Satellite, IPv6, ITU Telecom, Environmental Issues Teed Up for Possible Changes
GENEVA -- European countries floated common proposals on satellite registration, allocation of IPv6 resources and environmental metrics for possible changes to ITU policies at a quadrennial conference in October. About 30 of the 48 countries in the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations agreed to each of the proposals.
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European countries want to retain a general resolution on satellite network procedures for advance publication, coordination, notification and recording frequency assignments to allow for future improvements, a proposal said. The resolution is necessary for administrations to study procedures and remove deficiencies, it said. A separate resolution on achieving the goal of improving the satellite procedures may be changed at the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference.
Current IPv6 allocation mechanisms and the fairness of treatment for ITU members should be monitored, European countries said in another proposal. Any flaws in the allocation mechanism should be pointed out for possible changes in current policies, the countries said, calling the status quo “fair.” The ITU should assist countries needing support for management and allocation of IPv6 resources, not duplicate or fragment existing allocation policies, they said.
ITU Telecom world and regional conferences should be global, held annually and merged with the World Telecom Policy Forum, European countries said in another proposal. ITU Telecom should be associated with a specific place to give the event a stronger identity, the countries said, pointing to Davos for the World Economic Forum, Hannover for CeBIT and Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress. ITU Telecom 2009 lost an estimated 3 million Swiss francs, according to preliminary numbers, the European proposal said. The policy forum and part of ITU Telecom, both in 2009, dealt with the same issues, the proposal said: environmental issues, cybersecurity and next generation networks. The new events should focus on exchanges with industrial and political leaders about industrial and market innovations, the countries said. Exhibitions aren’t the ITU’s main purpose, they said.
The ITU should help cut greenhouse gas emissions in the information and communications technology industries and quantify how they help other industries achieve emissions reductions and lower energy use, another European proposal said. European countries want ITU to adopt measures to reduce the environmental impact of batteries and other materials used in information and communications technology products. They also want ITU to spur re-use, refurbishment and recycling of technologies, the proposal said. The countries want the director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau to help set best practices for quantifying re-use, refurbishing and recycling.
European countries want the ITU secretary general to engage other industries on ways information and communications technologies can help cut green house gas emissions and energy use. They also want to develop methodologies to assess the level of energy efficiency for use by various industries.