TPRC-2006
The
Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative
DRAFT: PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE OR CITE
WITHOUT AUTHOR’S PERMISSION
by
Kenneth Katkin
Professor of Law
Salmon P. Chase College of Law
Northern Kentucky University
(859) 572-5861 phone
To be presented at
The 34th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy (TPRC2006)
Session on “Universal Service”
Washington, D.C.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
8:30 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.
INTRODUCTION & Background
From the 1960s until the
dawn of the twenty-first century, the International Telecommunications
Satellite Organization "INTELSAT," a multilateral intergovernmental
treaty organization, operated a global fleet of international communications
satellites that guaranteed (and provided) the connectivity of the world’s
telecommunications networks and infrastructures.[1] In 2005,
INTELSAT completed a five-year privatization process that culminated in the
sale of its entire satellite fleet to private investors for $5 billion dollars.[2]
After its satellite fleet was
divested, however, the decades-old intergovernmental treaty organization was
not retired. Rather, because more than 70 countries that collectively
account for more than 60 percent of the world's population remain dependent on
satellites for their national and international telecommunication services,[3]
a residual International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (now
known by a new acronym, "ITSO") was kept in place.[4] This residual Organization was envisioned as
“the continuation of [the INTELSAT] intergovernmental organization and . . .
the guarantor of ‘permanent connectivity’ of the world through satellite
technology.”[5] Although it now operates no satellites, ITSO’s
core function remains to ensure that poor and underserved "lifeline
connectivity" nations remain connected with the outside world.[6]
In addition to performing this core function, ITSO also has been authorized by its member state Parties to promote competition and the development of new telecommunications services worldwide, in order to better secure the long-term provision of international public telecommunications services to all countries.[7] In particular, in June 2002, ITSO’s Twenty-Seventh Assembly of Parties established four overriding goals and objectives for ITSO to pursue after privatization: (1) maintaining the continuity of the provision of “international public telecommunications services”; (2) contributing to the promotion of a global “information and communications infrastructure”; (3) improving affordability of satellite services “through the promotion of open standards”; and (4) serving as an information resource for gathering “and disseminating data about national market and policy environments.”[8] The Assembly of Parties directed ITSO to construe the term “international public telecommunications services” broadly, to represent an evolving level of service. As ITSO’s Director General has explained:
The concept of public service adopted in this process differs from that of Universal Service commonly defined in national regulations. And this distinction is sizeable. . . . [W]here [universal service] fills a social function (minimum telephony service, sometimes limited to receive only or emergency calls), public service has an economic purpose. . . . [T]he public service definition in the ITSO treaty . . . encompasses delivery of voice, data, image and multimedia services to all countries of the world, under conditions assuring universality, equality, quality and reliability, continuity and, lastly, adaptability.[9]
In fact, communications satellites are uniquely well-positioned to deliver high-speed Internet access to underserved regions throughout the world. Recent studies indicate that “20 to 30% of the population of the most developed economies, and over 80% of the population in developing countries, will never be served by terrestrial broadband technologies.”[10] Therefore, to achieve its “public service” goals without operating its own satellite fleet, ITSO now seeks to preserve and obtain orbital/spectrum resources for commercial satellite systems (including the former INTELSAT system, now in private hands) that are committed to providing international public service.[11] As its primary means for achieving these goals, ITSO must seek to influence the legal frameworks that govern access to satellite orbital locations and spectrum resources, both at the national level, and internationally through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and other multilateral fora. [12]
By the end of 2002—long before INTELSAT’s five-year privatization process had concluded[13]—ITSO had crafted its first major policy initiative for its post-privatization era: the Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI) Initiative.[14] The GBSI Initiative is a three-pronged proposal for a public-private partnership designed to make satellite-based high-speed Internet access available every place on earth via small, affordable terminals.[15] ITSO’s timing for unveiling its GBSI Initiative was fortuitous. Earlier in 2002, the United Nations General Assembly had resolved to convene a high-level World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to foster comprehensive efforts to bridge the perceived “global digital divide” and make the benefits of communications and information technology more available to all.[16]
The WSIS, which was convened in two phases in 2003 and 2005, presented an ideal platform for ITSO to present its GBSI Initiative to world policymakers. Accordingly, in December 2003, ITSO’s Director General Ahmed Toumi presented the Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI) Initiative to the first phase of WSIS (WSIS1) in Geneva. ITSO’s GBSI Initiative was adopted by the WSIS1 delegates, as part of the “Geneva Plan of Action.”[17] The following year, ITSO’s Twenty-Eighth Assembly of Parties reaffirmed its support for the GBSI Initiative.[18] In November 2005, at the Second Phase of WSIS (WSIS2) in Tunis, ITSO reiterated its call for the GBSI Initiative. The final outcome documents of WSIS2, however, reflect only the general contours of the GBSI initiative and not its detailed provisions.
