The  Fourth Regular Meeting of the CITEL Assembly, will be held February 20-23, 2006, in San José, Costa Rica. You can download the draft agenda and calendar at this time.

In particular, we would like to remind you that the on February 20, 2006 the Special Sessions of the Assembly “An Agenda for the Future” will take place. You can download the calendar here.

The formal inaugural session of the fourth regular meeting of the Assembly,  will take place in the National Theater of the City of San José, Monday, February 20, 2006, 7:30 p.m.. High officials participating in the opening ceremony will include: the President of the Republic of Costa Rica, the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, the Minister of Science and Technology of Costa Rica, the Mayor of San José, the Executive Chair of the ICE and the Chair of COM/CITEL.

By Carlos Killian, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, IA450
At present, reference is being made to social integration geared to achieving community integration –along a vertical axis where the local community is integrated into the global community in which it is included-, where the means to produce communication and to transmit information are essential for the development of communities. These means would be provided by digital and multimedia telecommunication infrastructure, which at present is turning out to be more efficient, with low installing and operating costs and with very wide bandwidth and optimal speed.

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By Jack Arends, Communications Specialist, Connexion by Boeing
As the year 2006 begins, Connexion by Boeing’s aeronautical mobile-satellite service (AMSS) is poised to expand its availability on more of the world’s airlines, as well as its service coverage to more of the world’s regions, including the Americas. In addition, after conducting a series of successful trials aboard maritime vessels last year, the company has announced its intention to complement the commercial airline service by bringing Connexion by Boeing’s high-speed, real-time Internet capabilities to the maritime industry. 

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By Marcos Bafutto, Supervisor Public Services, ANATEL, Brazil
Two systems approved by the National Telecommunication Agency (ANATEL) are now in force. Tariffs are divided into end user tariffs and network usage tariffs. End user plans are divided into basic plans established by ANATEL–which include price caps–and alternative (optional) plans established by the concessionaire. The basic service plan includes local telephony and LDN and LDI.

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By William McCrum, Deputy Director General, Spectrum Engineering, Industry Canada
Since 1999, all schools and libraries in Canada have been connected and roughly 62% of the households have access to Internet. In addition, Canada has one of the lowest communication costs among the other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As citizens, businesses and government go on-line, security concerns arise, particularly concerns over the increasing use of broadband. Although an estimated 71% of communities in Canada are still without broadband, there is an operating plan that targets 100% usage by the end of 2005. Once this goal is achieved, dealing with cyber security and vulnerability to attack will become an imperative issue.

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“Satellites constitute an essential instrument for development,” affirmed Mr. Sergio Autrey, Director General and CEO of Satmex, who visited CITEL’s offices in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 2006.

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The Secretariat of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American States on behalf of the General Coordinator for the Development of Human Resources, informs you that the announcement to request fellowships for the Course on “Spectrum Management in the Civil Sector” offered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the auspices of the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI), Regional Training Center of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) has already been issued. CITEL/OAS will cover 4 roundtrip economy class air tickets to Washington, D.C., United States of America. USTTI will provide a scholarship of US$400.00 to subsidize hotel and living expenses and will waive the US$150.00 administrative fee.

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By Aldo Castaña, Engineering and technology University, Catholic University of Uruguay
This document describes a possible cost model for these types of access, meaning that other such models may exist. Models developed in this connection would be very similar.

This document is part of the material of the distance course  "Cost and evaluation of projects of network services " that will be held on 2006 by the Regional Training Center and Node of the Center of Excellence of the ITU: Engineering and technology University - Catholic University of Uruguay. In info @ CITEL Nr. 19 we included a first introduction. CITEL/OAS offers 15 complete fellowships of the registration fee of US$ 200.

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At its 381st Meeting, the Governing Council of the National Telecommunication Agency (Anatel) adopted new Regulations on Conditions for the Use of Radio Frequencies in the 2170 to 2182 MHz and 2500 to 2690 MHz bands.  The Regulations reserve these bands primarily for use of the Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS), establish the possibility of providing multimedia services, and even provide for use by operators of the limited mobility facility. (Anatel, 8 February 2006)

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Colombia succeeded in finalizing the telecommunications chapter as text fully serving the interests of the sector and the country, said Martha Pinto de de Hart, Minister of Communications, during her summation at the close of FTA negotiations in the telecommunication area. (Ministry of Communications, 7 February 2006)

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The users of telecommunication services may select the fixed or mobile telephony operator of their choice to place their local, national, and international calls. The user need only dial the code of the operator of his or her choice (15XX), followed by the fixed or mobile number he or she wishes to call. This measure will benefit subscribers to fixed telephony service lines and users of mobile telephony service lines, since the user will be able to communicate from either terminal, regardless of whether the call is pre-paid or billed later. This facility is being made available to users today by virtue of the obligation imposed by the MTC that operators recognize and activate the interoperable codes (15XX) of the other local operators. (Ministry of Transport and Communications, 30 January 2006)

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Colombia ranked tenth in the E-Participation Index, according to the Global E-government Readiness Report 2005, published by the United Nations (UN) in December 2005.  The report is based on a survey of the UN’s 191 countries that evaluated over 50,000 features of e-government portals worldwide. (Ministry of Communications, 26 January 2006)

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The Telecommunication Law currently in force provides for the right of operators of telephony and bearer services to occupy private and public property under a mandatory easement arrangement. However, given that said operators were not authorized to request the imposition of mandatory easements for installing public telecommunications infrastructure, the Ministry approved the Mandatory Easements Regulation. It is hoped that this measure will overcome the various inconveniences for users of telephony and bearer services caused by refusals to allow the construction and installation of telecommunication networks and equipment, which also harm franchisees and their ability to continue operating. (Ministry of Transport and Communications, 23 January 2006)

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On January 1, 2006, ICO Global Communications (Holdings) with venue in USA, became an associate member of PCC.II.

ICO Global Communications (Holdings) is a satellite communications company based in Kirkland, Washington. ICO, through its subsidiaries, will offer advanced wireless voice, data, and internet services with handsets similar to existing cellular phones. The company's wholly owned subsidiary, ICO North America, will apply its technology -- redundant to terrestrial networks -- in order to uniquely address growing national security and public safety needs. The ICO North America MSS system, scheduled to be operational in July of 2007, is being built by Space Systems/Loral, Inc. ("SS/L"). SS/L and ICO North America have completed certification of all applicable FCC milestones, to date.

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.

IV Assembly of CITEL
Comunications and information accesible to all
Connexion by Boeing Service Coverage Expands to the Americas Region
Brazil’s Tariff System for the Fixed Switched Telephony Service (FSTS)
Trust and confidence in cyberspace
Satellites constitute an essential instrument for development
Offer of scholarchips for the Course on “Spectrum Management in the Civil Sector”
Development of a copper access and switched access cost model