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The U.S. government needs to develop a constructive long-term strategy...

The U.S. government needs to develop a constructive long-term strategy to best engage the ITU and its members to maximize value and effectiveness of the organization’s core mandate, while addressing efforts to expand its remit, the U.S. ITU Association said…

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in a draft policy document to the U.S. government that we obtained. Many U.S. companies doing business internationally are regulated by and must obtain operating authorizations from national regulators to do business in those countries, it said. ITU, through its regional offices, leadership, and events and activities, plays an indirect but important role in the development of national regulations in many developing and emerging economies, it said. U.S. policy should “seek to maximize” U.S. influence to ensure “the right policy directions” are taken, it said. Efforts to expand ITU’s mandate beyond its core competency should be curtailed, it said. The U.S. government “should fund the ITU at a level that will allow the U.S. to continue its active engagement and leadership” in the organization and its working groups, including ITU Council, to protect U.S. interests and promote policy principles, it said. Some executives had suggested the U.S. stop funding the organization. Relationships, especially with developing countries, need to be rebuilt, it said. The U.S. should help boost ITU’s “transparency and openness of its processes,” it said. “It is, however, important that the U.S. not appear to sanction a claim that the ITU is multi-stakeholder in the broadest sense,” it said.