and may also elect a vice-chair and a rapporteur. 

The quorum of the committees, subcommittees and working groups of the CITEL Assembly shall consist of more than half of the members comprising each body.  Each working committee may establish the subcommittees and working and drafting groups they deem advisable.  A working committee may also authorize its Chairperson to take part in the subcommittees and groups with members representing the various opinions that have been expressed on the matters that a subcommittee or Group shall be considering.

The following reference terms of the Committees of the Assembly have been drawn up in the framework of the CITEL Statute and Regulations and in the light of the experience acquired from previous Assemblies.

Terms of reference of the Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is made up of the Chairman of the CITEL Assembly, who shall preside over it, the two Vice-Chairmen, and the Chairmen of the working committees. The task of the Steering Committee is to resolve any difficulties that may arise regarding the functioning of the CITEL Assembly and to suggest appropriate solutions to the committees or to a plenary session.  For the effective operation of the CITEL Assembly, it shall coordinate the work of the working committees.(Article 39 of the Regulations of the CITEL)

Terms of reference of Committee on Credentials

The Committee on Credentials is composed of the representatives of three member states elected at the first plenary session of the CITEL Assembly.  The Committee shall elect its chairman. The Committee on Credentials shall examine the credentials of the delegations and submit a report to the CITEL Assembly forthwith. (Article 40 of the Regulations of the CITEL)

Terms of reference of the Drafting Committee

The Drafting Committee for the working sessions of the Plenary meetings and for the Final Report of the Assembly, shall be designated during the first Plenary Session and shall be composed of the first four delegates by order of precedence who volunteer.  The Drafting Committee shall draft the minutes of the meeting of the informal session, of each Plenary session, of the inaugural and closing sessions, as well as the Final Report.  The Committee shall present to each Plenary Session a draft report of all preceding sessions. (Article 42 of the Regulations of the CITEL)

Terms of reference of the Style Committee

The Style Committee is composed of the representatives of four Member States elected at the first plenary session of the CITEL Assembly, each of which shall represent one of the four languages.  The Style Committee shall receive the drafts of resolutions and recommendations adopted by committees before they are submitted to a plenary session of the Assembly for its consideration, and shall introduce in them such style changes as it deems necessary.  If the Style Committee notes that a draft suffers from defects of form that it can not correct, then it shall raise the question with the committee concerned, or at a plenary session of the Assembly. (Article 41 of the Regulations of the CITEL)

Terms of reference of Working Committee 1: Modification of the CITEL Statute and Regulations

Examine the amendments proposed to the CITEL Statute and Regulations, bearing in mind the relevant reports of COM/CITEL (especially the Report on the scope of participation of the various CITEL member States) and the decisions of the Working Committees and recommend the actions needed to the Plenary Session.

Terms of reference:

a.     Review of the changes approved by COM/CITEL for the CITEL Statute and Regulations during 2002-2005.

b.     Consideration of proposals made by Member States and Working Committees on the changes.

c.     Recommendation to the Plenary Session regarding the changes deemed advisable.

Terms of reference of Working Committee 2: Structure and Strategic Planning

Examine the environment of the telecommunication sector, relevant reports and proposals and recommend the Plenary Session suitable decisions having to do with the future management of CITEL activities.  Send to Working Committee 1 “Modification to CITEL Statute and Regulations” the matters that require the introduction of amendments to these instruments.

Terms of reference:

a.      Evaluate/diagnose the results of the 2002-2005 Strategic Plan on the basis of performance indicators.

b.      Analysis and development of the 2006-2010 draft Strategic Plan of CITEL indicating vision, mission, strategic objectives and priorities, lines of action and performance indicators to measure the degree of progress in reaching the goals.

c.     Recommendation to the Plenary Session:

• 2006-2010 Draft Strategic Plan of CITEL, including performance indicators.

• Draft Structure of CITEL, establishing Permanent Consultative Committees: name, objectives and specific mandate.

Terms of reference of Working Committee 3: 2006-2010 Plan of Operations

Determine the 2006-2010 Plan of Operations of CITEL, bearing in mind the proposals on the Committee’s future activities, especially regarding financial and human resources.

Terms of reference:

a.      Evaluation of the 2002-2006 Plan of Operations of CITEL.

b.      Consideration and development of the 2006-2010 Plan of Activities of CITEL and the corresponding Budget Program bearing in mind the body’s strategic planning for the same period.

c.      Recommendation to the Plenary Session of the 2006-2010 Plan of Activities of CITEL and the corresponding Budget Program.

Terms of reference of the Working Group on the preparation of the Declaration of San José

Draft the Declaration of San José stating clearly the political will for a continuous development of telecommunications in the Americas and taking into account the various interests at stake.

Terms of reference:

a.      Draft a text of the political Declaration for the Assembly to shape the future objectives of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and to serve as the foundation for specific mandates to guide the telecommunication sector in order that the Region may benefit from the opportunities arising from the information society.

b.     Take into consideration what was discussed at the Special Sessions.

Claudio Bermúdez
ViceChair of COM/CITEL
Deputy Manager of the Telecommunications Sector
ICE-Costa Rica