This paper describes the GBSI Initiative and analyzes its merit. It compares the GBSI Initiative with two outcome documents — the "Tunis Commitment" and the "Tunis Agenda for the Information Society"–that were promulgated at the WSIS2 Summit and subsequently adopted in March 2006 by the UN General Assembly.[19] The paper discusses the extent to which the GBSI Initiative is reflected in these WSIS2 outcome documents. Finally, it assesses the prospects for the GBSI Initiative’s eventual implementation, as well as future directions for ITSO.
On December 9, 2002, at an ITU
Workshop in Geneva, ITSO Director General Ahmed Toumi first unveiled ITSO’s
Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI) Initiative.[20] The GBSI initiative was proposed as a
possible means of marshalling private-sector satellite industry resources to
help bridge the global
“digital divide.”[21]
After noting that the “digital divide is due, in large part, to the unbalanced
distribution of telecommunications infrastructure between regions, countries,
and urban and rural areas,” General Toumi suggested that:
A possible way to correct this imbalance and accelerate the
provision of information and communication technology (ICT) services on a
worldwide basis would be through an innovative public-private partnership that
would lead to the establishment of a global broadband satellite infrastructure.
Due to its competitive advantages, the use of satellite technology would enable
this broadband infrastructure to be universal, available within a reasonable
time frame, and with the required quality and affordability. For this purpose, it would be necessary to
create an open global market for broadband equipment and services through a
universal technical standard, to access dedicated spectrum and orbital
resources, and to develop a minimal and pro-competitive regulatory framework.[22]
To this end, the GBSI Initiative proposes to make satellite-based two-way high-speed Internet access available to users in remote and underserved locations by creating a harmonized technical and regulatory environment that promotes the emergence of a mass market for satellite broadband services.[23] The GBSI Initiative is modeled on Europe’s Global Standards for Mobile Communications (GSM) Initiative, which successfully harmonized technical standards throughout Europe for terrestrial digital mobile telephony in the 1980s.[24] It calls for the creation of a consumer satellite broadband market in which the economies-of-scale in providing services and producing equipment would lead to affordable broadband services. The GBSI Initiative consists of three essential components:
§ Dedication of a limited number of geostationary orbital positions and frequency spectrum resources, associated with predetermined geographic areas, exclusively to the proposed global broadband satellite infrastructure.
§
Adoption of an open global standard for satellite
end-user equipment for a specified level of service; and
§
Establishment of a harmonized and pro-competitive
regulatory environment.
Reservation of Dedicated Spectrum and Orbital Locations:
In its first prong, the GBSI Initiative urges that approximately exceed 250 MHz of dedicated spectrum in the C-, Ku-, Ka-, and V-bands be reserved, worldwide and interference-free, exclusively for consumer high-speed Internet access via satellite, and that these bands not be shared with terrestrial services.[25] The Initiative reflects ITSO’s belief that a relatively small quantity of “clean,” high-quality frequency bands, used efficiently, can satisfy the transmission needs of very large numbers of simultaneous Internet users.[26]
The GBSI Initiative does not specify the particular frequencies or orbital locations that would be utilized. However, ITSO has suggested that “[t]he national allocations in the existing ITU Plans for Direct Broadcasting Satellite services (DBS) and Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) constitute prime resources for this initiative” because “most of these national allocations are not used for the moment.”[27] Accordingly, by ceding certain still-unused portions of their DBS and FSS orbital positions and associated frequency spectrum allocations to the GBSI Initiative, national governments collectively could move in the short-term to facilitate a global broadband satellite infrastructure that would secure ICT services for underserved countries.[28]
To identify global spectrum resources that could facilitate the GBSI Initiative in the long-term, in 2003 the ITU Radiocommunications Assembly (ITU-R) commissioned a comprehensive study of the frequency spectrum requirements needed for the provision, on a worldwide basis, of high-speed Internet service.[29] In particular, the ITU-R study is intended to identify the frequency bands that could be used in the short-, medium- and long-term for the provision of high-speed Internet access.[30] In 2007, the ITU World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC07) will “consider the results of these ITU-R studies in order to identify possible global harmonized FSS frequency bands for the use of Internet applications, and consider the appropriate regulatory/technical provisions. . . .”[31] The GBSI Initiative proposes to incorporate the spectrum resource recommendations of WRC07.
