Recognizing WSIS Impacts

WTDC Resolution 23


WTDC RESOLUTION 23 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010)

Internet access and availability for developing countries and charging principles for international Internet connection

The World Telecommunication Development Conference (Hyderabad, 2010),

  • recalling
    • a)Resolution 23 (Rev. Doha, 2006) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference;
    • b)Resolution 101 (Rev. Antalya,2006) of the Plenipotentiary Conference, on Internet Protocol-based networks;
    • c)the provisions of § 50 of the Tunis Agendafor the Information Society, recognizing the particular concerns among developing countries thatcharges for international Internet connectivity should be better balanced to enhance access, and calling for the development of strategies for increasing affordable global connectivity, thereby facilitating improved and equitable access for all, by the means described in the said paragraph, especially items a), b), c), d), e), f) and g) thereof;
    • d)Resolution 69 (Johannesburg, 2008) of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), on non-discriminatory access and use of Internet resources, inviting Member States to refrain from taking any unilateral and/or discriminatory actions that could impede another Member State from accessing public Internet sites,within the spirit of Article 1 of the ITU Constitution and the principles of the World Summit on the Information Society,
  • noting
    • a)that Recommendation ITU-T D.50 on international Internet connection, as amended at WTSA-08, still recommends that administrations* involved in the provision of international Internet connections negotiate and agree to bilateral commercial arrangements enabling direct international Internet connections that take into account the possible need for compensation between them for the value of elements such as, inter alia, traffic flow, number of routes, geographical coverage and cost of international transmission;
    • b)the rapid growth of the internet and IP-based international services;
    • c)that international Internet connections remain subject to commercial agreements between the parties concerned, although Internet service provider (ISP) operators from developing countries have expressed concerns that such agreements havenot achieved the required balance in regard to charges between developed and developing countries;
    • d)that access to information and sharing and creation of knowledge contribute significantly to strengthening economic, social and cultural development, thus helping countries to reach the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, a process which can be enhanced by removing barriers to universal, ubiquitous, equitable and affordable access to information;
    • e) that continuing technical and economic development require ongoing studies in this area by the relevant ITU Sectors;
    • f)that a rise in the costs of international connectivity will result in delayed access to and benefit from the Internet,
  • recognizing
    • that commercial initiatives by service providers have the potential to deliver cost savings for Internet access, for example through the development of more local content and the optimization of Internet traffic routing patterns in a manner that provides for a greater proportion of traffic to be routed locally,
  • resolves to invite Member States
    • 1 to support the work of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) in monitoring the application of Recommendation ITU-T D.50 (Rev. Johannesburg, 2008), bearing in mind the importance of this issue for international Internet connectivity in the developing countries;
    • 2 to create policy conditions for effective competition in the international Internet backbone network access market as well as in the domestic Internet access service market as an important aspect of lowering the costof Internet access for users and service providers;
    • 3 to implement the Tunis Agenda in this respect, particularly § 50 thereof,
  • reaffirms
    • its resolution in the quest to continue to ensure that everyone can benefit from the opportunities that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can offer, by recalling that governments, as well as the private sector, civil society and the United Nations and other international organizations, should work together to: improve access to information and communication infrastructure and technologies as well as to information and knowledge; build capacity; increase confidence and security in the use of ICTs; create an enabling environment at all levels; develop and widen ICT applications; foster and respect cultural diversity; recognize the role of the media; address the ethical dimensions of the information society; and encourage international and regional cooperation,
  • urges regulators
    • to promote, within the context of national policy, competition among all service providers, including small and medium-sized ISPs and incumbent network access service providers, with a focus on reducing connectivity costs as referred to in noting c)above,
  • urges service providers
    • to negotiate and agree to bilateral commercial arrangements enabling direct international Internet connections that take into accountthe possible need for compensation between them for the value of elements such as, inter alia, traffic flow, number of routes, geographical coverage and the cost of international transmission,
  • instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
    • to organize and coordinate activities that promote information sharing among regulators on the relationship between charging arrangements for international Internet connection and the affordability of international Internet infrastructure development in developing and least developed countries, through cooperation with ITU-T in this matter, by giving the necessary priority to the relevant study Questions in the work under the programme concerned.