Third Summit of the Americas
Quebec,
Canada, April 2001
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Meeting of the Rapporteur Group to Prepare for the WTSA will take place on May 23 in Brasilia, Brazil
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Within the Declaration of Quebec City at the Third Summit of the Americas, the heads of state
and government proclaimed:
Our collective hemispheric efforts will be more effective through innovative uses of information and communications technologies to connect our governments and our people and to share knowledge and ideas. Our statement, Connecting the Americas, underscores this conviction.
In the Plan of Action, they spelt out in more detail the guidelines for initiatives over the next four years that will have an impact on CITEL's goals and activities, including issues like
infrastructure, regulatory environment and disaster management.
Telecommunications
Recognizing that states have the sovereign right to regulate their own telecommunications sectors and that affordable and universal access to new information and communications technologies is an important means to raise the living standards of our citizens and reduce the divide between rural and urban populations, and between countries; noting the importance of increasing cooperation with the private sector to further modernize and expand our telecommunications sectors; acknowledging and reaffirming our efforts in and dedication to market opening and increasing free, fair and equitable competition in all telecommunications services, while respecting the regulatory framework of each country, in order to attract investment needed to develop infrastructure and to reduce the cost of service; stressing the importance of adopting policies to protect the interests of users and enhance the quality, efficiency, coverage and diversity of services, all based on respect for user privacy; and bearing in mind the social, political, economic, commercial and cultural needs of our populations, in particular those of less developed communities:
- Propose measures designed to modernize national laws, as appropriate, based on principles such as: permanence of strong and independent regulatory bodies; a pro-competitive approach, including the adoption of rules on dominant operators; a flexible regulatory framework consistent with technological convergence, and to develop human and institutional capacity in support of these principles;
- Facilitate the upgrading of human resources in the telecommunications sector through ongoing training programs on telecommunications policy, regulation, management and technology, and request the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), in coordination with national agencies, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s Centre of Excellence for the Americas, and in partnership with regional and subregional organizations and the private sector, to create a focal point for information on human resource development programs to foster exchanges of information on relevant training programs among governments, universities, industry associations and the private sector, in order to assist countries of the Americas in meeting the growing need for trained and competent personnel in the rapidly changing knowledge-based economy;
- Take measures striving to implement the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for Conformity Assessment developed by CITEL without prejudice to each participant`s sovereign right to regulate its own telecommunications sector, and encourage discussion of adequate standards to ensure interoperability for existing and future telecommunications networks and the timely introduction of technology in new and existing markets, taking into account the regulations and recommendations of the ITU and other appropriate standard-setting bodies;
- Support the convening of the ITU World Summit on the Information Society to be held in 2003, which will focus on the use of information and communications technologies for social and economic development;
- Recommend that our national bodies work within CITEL to prepare guidelines on Universal Service, based on principles to be developed by CITEL and develop a clear definition of the responsibilities of governments and private entities;
- Instruct, as appropriate, our telecommunications authorities and our relevant regulatory bodies, working within our regional and sub-regional agencies and organizations to develop and implement before the next Summit of the Americas a cooperative and collaborative program to support a connectivity agenda for the Hemisphere;
- Encourage increased competitiveness and productivity of all sectors through applications such as distance education and tele-health and promote the creation of domestic activities dedicated to the generation of Internet-based industries;
- Request ministries or departments responsible for telecommunications and appropriate regulatory bodies to cooperate, within CITEL, in order to clarify and simplify rules governing the provision of satellite services in our countries, and work to complete the development of a Hemispheric Web site including each country's requirements and forms of application for licensing to provide satellite-based telecommunications services;
- Promote the modernization and expansion of telecommunications infrastructure in rural and urban areas through timely introduction of new technologies and services, in particular broadband technologies, the adoption of new standards on telecasting, Web casting, and Internet Protocol (IP), paying particular attention to spectrum management, interconnection policies, appropriate pace of development and emergency communications;
- Address voluntary funding for the implementation of CITEL's additional mandates set out in this Plan of Action
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