[kictanet] Kenya IGF on line Discussions Day 1: International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR's)

Barrack Otieno otieno.barrack at gmail.com
Fri Jun 15 06:29:44 EAT 2012


Agreed Ali, Grace (B)  if you read through the ATU report , you will
realise that this was the spirit most participants agreed to embrace,
multistakeholderism which has become popular with the evolution of the
Internet, in my humble opinion, the war on terror lends credence to
regulation, security is key to socio -economic developement in any
country, regulation cannot and should no longer be limited to
governments alone but to all stakeholders involved in management of
key communications Infrastructure.

On Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 5:54 AM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
> Grace and all
>
> There has always been some sort of regulation albeit on a very long string.
> The point I was trying to make is that if we are at all to expand ITRs to
> include the Internet and other related services then we need to expand that
> environment to include signatories that are not necessarily government
> related. As mentioned before civil society groups, Multi Nationals all are
> now recognized to be part part and parcel of the ecosystem.
>
> Regulation in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. In good faith it is
> deemed to be there to protect all stakeholders. The onus is of course on all
> of us to endure vigilance that it is not abused. A case in point is the
> recent media reports about collusion in the telecoms space in Kenya where
> some Telcos were accused of price collusion with the cooperation of CCK.
> Whether these reports were correct or not we should commend our vigilance
> and the action CCK took to quash those rumors. A few weeks later we see an
> agreement with all Telcos and CCK amicably agreeing to reduce further
> interconnection rates. That in my opinion is a good example of regulation
> working.
>
>
> Ali Hussein
>
> +254 773/713 601113
>
> Sent from my iPhone®
>
> On Jun 14, 2012, at 10:18 PM, "Grace Mutung'u (Bomu)" <nmutungu at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Dear Ali and listers,
> Its interesting, the call for a global regulatory environment. But seeing as
> the Internet developed because of among others the openness, suppose there
> is regulation, are there certain aspects that should be left unregulated, at
> least by governments, or at least for the time being?
>
> Grace B
>
> 2012/6/14 Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke>
>>
>> Listers
>>
>> I believe we should start advocating for an updated global regulatory
>> environment. As one lister mentioned are ITRs even necessary in this brave
>> new world? The fact that it takes so long within the ITU member states to
>> make even a slight change in language for anything involving treaties that
>> affect member states is caution enough - 22 years since the last update!!
>>
>> Let's look at the environment now and then.
>>
>> 1. National Telecomms companies are either defunct or moribund replaced (
>> or in some cases swallowed) by all intents and purposes by large dominant
>> Multi-nationals or regional giants. Safaricom (Vodafone), Orange (France
>> Telecom), Airtel (Bharti) and yu (Essar) in Kenya are all controlled by
>> these. So my humble view is that the only point of discussion for us is from
>> a user and regulatory perspective. In this I believe we need to ensure a
>> level playing field for all players and as much as possible retain some sort
>> of Net Neutrality.
>>
>> 2. Is this achievable through the ATU? The fact that the only time this
>> was mentioned was yesterday by Daktari Ndemo and that the CCK is still nil
>> by mouth on this is an answer in itself. How do we participate at the ATU.
>> Does this forum have any mandate on this? What is the role of TESPOK? KITOS?
>> Even if we do go the ATU way we must have a plan B to move our Agenda
>> forward. Do we know if  other African countries are even discussing this? If
>> so what forums are there to have a meeting of minds?
>>
>> A casual look at the ATU site makes zero reference to this issue of ITRs,
>> internet governance and freedom. Further it looks like their calendar is
>> full for the remainder of the year and into the next year. Being realistic
>> what chances do we have of a joint position across Africa before December's
>> Dubai meeting? Any lurkers out there from the rest of Africa to join in and
>> give us your perspective?
>>
>>  Let's start with home. What is the position of the various organizations?
>> TESPOK? KeNIC? Computer Society? CCK?
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Ali Hussein
>>
>> +254 773/713 601113
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone®
>>
>> On Jun 13, 2012, at 11:16 PM, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Listers,
>>
>> International Telecommunication regulations are general principles related
>> to international telecommunication services and its transport means.
>>
>> The purpose and Scope includes among other things:
>>
>>
>>  Interconnection and interoperability of telecommunication facilities.
>> Giving precedence for the Radio Regulations in case of contradiction.
>> Allowing, within its framework, mutual agreements between countries.
>> To set primary rules for accounting and settlements between
>> members.
>>
>>
>> The ITR treaty was adopted in the World Administrative Telegraph and
>> Telephone Conference (WATTC) held in Melbourne, 1988. It however came into
>> force on July 1
>>
>> 1990, since then no updates have been made to the ITR provisions which
>> leads to the following question:
>>
>>
>> As countries prepare for the World Congress on International
>> Telecommunications to be held in Dubai in December 2012
>> (http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/overview.aspx) What should  Kenya's
>> priorities be?
>> Should Kenya make its stand as a country or should we bargain through the
>> Africa Telecommunications Union as per Dr. Ndemos proposal during a
>> discussion on the list what are the implications of taking a stand as a
>> country or as a regional block ?
>>
>> The floor is open
>>
>>
>> --
>> Barrack O. Otieno
>> +254721325277
>> +254-20-2498789
>> Skype: barrack.otieno
>> http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
>>
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Grace L.N. Mutung'u (Bomu)
> Kenya
> Skype: gracebomu
> Twitter: GraceMutung'u (Bomu)
>
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.



-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
+254721325277
+254-20-2498789
Skype: barrack.otieno
http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/




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