The second prong of the GBSI Initiative calls for the development of a universal global technical standard for the terminal equipment through which end-users communicate with satellites.[32] Such a standard would ensure interoperability between different broadband satellite networks, with the goal of allowing every geosynchronous satellite in-orbit to provide Internet access directly to every end-user within the satellite’s “footprint.” Such interoperability would foster competition for the retail provision of Internet access that, in principle, should drive down the prices charged to end-users, especially in global regions where competition currently is limited or nonexistent. Interoperability also would have the potential to reduce equipment manufacturing costs through economies-of-scale, and thereby to provide end-users with more affordable terminals.[33]
ITSO believes that reduction in terminal equipment costs would greatly expand Internet access, because terminal equipment costs currently impair the affordability of Internet access in poor countries more than do transmission costs.[34] In developing such a standard, the target cost for the user terminal plus satellite bandwidth “should be less than or at least similar to terrestrial DSL or cable-modem broadband offers.”[35] As targets, ITSO has tentatively suggested that the standard terminal equipment should be a satellite dish approximately 50 to 75 cm in diameter, with 128 kbps of uplink capability and 512 kbps of downlink capability, that would cost about $150 USD for an end-user to purchase, with ongoing service charges of approximately $25 per month.[36]
Beyond those broad outcome targets, ITSO has not suggested any specific technical standards for broadband satellite equipment. Instead, it has called upon the ITU and its Member States and Sector Members, along with the satellite industry and all standardization bodies, to contribute to the development of these universal standards.[37] ITSO’s proposal to develop universal global technical standards for satellite terminal equipment is designed to incorporate prospectively the results of ongoing technical studies now being undertaken by the ITU to render “IP-based networks and other telecommunication networks . . . able to interoperate so as to provide the quality of service required by users.”[38] Because any move towards interoperability would tend to diminish the value of exclusive intellectual property rights in existing technology currently held by incumbent manufacturers and service providers, however, any concrete proposal for such movement would likely meet with concerted opposition from established participants in the private sector.[39]
Preemptively addressing such likely opposition, ITSO has argued that “[t]he concept of a global open technical standard should not be an issue for the industry. In fact, there currently are no cost-effective satellite broadband solutions that could service the public in the same way as existing terrestrial solutions, such as DSL or cable modems. . . . It seems logical that industry would not waste its time by promoting multiple standards that would only serve to fragment the satellite broadband market and run counter to the principle of affordability through economies-of-scale. Any loss in the creation of a global open standard would be offset by the gains obtained from an overall larger market.”[40] In addition, ITSO has sought to quell industry objections by clarifying “that the standard could be customized to only provide basic bit rate broadband connections for private users, while industry would retain the flexibility to develop higher bit rate solutions better suited for their requirements,” which would not need to conform to universal technical standards.[41]
The third GBSI Initiative prong calls for a worldwide “pro-competitive and harmonized regulatory framework” to govern issues such as market access and interoperability.[42] Under this framework, a satellite service provider would be granted a single license valid for use in all countries, based on minimum common licensing requirements.[43] Such a worldwide framework, ITSO asserts, would reduce the costs of dealing separately with numerous national regulatory agencies that are incurred by satellite service providers, who necessarily must operate in numerous countries.[44]
Under the GBSI regulatory
framework, all participating countries would adopt common minimum licensing requirements under which qualified
domestic applicants would be authorized to provide broadband satellite Internet
access in the licensing country.[45]
Importantly, all participating countries would also recognize each
other’s authorizations, and thereby grant "landing rights" to broadband satellite operators
licensed in any GBSI-participating country, regardless of the nationality of
the satellite operator.[46]
The GBSI common licensing requirements would require all participating broadband satellite operators to interconnect with one another.[47] This interconnection requirement is intended to facilitate ubiquitous international service coverage and make it possible for all users to freely communicate, regardless of the satellite operator to which they are connected or the services they use.[48] The common licensing requirements would also require each participating broadband satellite operator to finance its own satellite infrastructure to provide broadband services in the predetermined geographic area(s) that it would cover.[49] For investment purposes, the predetermined regional geographic areas would be designed to include developed and developing countries.[50] Participating satellite operator licensees would be required to provide broadband services in conformity with universal GBSI technical standard specifications whenever using any GBSI-identified orbital positions or spectrum resources.[51] In granting authorizations, governments would be permitted to “consider[] the public service dimension of two-way high-speed Internet access.”[52] In order to ensure competition, at least two competing operators would be authorized to provide broadband services in each geographic region under these common licensing requirements.[53]
