2006 Session - Geneva

The ITU Council met on 19-28 April in Geneva, where among the main issues debated were approval of the provisional value for the contribution unit to consider in the proposal for the 2008-2011 financial plan, re-election of the New Council Oversight Group (NCOG) and approval of a proposed strategy plan for 2008-2011, where for the first time the aim is to use this plan as a basis for producing the financial plan in the same period, so that the plans can be interlinked.

As in previous years, this Council meeting will also have a final session to take place immediately before the upcoming Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-06); this session is expected to last only one day and should be held on either 3 or 4 November 2006.

Some of the main issues discussed are set out below:

? Strategy and finance plans for 2008-2011

The proposed strategy plan for the 2008-2011 period has improved and will be based on the financial plan for the same period. Note that both the strategy and the financial plan have been worked on by the respective Council working group, chaired by France and which should report to the final session of this Council. As the current version of the strategy plan is well advanced, the group will focus its efforts on producing the financial plan proposal which, necessarily and per the Marrakech orientations, must be interlinked with the strategy plan.

Regarding the proposed financial plan, the aim was basically for the meeting to set the provisional value for the contribution unit, according to the provisions of the ITU Constitution. In this regard, various questions were raised regarding this plan?s sustainability, along with criticism about the fact that the proposal is based on the previous plan and not on the spending values effectively recorded in financial year 2004-2005. Also, and so as not to repeat the experience of PP-02, a number of administrations, specifically Portugal, stressed the importance of determining right way the priority level for each activity, in order to facilitate the choice between those that will have to be withdrawn or reduced should the value of the members? contributions once again not be enough to cover all those activities.

Setting of the provisional value for the contribution unit (c.u.) was naturally subject to extensive discussion, first of all in the permanent group on financial issues and lastly in the plenary session, given that the said group could not agree on a consensus solution to propose to the plenary session.

A first consideration of the various options showed that there was a clear breach between the countries that contribute with more units to the ITU budget, who defended the lower value, and those with lower contributions who defended the higher value.

In the end, and in compliance with provision CS161B, the Council set the c.u. provisional value at 318,0000 CHF (the lowest value among the various options presented). The provisional nature of that value was at the same time stressed; its choice is meant to give the secretary general (SG) a clear signal regarding the need to set priorities. Indeed, almost all of the countries that defended the lower value do not disallow a possible increase in the c.u., as long as duly justified.

Note that the proposed financial plan will be produced in accordance with this provisional contribution unit, and that even before the PP the members will have to provisionally indicate their contribution class. The plan will then be revised as per the announced contribution units and, if necessary, newly adjusted in line with any eventual changes in this value when, during the PP, each administration indicates what its definitive contribution class really is (after determining the top value for the c.u.). The c.u. ceiling is set by the PP for the four years envisaged in the plan; it is up to the Council to set the precise value of that contribution in each two-year period.

? Continuity of NCOG work

The Council considered the reports from the NCOG and the ITU SG on implementation of the projects that will provide the Union with essential tools for managing the organisation. It is up to the NGSC, aided in turn by the supporting team, to supervise and support ITU managers when implementing those projects.

Even though many administrations in session preferred not to focus directly on that question, the Czech Republic noted that contrary to what had been requested by the 2005 Council, the General Secretariat did not complete the indicated projects. Also, based on the report from the NCOG, it called attention to the supposed lack of co-operation between the General Secretariat and the NCOG. Most of the administrations that spoke were indeed quite subtle about the SG?s performance; any criticism of his work could only be seen in the successive references and associated congratulations regarding the good work carried out by the NCOG chairman, Saraiva Mendes, and the supporting team, of which Artur Gomes is a member ? both of them from ANACOM. Indeed, many stated that it would not have been possible to achieve the results to date without the efforts of Portugal.

Given that the work is still not finished, the Council insisted/decided:

? that it was urgent to go ahead as quickly as possible with the KPI (key performance indicators) project, with a view to completing it before PP-06;

? that the fifth project, which will enable control of the management mechanisms, is extremely important and should also be produced in parallel with the other four projects whose work is under way (position not shared by Japan, whose administration prefers to see the four projects currently under way ? travel management, human resources management, acquisitions and KPI ? completed, before going ahead with the fifth project);

? to extend the group mandate until the last session of this Council meeting, i.e., until the session just before PP-06, maintaining the same composition. To that end a new Resolution was produced and approved.

At the end of this meeting, and despite agreeing with the extension of the NCOG mandate (recognising that in the current context it is an inevitable solution), Norway (Knut Smaaland, chairman of the CEPT PP-06 preparation group) spoke out against the principle of the existence of an oversight group, holding that in a normal situation those tasks should be conducted by ITU managers and not be the Council. That administration (here representing the Nordic group) has assumed that position since the NCOG was established, as it considers that the Council is thus micro-managing and performing actions that are the responsibility of the SG.

