De facto standards threaten future of ITU

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was established 135 years ago by 20 European countries to facilitate international telegraph services through coordinating details of a technical and operational nature for providing services, namely the standardization of telecommunications. Things have changed a great deal since then. We now have 189 member states and over 600 sector members who participate in our activities. However, what has not changed is the essential objective of the Union: global standardization to facilitate international telecommunications. The telecom market is no longer a market "planned" by government monopolies. It is now a very competitive one where each player is making every effort to get ahead of the others. The demand on the marketplace is no longer for "global standards" - it is now for "de-facto standards". "De-facto standards", which are established by a group of a small number of players or even by a single player, have become the norm in marketplace. The ITU’s essential objective, the ideal of "global standardization" is now being challenged by market forces. I still believe in the need for global standardization. Well-supported, timely global standards are beneficial to all – manufacturers, operators and users. It is simply a matter of economics. Therefore, we should make every effort to establish world standards in every field of tele-communications. In that sense, the traditional practice of consensus building in ITU-T, where all the players in the telecom arena are its members, makes ITU-T the ideal place now and in the foreseeable future. Yet, we should also recognize the powerful reality that business players are competing in the market to make themselves stand out from others in the new environments. Can ITU respond to market requirements of this nature? I think it can. We just have to keep in tune with the market and become a facilitator of de facto standards. If you want ITU to become relevant, then you just have to follow the reality of market mechanics. You must accept that you can no longer plan the future as you have done in the past. The ITU council has already begun discussions on the overall restructuring of the ITU, including that of the Standardization Sector. But the market cannot wait for the overall ITU reform process to conclude. It is quite clear that the present rigid structure of a World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly (WTSA) held every four years and that of Study Groups cannot respond to the requirement of the market in a timely and effective manner. The present situation is a relic of the past. If you stick to past glory, newcomers to this sector of the market who know nothing of your efforts to establish global standards will see you as ghosts haunting the remains of a crumbling structure. The Internet and wireless technologies have emerged as new drivers in telecommunications technology. ITU is no longer the only body involved; there are other players: the IETF, the 3GPPs and other regional organizations. Duplication of work and effort is in nobody’s interest. If real global standards are to be achieved ITU must consider and adopt the results obtained and agreements reached by other regional and standards developing organizations as ITU’s own recommendations. Many proposals intended to improve and streamline working methods and the operations of the Telecommunication Standardization Sector have been submitted for the consideration by this assembly. To my mind, only the most revolutionary approaches will allow the survival of ITU-T. Yoshio Utsumi is the secretary-general of the World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly. The above is an edited excerpt from his September 27 address to the WTSA’s assembly, held in Montreal.

De facto standards threaten future of ITU

News | October 2, 2000

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