After developing and announcing the GBSI Initiative, ITSO needed a global venue at which to advance its adoption. Fortuitously, just such a venue was then being planned: the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
In September, 2000, in recognition of the dawn of a new millennium, the United Nations General Assembly adopted eight “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs) designed to galvanize global efforts to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people. The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. One of the MDGs [the “ICT Goal”] resolves “[t]o ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies . . . are available to all.”[54]
To implement the ICT Goal, in 2001 the UN General Assembly endorsed a proposal of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to convene a World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).[55] The purpose of this WSIS would be “to marshal the global consensus and commitment required to promote the urgently needed access of all countries to information, knowledge and communication technologies for development so as to reap the full benefits of the information and communication technologies revolution, and to address the whole range of relevant issues related to the information society, through the development of a common vision and understanding of the information society. . . .” [56] The General Assembly’s 2001 Resolution invited the ITU “to assume the leading managerial role in the executive secretariat of the [WSIS] and its preparatory process,” and appealed to UN Member governments “to participate actively in the preparatory process of the Summit and to be represented in the Summit at the highest possible level.”[57] In addition, the Resolution also “encourage[d] other intergovernmental organizations, including international and regional institutions, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector to contribute to, and actively participate in, the intergovernmental preparatory process of the Summit and the Summit itself.”[58]
The Resolution directed that the WSIS take place in two phases.[59] The first phase took place in Geneva, Switzerland from December 10-12, 2003. The objective of the first phase was “to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take concrete steps to establish the foundations for an Information Society for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake.”[60] These objectives were realized in the “Geneva Declaration of Principles” and “Geneva Plan of Action” that were adopted on 12 December 2003.[61] The second and final phase took place in Tunis, from November 16-18, 2005. The objective of the second phase was “to put Geneva's Plan of Action into motion as well as to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance, financing mechanisms, and follow-up and implementation of the Geneva and Tunis documents.”[62] At the conclusion of the second phase, the “Tunis Commitment” and “Tunis Agenda for the Information Society” both were adopted on 18 November 2005.[63]
In response to the UN General Assembly’s call for “other intergovernmental organizations . . . to contribute to, and actively participate in” WSIS,[64] ITSO formally presented the GBSI initiative to the assembled delegates at WSIS1 in Geneva in 2003.[65] As a result of ITSO’s presentation, the WSIS delegates incorporated the principles of the GBSI Initiative into the Geneva Plan of Action. The Geneva Plan called generally upon governments “to support an enabling and competitive environment for the necessary investment in ICT infrastructure and for the development of new services”[66] and to “[d]evelop and strengthen national, regional and international broadband network infrastructure, including delivery by satellite and other systems, to help in providing the capacity to match the needs of countries and their citizens and for the delivery of new ICT-based services.”[67] More specifically, however, the Geneva Plan of Action also called upon the world’s governments to “[s]upport technical, regulatory and operational studies by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and, as appropriate, other relevant international organizations in order to:
i) broaden access to orbital resources, global frequency harmonization and global systems standardization;
ii) encourage public/private partnership; [and]
iii) promote the provision of global high-speed satellite services for underserved areas such as remote and sparsely populated areas.[68]
In embracing these GBSI Initiative principles, the WSIS delegates in Geneva projected that the worldwide costs of establishing GBSI’s “enabling” regulatory environment would amount to $25 million US dollars, while the associated infrastructure deployment would cost only $1.5 million US dollars.[69] It further projected that the establishment of an “enabling environment” could be completed by 2007.[70] During the transition period, the Geneva delegates expressed hope that existing excess satellite capacity would be used to launch the initiative.[71] By 2010, the Geneva delegates expected that the GBSI Initiative would yield worldwide “[a]ccess to high-speed Internet services via satellite at prices and conditions comparable to terrestrial broadband technologies.”[72]