The NCOG will meet on the following dates between this Council session and the final session before PP-06 (probably on 3 November):

? 19 June 2006 (same week as the meetings of FINREG ? Council working group on Financial Regulation, and the working group on the Strategy and Finance Plans);

? 11 September 2006 (again during a week in which the two above-mentioned groups also meet);

? due to this group?s nature, where will probably be a need for an addendum to the group report produced in September to update information; to do this a meeting will have to be held immediately before the PP.

? Operational plans of the General Secretariat sectors for 2006-2009

The operational plans for the Radiocommunication Bureau (BR), Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau (TSB) and General Secretariat were presented and approved. Once approved, these operational plans will be published on the ITU website.

? Issues related to preparations for PP-06

The contribution of Switzerland was presented, containing four proposals ? all co-ordinated and with CEPT support ? aiming to facilitate the work of PP-06, specifically using the experience of the last PP and bearing in mind the fact that this Conference will last three weeks instead of the usual four.

After lengthy discussion, a Recommendation was adopted with more ambitious proposals, of which the following stand out:

? announcement of the provisional contribution class should be made six weeks before PP-06;

? the proposed financial plan will be released one week before the Conference begins;

? announcement of the definitive contribution class will be on the first day of the last week of the Conference;

? elections should preferably begin on the fourth day of the PP.

A list of logistical and organisational questions was also approved, which should be considered by the General Secretariat when preparing for PP-06, to facilitate and increase the efficiency of the Conference work, given its shorter format.

? Meetings of the active Council Working Groups by the last session of this Council meeting (i.e., until PP-06)

The Council groups, which will continue their work with a view to reporting to the final session of this Council meeting to be held just before PP-06, will meet on the following dates:

? WG on the Strategy and Financial Plans ? 27-28 June and 14-15 September;

? NCOG - 29 June, 11 September and a date to be determined immediately before PP-06;

? Tripartite group on personnel questions ? end of June and September;

? WG on WSIS ? 12-13 September;

? WG on the Union?s six official languages ? will meet electronically;

? WG on Financial Regulation (FINREG) - 26 June.

Information on these dates is available on the ITU website, as well as on the proposed documents to be studied by the Council groups.

? Test period for free-of-charge online access to ITU-T Recommendations

In the wake of the proposal from the Telecommunications Standardisation Advisory Group (TSAG), which stresses the strategic interest in providing free online access to that sector?s Recommendations, the SG proposed moving ahead with same for the member States and sector members; however, ,such measure would have to be compensated from the financial standpoint with increased contributions from the sector members.

As the ITU was unable to obtain a reliable estimate on the financial impact of that measure, the Council, while at the same time recognising its strategic interest, decided to begin in January 2007 a trial period in which free online access to ITU-T Recommendations will be provided to the member States, sector members and associate members. This test will end by the 2007 Council session, when its impact will be assessed. The SG will at the same time investigate the mechanisms needed to make this free access also feasible for universities and institutions linked to research.

? Future ITU events

Following various requests to postpone for two weeks the Radiocommunication Assembly (RA) and the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07), the ITU agreed to continue considering that possibility, i.e., to push the RA back to 22 October and WRC-07 to the 29th of the same month. As soon as possible (hopefully within not more than one month), a new consultation process will be initiated should that change prove feasible. Note that this consultation process may last about two months.

There was a also a request to postpone the CPG, but as the date had already been changed this was not accepted. The CPG dates are therefore confirmed: 17 February to 17 March 2007.

Regarding Telecom Europa and Telecom Americas, the SG explained that the Council considered that those fairs should not be held in 2007 ? note that this is not reflected in the document and was only communicated to the Council after the question raised by France. Argentina expressed its surprise and discontent, as it has been in contact with the ITU with a view to holding Telecom Americas in Buenos Aires.

As for the date for the next Council, and with a view to not breaking the recently approved rules calling for approval of the budget in the second half of the year, the September date was chosen instead of July 2007.

As some Arab countries pointed out that the proposed date coincides with Ramadan, a decision was made to meet right at the beginning of the month, so it was agreed that the Council would meet on 4-14 September 2007.

Regarding the other meetings, there may be changes, namely in their length, depending inclusively on the financial plan to be approved by PP-06.

Also noteworthy was the bid for Mexico to organise PP-10, which was welcomed, especially by various Latin American countries, though other administrations may also be interested in hosting that PP.

? World Telecommunications Day / World Information Society Day

The SG presented the programme to celebrate for the first time World Information Society Day, to be commemorated on 17 May, as decided at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and coinciding with World Telecommunications Day.

Various delegations asked whether this was a replacement, but the SG explained that World Telecommunications Day would have to be celebrated unless PP resolutions on the subject were changed. Bearing in mind the WSIS decision, the ITU will also take part in celebrating World Information Society Day, namely as this organisation is responsible for actions C2 and C5 of the plan approved at the Summit.

Noteworthy was the comment by Saudi Arabia, which considers that the WSIS chose that date specifically because it corresponded to World Telecommunications Day and that the ITU should stop commemorating same and only celebrate the respective Information Society Day.