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NEWS

ITU Workshop on Market Mechanisms for Spectrum Management

From "Workshop aims at containing spectrum wars," ITU press release, 15 January 2007:

"ITU and the UGO Bordoni Foundation, Italy are jointly organizing a Workshop on Market Mechanisms for Spectrum Management aimed at identifying global trends and good practices in radio spectrum management. The up-to-date programme is available here.

"The Workshop and panel discussions will examine future approaches to manage and utilize radio spectrum in an increasingly ubiquitous, user-centric and converged telecommunication environment. They will focus on some critical questions, such as:

• "Can the goals of spectrum management and equitable allocation be reconciled?
• "Can spectrum be regarded as property, to be bought and sold, or as a public resource that can only be leased for specific purposes?
• "Is it possible to have different spectrum management mechanisms among neighbouring countries, yet maintain a harmonized approach at regional and international levels?

"The Round Table will provide top-level representatives of governments, international organizations and the ICT industry with the opportunity to engage in an interactive discussion and to share their visions on the overarching theme, 'Challenges and Opportunities: What lies ahead for radio spectrum management?'

Executive Round Table

"When: Tuesday, 23 January 2007, 9:00-11:30 a.m.
"Where: ITU Headquarters, Geneva
"Why: To cater to the dramatic increase in demands for radio spectrum that affects every industry segment: broadcasters, wireless carriers, satellite providers and emerging unlicensed services as well as concerns for public safety and homeland security.
"Who:

• Vivianne Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media
• Lulzim Basha, Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunication, Albania
• Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Egypt
• Noel Dempsey, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Ireland
• Paolo Gentiloni, Minister of Communications, Italy
• Censu Galea, Minister for Competitiveness and Communications, Malta
• Binali Yildirim, Minister of Transportation, Turkey
• Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General, ITU
• Dimitri Ypsilanti, Head, Telecommunication and Information Policy Section, OECD
• Catalin Marinescu, President, General Inspectorate for Communications and Information Technology, Romania
• Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Director, Communications Regulatory Authority, Lithuania
• Don Whiteside, Vice President, Technical Policy & Standards, Intel Corporation
• Erkki Ormala, Vice President, Technology Policy, Nokia Corporation
• Moderator: Martin Sims, Journalist, Policy Tracker

"Organizers: ITU and UGO Bordoni Foundation, Italy. For further information, please contact:

Sanjay Acharya, Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU, tel: +41 22 730 6135;
Marco Obiso, Strategy and Policy Unit, ITU tel: +41 22 730 6760;
Cristina Bueti, Strategy and Policy Unit, ITU, tel: +41 22 730 5891."
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NOTE: after the Executive Roundtable, SOS director Robert Horvitz will present a summary of Stichting Open Spectrum's global survey of WiFi regulations, along with some thoughts on moving beyond the licensed vs. license-exempt dichotomy.

[Spectrum Policy - 18 January 2007]