Shortly after the Geneva phase of WSIS, in January 2004, ITSO developed a model “Memorandum of Understanding To Facilitate the Emergence of a Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI).”[73] This model Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was intended for signature by satellite operators and—public and private—willing to memorialize their support for the GBSI Initiative. By signing an individualized version of the GBSI MoU, a satellite operator certified its intention “to promote the creation of the conditions for the emergence of a global broadband satellite infrastructure.”[74] In practical terms, GBSI MoU Signatories assumed four concrete obligations, all essentially promotional in nature. First, MoU signatories promised “to work together, inter alia, in the ITU, including submitting contributions to the appropriate ITU study groups. . . .”[75] Second, each MoU signatory agreed to promote “the preparations for work on a universal technical standard and for studies to be carried out in the ITU-R.”[76] Third, each MoU signatory promised to promote, “with national governments, as well as with international and regional organizations, the establishment of a regulatory framework for satellite communications that promotes access to markets and effective competition.”[77] Finally, every MoU signatory promised “to promote universal access and universal service using satellite communications technologies.”[78]
Throughout 2004, twenty-two operators of orbital (or planned) geosynchronous communications satellite systems each signed separate MoUs committing themselves to participate in the GBSI.[79] On January 13-14, 2005, representatives of eighteen of these twenty-two GBSI signatories met at the headquarters of Italian satellite operator Telespazio,[80] in Rome, Italy.[81] At the Rome meeting, the signatories formed working groups “to investigate the use of specific frequency bands for the implementation of a Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure and to identify the present regulatory situation concerning high-speed Internet access via satellite in a representative sample of countries/regions in order to develop and present specific regulatory proposals to the second phase of the World Summit on Information Society in November 2005.”[82] On standardization issues, the signatories “recognized that the exploration of a single open and global standard for satellite broadband communications could have an important impact on attracting the research and development and production capacity investments needed to make consumer broadband by satellite service provision more affordable.”[83] The signatories also “discussed the necessity to increase the GBSI MoU membership to other stakeholders in the satellite broadband industry and decided on specific guidelines regarding this matter.”[84]
Looking forward, the GBSI Signatories at the Rome meeting requested that ITSO prepare a financial analysis of the long term GBSI business concept “in order to prepare for a potential Request for Information (RFI) to industry.”[85] The purpose of this RFI would be to learn “whether the applicability of the GSM model to satellite technology could lead to a mass market for satellite broadband access, and to what extent the global harmonization of spectrum, a transmission standard for consumer terminal and a regulatory framework could facilitate the emergence of a satellite broadband solution for residential and small businesses with pricing and bit-rates that are comparable to DSL, cable-modem and 3G solutions.”[86] Recognizing the technical and regulatory differences that exist between satellite and terrestrial cable and wireless technologies, the RFI—which was released a few weeks after the Rome meeting—also solicited analysis that would identify “the requirements and timeline for satellite technology to be able to provide broadband access through technically-simple terminals that are priced similar to terrestrial solutions.”[87] To date, however, the analysis requested in this RFI has not been completed.
On November 16 -18, 2005, the second phase of WSIS (WSIS2) was held in Tunis, Tunisia. The objectives of the second phase were to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance, financing mechanisms, and follow-up and implementation of the Geneva and Tunis documents. In Tunis, ITSO Director General Ahmed Toumi sought to ensure that the outcome of WSIS2 reconfirmed the importance of international public telecommunications services and the role that satellites play in harnessing the potential of ICTs.[88]
The Tunis Phase of WSIS produced two outcome documents: the “Tunis Commitment” and the associated “Tunis Agenda For the Information Society.”[89] Both of these documents reaffirms the “desire and commitment” of the WSIS participants “to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, . . . so that people everywhere can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, to achieve their full potential and to attain the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals.”[90] To this end, the Tunis Commitment identified as specific goals, inter alia, the needs to “improve access to information and communication infrastructure and technologies as well as to information and knowledge; build capacity; increase confidence and security in the use of ICTs; create an enabling environment at all levels; develop and widen ICT applications; . . . and encourage international and regional cooperation.”[91]
As a strategy for achieving these goals, the Tunis outcome documents focus heavily on obtaining financial commitments from wealthier governments and private sector participants to build ICT infrastructure in the developing world.[92] Such commitments—which are central to the WSIS2 outcome documents—transcend the scope of the GBSI Initiative. Moreover, unlike the outcome documents from the Geneva phase (WSIS1), the Tunis outcome documents make no specific references to satellites.
