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I'm also very happy to say that the a conclusion making it a win-win Today we are talking about bits and
organization Organization is not situation. Our worst-case scenario for bytes. Time is of no limit; voice and
politicized, because everybody under- the World Radio Conference is that video are one; that's a conversion,
stands the need to communicate. It is a everybody comes out equally happy, and distance is completely irrelevant
basic human need everywhere to com- so I'm very optimistic. There are also between the callers. Therefore, the
municate, no matter where you are. new reallocations for satellite com- changes are in paradigms. You have to
We have seen in the latest events in the munications, new rules that we put in face it and see how you can best put it to
Arab world that when you give people place for the management of spectrums use and how to stimulate it for the next
the means to communicate they will and satellite allocation that are very twenty years. This is a challenge that
be able to exercise their rights in other important for the world. we are facing at the World Conference
arenas, such as freedom of speech and on International Telecommunications.
all the other human right's issues. The- I always say that we are the oldest or- That will be quite a challenge -- the
refore, it is important to know that ICTs ganization in the UN family, and this most challenging conference during my
are a common denominator for all of us. means that we have survived two world time as Secretary-General of the ITU.
wars; we have survived forty years of It's fun because it's going to have an
the so-called Cold War with all oppo- impact on the next twenty years, so I'm
sing parties working hand in hand to pretty excited about it. I am, of course,
make sure that this common asset is brainstorming with the stakeholders in
well used. This is a great organization industry to see how best we can make
with a very strong tradition of mutual this a win-win situation for everybody,
respect and collaboration. and that's a challenge for us. As I said
earlier, we have a long tradition of
Q: You are also going to have ano- creating these win-win situations at
ther important conference in the the ITU.
Arab world in the spring of 2012?
Failure to come to an agreement on
We will have three major events in the this could probably lead to investments
Q: You have just finished one of Arab world in 2012. We have the ITU going into more profit-making sec-
the latest World Radio Confe- Telecom World event that will take tors than others, and therefore there
rences. What came out of that? place in Dubai for the first time. This is is a risk of bottlenecks in the system.
not at all surprising because this region Therefore, how do we make sure that all
The World Radio Conference started is now becoming the centre of the ICT the players are inclined to invest in all
in mid-January 2012 and continued sector. There is a tremendous growth in areas, in the infrastructure and content,
until the 17 February. As you know, the use of applications. The potential is and to make it a win-win situation for
this conference takes place every three there, as well as the investments made everyone?
years, giving an opportunity for all the in it. Consequently, it's becoming a very
countries in the world to come together important region for the ITU.
and define the frontiers for new spec-
trum allocations. This is a very impor- We also have the World Standardi-
tant issue because today we are always zation Assembly (WSA), and this is
connected and we are always on the the first time it will take place in this
move. There is tremendous pressure region. Standardization is a very in-
on the demand for new spectrums, teresting area; it used to be only for
and those new spectrums have to be European countries, but now you see
allocated in order to cope with the de- many countries in transition entering
mand. In the near future, we are facing this world. It is also good for developing
new technologies -- man-to-machine countries to understand the impacts of
communication, the machine-to- standardization, and to start contribu-
machine communication area and ting to the improvement of quality.
Cloud Computing combined -- this
will place more pressure on new After the WSA, we will have a World
spectrums to be allocated to enable Conference on the International
items of equipment to talk to each Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs).
other. There will be more in the home, The ITR WCIT-12 will actually
in the workspace or in entertainment, review the 1988 Melbourne Treaty that
and therefore it will provide many op- created the framework for the growth
portunities. The car of the future will that we are witnessing today in terms
use many devices that will communi- of competition, service applications,
cate with each other, and this will save convergence and tariffs -- it was a very
lives ... and energy! important conference. But, of course,
now it is time to review it. After
The World Radio Conference is twenty-four years, there have been
dealing with these challenges -- the a lot of changes in the industry.
global world. These conferences take Back in those days, the key factors
place within a context of conside- for measuring a phone call were time,
rable public attention and pressure, distance and location.
but I must say that we always come to

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