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ICT Summit NOW ’13

Wednesday 25 September2013
Istanbul, Turkey

Keynote Speech

Telecommunications Outlook – An ITU Perspective

houlin zhao

deputy secretary-general,
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a very great pleasure to be here with you in Istanbul today for the ICT Summit NOW ’13 event.

Ladies and gentlemen,

  • With the incredibly rapid growth of mobile broadband, we are now seeing Internet growth start to catch up with mobile growth, and by the end of 2013, ITU expects there to be almost 2.1 billion active mobile broadband subscriptions globally. This will give a global mobile broadband penetration rate of almost 30%.
  • Here in Turkey, we have seen an incredible ICT revolution take place over the past two decades.
  • Twenty years ago, hardly anyone in Turkey was connected – either by mobile or to the Internet.Indeed, according to ITU statistics, at the beginning of 1993, only one in a thousand people in Turkey had a mobile phone or access to the Internet.
  • And yet by the beginning of 2013, Turkish mobile cellular penetration had surpassed 90% and Internet penetration had surpassed 45% – and both figures continue to grow. This is really tremendous progress.
  • In fact I discovered just a few weeks ago here in Istanbul, from the Minister, that Turkey has done such a great job in ICT development that you now have to revise the numbers in your broadband plan upwards – changing the original goal of 30 million broadband connections by 2023 up to the new figure of 45 million broadband connections.
  • The next step forward for Turkey will be the move towards next-generation mobile communications, leveraged by ITU’s IMT-Advanced standards, and the rapid development of broadband access and services.

Distinguished colleagues,

  • We have seen extraordinary progress in ICT development, but at the same time, we need to recognize the enormous challenges facing the ICT sector today, particularly in an era of rapidly growing data volumes; revenues which are static, or even falling; and of endemic under-investment in ICT infrastructure. The digital divide still exists between the developed countries and the developing countries, between cities and countryside, between the citizens in different classes, etc.
  • Clearly, the telecommunications market needs investment for its future development. This is why ITU organized the World Conference on International Telecommunications, WCIT-12, last December.
  • At WCIT-12, we looked at a number of areas to set the stage for increased ICT infrastructure rollout and access around the world.
  • These topics included broadband investment; energy efficiency; accessibility; security; the impact of unsolicited content, or spam, on security of networks; number misuse; roaming; reducing taxation; price transparency (non-discriminatory pricing); the fostering of competitive and liberalized telecommunications markets; and freedom of expression.
  • And the newly revised International Telecommunication Regulations, the ITRs, resulting from WCIT-12, chart a globally-agreed road map that promises to bring the digital era within reach of the 700 million people around the world who still do not have mobile phone network coverage and the 4.5 billion people who are not yet online.
  • Let me highlight some of our new key achievements at WCIT-12:
  • The ITRs have been brought into the 21st century.
  • We included new provisions on environmental issues, energy efficiency and e-waste.
  • And we made initial steps towards the establishment of a global harmonized national number for access to emergency service.
  • The need to do much more for the under-served was also clearly recognized – with a new Resolution on prioritizing fibre-optic cable access to landlocked developing countries and small island developing states.
  • We were also very encouraged with the new article on accessibility. There are at least 650 million people worldwide suffering from some sort of disability, and each and every one of them has just as much right as we do to have access to the full benefits of ICTs.
  • I believe the new ITRs will further facilitate telecommunications/ICT investments and developments, and that over the coming years, ICTs will continue to transform the way we live, work and play.
  • They will continue to transform education, healthcare, transportation networks, the energy sector and the provision of government services – as well as global entertainment and workplaces worldwide;
  • They will continue to generate jobs, and drive growth, productivity and long-term economic competitiveness;
  • They will continue to improve the lives of all people all over the world – including people with disabilities, and people living in the remotest regions of the world;
  • And they will continue to help us accelerate progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
  • At ITU, we have a duty and an obligation to all the world’s people, to ensure that ICTs deliver a better life.
  • ETNO and the European operators also strongly supported the conference, and made great contributions to the new ITRs, and I think that most of them are quite convinced that the new ITRs are very useful.
  • Indeed, just two weeks ago, the European Commission announced a set of proposals to speed up the creation of a European digital single market, and industry associations welcomed the costing and non-discrimination recommendation as well as the Commission’s proposed stronger harmonization in the field of spectrum releases and auctions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