Like the outcome documents from the Geneva phase, however, the Tunis outcome documents ratified at WSIS2 do embrace key elements of the GBSI Initiative, albeit more indirectly than the Geneva outcome documents. Reflecting the GBSI Initiative’s goal of reserving dedicated spectrum for broadband satellite internet access, for example, the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society calls upon the ITU and other regional organizations to “take steps to ensure rational, efficient and economic use of, and equitable access to, the radio-frequency spectrum by all countries, based on relevant international agreements.”[93]
Reflecting the GBSI Initiative’s goal of harmonizing the worldwide regulatory framework, the Tunis Commitment calls upon governments to “remov[e] barriers to universal, ubiquitous, equitable and affordable access to information.”[94] Even more strongly, the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society calls upon governments to “take action . . . to support an enabling and competitive environment for the necessary investment in ICT infrastructure and for the development of new services [but should] not discourage, impede or prevent . . . continued participation . . . in the global market for ICT-enabled services.”[95]
Reflecting the GBSI Initiative’s goal of developing global technical standards for terminal equipment, the Tunis Commitment calls upon its ratifiers to “strive unremittingly . . . to promote universal, ubiquitous, equitable and affordable access to ICTs, including universal design and assistive technologies, for all people, . . . everywhere, to ensure that the benefits are more evenly distributed between and within societies. . . .”[96] Similarly, the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society specifically calls for increasing affordable global high-speed Internet connectivity by “[p]romoting the development and growth of low-cost terminal equipment, such as individual and collective user devices, especially for use in developing countries.”[97] Further reflecting the GBSI Initiative, the Tunis Commitment calls for ICT networks and applications to be built, “in partnership with the private sector, based on open or interoperable standards that are affordable and accessible to all, available anywhere and anytime, to anyone and on any device, leading to a ubiquitous network.”[98]
Post-privatization, ITSO is charged with continuing to guaranty the permanent connectivity of the world through satellite technology, and to ensure that poor and underserved "lifeline connectivity" nations remain connected with the outside world. Yet it must now perform these vital functions without operating any satellites of its own, and, indeed, without any resources other than its political capital and diplomatic skills. To function effectively under such constraints, ITSO must generate ideas and then take advantage of every opportunity to advance those ideas.
The GBSI Initiative exemplifies both the potential for positive contributions that ITSO can still make, and also the limitations on the scope, ambition, and effectiveness of those contributions. The GBSI Initiative is a set of sound policies that, if implemented, will make positive contributions to the availability and affordability of high-speed Internet access worldwide, including especially in underserved nations and regions. Moreover, by advancing the GBSI Initiative through the WSIS forum, ITSO has probably maximized the chances of GBSI’s eventual worldwide adoption.
At the same time, it must be noted that the GBSI Initiative is closely modeled on the earlier European GSM Initiative, and that, after five years in-progress, the GBSI Initiative remains less than fully articulated. These relative shortfalls of creativity and execution undoubtedly reflect ITSO’s diminished resources, rather than any failure of energy or imagination of its small staff. Moreover, the decision by the WSIS2 delegates in Tunis to remove from the final WSIS outcome documents the handful of specific references to satellites that had been included in the earlier Geneva WSIS documents illustrates the extent to which ITSO’s potential for effectiveness is now dependent on its cooperation with outside partners. In cases where these partnerships fail to yield ITSO’s desired results, ITSO may have scant capacity to implement its initiatives unilaterally.
The ITSO treaty organization is scheduled to be retired in 2013. During its remaining years, it will likely continue to serve as the “social conscience” of the global satellite communications industry and as a well-respected advocate for the communications needs of underserved nations. To truly address these needs, however, additional financial and technological resources must be deployed. This truism was recognized in the WSIS2 Tunis outcome documents, which give pride of place and emphasis to those entities capable of contributing materially and financially to closing the digital divide. Although ITSO remains capable of contributing good ideas and goodwill to this cause, post-privatization it no longer can make significant material or financial contributions. Accordingly, as illustrated by the limited effectiveness of its promotion of the GBSI Initiative, ITSO’s future contributions are likely to be increasingly marginal.
[1] See Agreement Relating to The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization “INTELSAT”, done Aug. 20, 1971, 23 U.S.T. 3813, 1220 U.N.T.S. 22 (“INTELSAT Agreement”) (establishing permanent intergovernmental treaty organization). The 1971 INTELSAT Agreement superseded a series of ad hoc predecessor agreements under which several international communications satellites were launched in the 1960s.
[2] For a narrative documentary history of INTELSAT’s privatization process, its causes, and its potential consequences, see Kenneth Katkin, Communication Breakdown?: The Future of Global Connectivity After the Privatization of INTELSAT, 38 Vand. J. Transnat'l L. 1323 (2005).
[3] ITSO Press Release, The Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/php_docs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm>. Further, nearly all other countries are dependent on satellites for their communications with the 70 satellite-dependent countries. Id.
[4] Formally, to facilitate the privatization, in 2000 the 1971 INTELSAT Agreement was amended, rather than terminated. Thus, all INTELSAT member states automatically remained members of ITSO upon privatization. See id.; see also Amendments of the Agreement Relating to the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization 'INTELSAT' of August 20, 1971, done Nov. 17, 2000, entered into force Nov. 30, 2004, State Dept. No. 04-778, 2004 WL 3214809.
