The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will review International Telecom Regulations (ITRs) commences 11 day conference in Dubai, UAE to review telecoms regulation that was legislated in 1988.
The World Conference on International Telecommunications (Wcit) will be held from 3 December 2012 to 14 December 2012.
Government regulators from 193 countries will participate in the conference to revise a wide-ranging communications treaty for the first time since 1988 after last negotiations in Melbourne, Australia.
ITU said that the conference sets out general principles for assuring the free flow of information across the globe, promoting affordable and equitable access for all and laying the foundation for ongoing innovation and market growth.
The purpose of the WCIT is to update the global treaty designed to facilitate international interconnection and interoperability of information and communication services.
Last week, multiple sources suggested that internet and mobile communication access in Syria had been cut off.
ITU secretary general Hamadoun Toure was quoted by BBC as saying that "The brutal truth is that the internet remains largely [the] rich world’s privilege. ITU wants to change that."
Last month, search giant Google had warned that the Wcit will ‘re-negotiate a decades-old communications treaty’ could ‘increase censorship and threaten innovation’.
Last week, ITU had adopted a resolution inviting ITU Member States to refrain from taking any unilateral and/or discriminatory actions that could impede another Member State from accessing public Internet sites and using resources.
