The International Chamber of Commerce is concerned about the growing digital divide, especially the large percentage of regions and countries around the world without telephone access.
ICC believes the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) must renew its focus on bringing teledensity to the world and should not divert its attentions and resources by seeking to become involved in the technical management of the Internet.
While some have suggested that the ITU assume management and technical coordination of the Internet, ICC favours the continuation of private sector leadership, multistakeholder processes, and national and international policies that have contributed to the remarkable success and penetration of the Internet. Global business does not support calls to increase ITU's activities concerning the regulation, co-ordination and management of the Internet. ITU activities, it says, "should not interfere with competitive economic decision-making."
The ITU is part of the history of telecommunications. It was founded in 1865, 11 years after Samuel Morse sent his first public message over a telegraph between Washington and Baltimore. A new policy statement prepared by the ICC Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms, "acknowledges and strongly supports the ITU's continued contribution to the formulations of global telephony standards and spectrum allocations."
ICC is a strong supporter of the importance of voice communications to the world's economic development. The ITU has accomplished much in its history, but it still faces many challenges. Today, in spite of the rapid growth of mobile and penetration of broadband, more than half of the world's population has yet to make a telephone call. In fact, new technology promises to help to address access for many regions and countries of the world that are today unreached by other forms of telecommunications on a reliable, affordable basis. The ITU is also playing a role in developing an approach to early warning systems for natural disasters, such as the recent tsunami.
ICC also notes tha
t like many other institutions, ITU is facing "serious financial challenges, which it is now addressing with the help of outside experts."
Thus, given the importance of the role of the ITU in its core areas of competency, ICC is concerned about any efforts to extend the ITU into areas best managed by existing organizations. Like any competent organization, the ITU must focus on financial stability, while achieving its core mission with excellence.