[5] Presentation by ITSO Director General Ahmed Toumi Before The European Institute Roundtable on Telecommunications, E-Commerce & Audiovisual Policies (Feb. 25, 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=dir_general99&id=323&link_src=HPL&lang=english>. ITSO’s mission to maintain the permanently connectivity of the world through satellite technology originally derived from a 1961 United Nations General Assembly resolution proclaiming that “communication by means of satellites should be available to the nations of the world as soon as practicable on a global and non-discriminatory basis.” U.N. General Assembly Resolution 1721 (XVI), Part D (Dec. 20, 1961). Even post-privatization, “ITSO’s actions . . . continue to be framed by Resolution 1721 of the General Assembly of the United Nations as well as the principles embodied in the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space.” Toumi, European Institute Roundtable Presentation (Feb. 25, 2004).
[6] Toumi, European Institute Roundtable Presentation (Feb. 25, 2004); see also ITSO Agreement, Arts. III(b)(i), IX(c)(i), done Nov. 17, 2000.
[7] ITSO Mission & Role Web Page, <http://www.itso.int/mission.htm>.
[8] ITSO, Celebrating 40 Years of Commitment to International Public Telecommunications Services: 1964-2004, at 6-7 (2004), online at <http://www.itso.int/brochureDocs/english_web_ok.pdf>.
[9] Opening Address of Director General Ahmed Toumi Before the 27th ITSO Assembly of Parties (June 26, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/htmldocs/speech_AP27_ENGLISH.htm>; accord ITSO Agreement Art. I(f) (defining the “public telecommunications services” safeguarded by ITSO to include “fixed or mobile telecommunications services which can be provided by satellite and which are available for use by the public, such as telephony, telegraphy, telex, facsimile, data transmission, transmission of radio and television programs between approved earth stations having access to the Company’s space segment for further transmission to the public, and leased circuits for any of these purposes; but excluding [most] mobile services. . . .”).
[10] International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm>. “At the end of 2004, 14 per cent of the world’s population were using the Internet, with a large digital divide separating developed and developing regions: Over half the population in developed regions had access to the Internet, compared to 7 per cent in developing regions and less than 1 per cent in the 50 least developed countries.” United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report 2006, at 25 (2006), <http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGReport2006.pdf>.
[11] Opening Address of Director General Ahmed Toumi Before the 27th ITSO Assembly of Parties (June 26, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/htmldocs/speech_AP27_ENGLISH.htm>.
[12] Id. For an example of ITSO’s promotional activity, see, e.g., INTELSAT Assembly of Parties, Record of Decisions of the Twenty-Sixth (Extraordinary) Meeting, AP-26-3E FINAL W/4/01, at 5-6 ¶ 13(b) (May 1, 2001) (establishing a “Frequency Working Party (FWP)” to develop ITSO positions on “equitable procedures for the management of the radio frequency spectrum and orbital locations” to recommend to the ITU).
[13] In July 2001, INTELSAT began its privatization process by transferring control of its satellite fleet to a newly-created private Bermuda holding company, “Intelsat Ltd.” Immediately upon transfer, Intelsat Ltd.’s business operations were separated from the diplomatic activities of the residual intergovernmental treaty organization ITSO. Until Intelsat Ltd. was sold to private investors in 2005, however, Intelsat Ltd. (and its satellite fleet) continued to be owned by the Signatories to the INTELSAT Operating Agreement, most of whom were foreign government “Post, Telephone, and Telegraph” (“PTT”) agencies that also continued to serve as state Parties to the ITSO treaty organization.
[14] See ITSO Press Release, The Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/php_docs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm> (announcing GBSI initiative).
[15] See Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/htmldocs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm> (setting forth text of GBSI Initiative).
[16] The World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) is a joint initiative of the United Nations and the International Telecommunications Union that aims to bridge the digital and knowledge divides between the developed and developing worlds. See U.N. G.A.O.R. 56/183 (Jan. 31, 2002) (resolving to hold a WSIS “at the highest possible level in two phases”: the first phase in Geneva in 2003, and the second phase in Tunis in 2005). The first WSIS meeting—which attracted more than 25,000 delegates, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and more than 50 heads of state—was held Dec. 10-12, 2003, in Geneva, Switzerland. See David Hartshorn, Making Sense of the UN's WSIS, Satellite News, Jan. 12, 2004, 2004 WL 61657825. The second and final WSIS meeting was held in Tunis in November 2005.
[17] See World Summit on Information Society, Plan of Action, Doc. WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E (adopted Dec. 12, 2003), online at <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html>.