  • Let me take this opportunity to say a few words about the work we are doing at the ITU, which as many of you will know is the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs.
  • At ITU, our mission is to connect the world, and to bring the benefits of ICTs to all the world’s people – wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.
  • This we do together with our 193member states and more than 700 sector members drawn from industry, academia and civil society organizations.
  • In 2015, ITU will celebrate its 150thanniversary – and we are proud that Turkey was one of the founding members of ITU back in 1865.
  • The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radiofrequency spectrum; promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits; works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world; and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards.
  • We are active in areas including broadband Internet; latest-generation wireless technologies; aeronautical and maritime navigation; radio astronomy; satellite-based meteorology; convergence in fixed-mobile phones; Internet access including data, voice and TV broadcasting; and next-generation networks.
  • Telecom operators form an important part of ITU, and European operators worked with us from the very first days of ITU back in the 19th century. Over the past decade, however, we have seen less active involvement from European operators and I would like to encourage them to once again increase their contribution to ITU activities, including the activities of the three ITU Sectors.

Distinguished colleagues,

  • From now until next year we have a number of important and very high-profile events coming up, and I would vigorously encourage your active participation in these.
  • From 18 to 22 November,in Bangkok, Thailand, we will be holding the ITU Connect Asia-Pacific Summit immediately followed by this year’s edition of ITU Telecom World, with the theme of ‘Embracing Change in a Digital World’.
  • These events will offer a venue for leaders from the public and private sectors as well as international and regional financing and development agencies to network face-to-face, and forge new partnerships for the accelerated roll out of broadband connectivity.
  • We look forward to welcoming Heads of State and Government, ministers, regulators and industry CEOs from across the ICT spectrum to Bangkok – which provides an ideal platform at the heart of South East Asia and is a key gateway to the fast-growing ASEAN region.

Ladies and gentlemen,

  • Next year is a very important year for ITU, with four major global ICT events taking place: the World Telecommunication Development Conference, WTDC-14; the High-level Event of WSIS+10; the Global Symposium for Regulators, GSR-14; and the ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference, PP-14.
  • The first of these, WTDC-14, will be taking place in March next year.
  • WTDC-14 will provide a vital forum for the discussion and consideration of the main objectives, priorities, projects and programmes relevant to telecommunication development. It will define the workplan of ITU’s development sector for the next four years, and it will prepare input for the strategic plan of the Union.
  • Immediately after WTDC-14, we will be holding the WSIS+10 High Level Event, as mandated by ITU Council last year, to provide the necessary vision; the way forward beyond 2015; and the commitment to ensure that ICTs remain high on the political agenda over the next decade.
  • As an extended version of the WSIS Forum it will feature high-level segments, dialogues, thematic and country workshops, showcasing theatres, ministerial round tables, Action Line Facilitation and Facilitators Coordination Sessions, WSIS stocktaking sessions, and meetings of the Partnership on Measuring ICTs for Development, as well as the UN Group on the Information Society.
  • It will also provide an opportunity to award WSIS Stakeholders with the WSIS Project Prizes in 18 categories, in line with the WSIS Action Lines.
  • During the summer next year, we will be holding the 2014 edition of the Global Symposium for Regulators, and once again we expect very strong participation from the global regulatory community as well as the telecoms industry, who will address the key issues facing the sector. Bahrain will host GSR-14 in June 2014.
  • Finally, in October next year, ITU will hold its Plenipotentiary Conference, PP-14, in Busan, Republic of Korea.
  • PP-14 will be the ITU’s 19th Plenipotentiary Conference, which will be hosted by the Republic of Korea. The event is the ITU’s top policy-making body and is held every four years;among other tasks, it will set out our general policies, adopt four-year strategic and financial plans, and elect our senior management team.
  • It is the key event at which ITU Member States decide on the future role of our organization. Because ICTs are now ubiquitous, this means that what we achieve at PP-14 will not just affect the future of ITU and ITU’s work: it will affect the lives of everybody on the planet.
  • Let me therefore strongly encourage you, once again, to participate and to play your part at these global events.

Thank you very much for your attention.