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OAS Inter-American Telecommunication Commission discussed regulatory trends in the region

The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American States (OAS) today concluded its 20th Meeting of the Permanent Consultative Committee, which analyzed regulatory trends in development at both the hemispheric and global level, the regional and global interconnection of communications, and rate models in mobile phone networks used in the Americas, among other issues.

The four-day meeting in Buenos Aires was the final preparatory event before two global meetings to be held later this year in Dubai: the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, to be held from November 20 to 29, and the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which will be held from December 3 to 14.

The WCIT is scheduled to review the International Telecommunication Regulations developed in 1988 and whose purpose is to facilitate "the interconnection and global interoperability" of telecommunications traffic. In this regard, the Permanent Consultative Committee of CITEL discussed the different perspectives for the consolidation and regional proposals.

On the opening day of the event a seminar was held on the subject of, "Focus on Mobile to Mobile Termination Rates in the Americas," which analyzed the regulatory trends in international development and models of call charges on mobile service networks used in the region.

Also, May 17 marked the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2012, which took as its central theme the role of women and girls in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In this context, there was a meeting entitled "Women and ICT," which was attended by representatives of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), and whose objective was to analyze potential areas of collaboration.

At the meeting, as part of the Working Group on Development, participants studied regional projects and programs for presentation at the Summit of the International Telecommunication Union, "Connecting the Americas," which takes place from July 17 to 19 in Panama City. Other topics were discussed for possible presentation at the regional level as well, including: gender programs (in collaboration with the CIM), “telehealth,” training of indigenous peoples, support for cooperatives and nonprofit telecommunications, emergency communications, the impact of ICT on the environment and climate change, and the protection of children (in collaboration with the Inter-American Children’s Institute).

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-185/12