[18] See ITSO Press Release No. 2004-101, International Telecommunications Satellite Organization Holds Bi-Annual Meeting of Assembly of Parties (July 1, 2004) (“In considering the progress of the Goals and Objectives of the Organization for 2002-2007, the Assembly encouraged the Director General to pursue the initiative he presented to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on the Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure. This Initiative aims to ensure universal access to high-speed Internet using small and affordable terminals. . . .”), online at <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=news22&id=278&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[19] World Summit on the Information Society, G.A. Res. No 10451 (adopted March 27, 2006 without vote), published, UN Doc. No. A/RES/60/252 (April 27, 2006), issued under agenda item 49 of agenda A/60/251. See also UN Press Release, General Assembly Endorses Outcome of World Summit For Information Society (March 27, 2006) <http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10451.doc.htm>.
[20] See Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative, Presentation by ITSO Director General Ahmed Toumi, Workshop on Satellites In IP & Multimedia, Geneva, Switzerland (Dec. 9-11, 2002), online at <http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/workshop/sat/ks-004.pdf> (presenting GBSI Initiative to ITU).
[21] See International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm> (“At a time when most intergovernmental satellite organizations have privatized their business activities to ensure fair and active competition among all satellite operators, the “Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure” initiative does not envision a new global project owned and financed by the public sector or by a single operator. Rather, this initiative calls for cooperation among satellite industry actors, and a partnership between governments and industry to create an enabling environment for broadband services.”).
[22] ITSO Press Release, The Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/php_docs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm> (announcing GBSI initiative).
[23] See id. (resolving that “it is urgent to facilitate the emergence of a global broadband satellite infrastructure with the capability to provide, on a worldwide and non-discriminatory basis, two-way high-speed Internet access, in accordance with the provisions of [UN G.A.] Resolution 1721 (XVI)”).
[24] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative, Brochure (March 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/download/news_events/itufinal44.pdf>.
[25] ITSO Press Release, The Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/php_docs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm>; see also Keith Bernard, Satellite Regulatory Reform Needed To Bridge International Digital Divide, Interspace, Aug. 27, 2003, 2003 WL 9788490 (characterizing this prong of the GBSI Initiative as calling for “an ITU allocation of C- and Ku-band spectrum specifically allocated to broadband”); International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm> (“In the short term and given the existing considerable in-orbit capacity, Satellite operators could assist governments in this identification by agreeing to exclusively use parts of C and Ku band frequencies for broadband access by the means of simple and affordable terminals. In the medium and long term, use of additional capacity in the Ka and V bands could be considered when such capacity becomes significantly available. This approach would have the advantage of speeding-up the advent of affordable broadband access making use of existing in-orbit C and Ku band capacity.”).
[26] See Toumi European Roundtable Presentation, supra note [5] (global high-speed Internet access would be “facilitated by ‘clean’ frequency bands. There is a need for access to quality, not quantity, spectrum and orbital positions for broadband satellite investors and users.”).
[27] ITSO Press Release, The Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/php_docs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm> (announcing GBSI initiative). See also International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm> (“Considering the progressive use of broadband connections, the spectrum needed in the short term might not exceed 250 MHz. Currently over 5000 MHz is allocated to FSS and BSS services.”); accord Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative, Brochure (March 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/download/news_events/itufinal44.pdf> (“The GBSI Initiative proposes that a portion of spectrum, to be harmonized worldwide and on an interference-free basis, should represent approximately five percent of the more than 5000 MHz spectrum already allocated to satellite services.”).
[28] ITSO Press Release, The Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002), <http://www.itso.int/php_docs/BroadbandInitiative-FINAL-english-17Dec02.htm> (announcing GBSI initiative).
[29] See ITU Radiocommunications Assembly (RA03) Question (269/4) (2003).
[30] See ITU Radiocommunications Assembly (RA03) Question (269/4) (2003).
[31] See Final Acts of the 2003 ITU World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC03) (setting this agenda item for WRC07).
[32] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[33] Id.; see also Toumi European Roundtable Presentation, supra note [5].
[34] See Toumi European Roundtable Presentation (Feb. 25, 2004), supra note [5] (“[T]he affordability of terminal equipment may be the missing link for the emergence of global broadband usage. Although there currently are more than 260 commercial satellites in orbit, with a large amount of unused capacity on these satellites, the cost of broadband services is still prohibitively too high for many end-users, particularly for those in rural and developing countries.”).
[35] International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm>
[36] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative, Brochure (March 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/download/news_events/itufinal44.pdf>.
[37] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[38] ITU Resolution on Internet Protocol (IP)-Base Networks, ITU Res. No. 101, Minneapolis Session (1998). To facilitate a move towards universal interoperability of IP-based networks, the ITU’s Technical Standardization Sector (ITU-T), in conjunction with the Internet Society (ISOC) and its Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is currently studying “the global activities related to IP-based networks with respect to . . . : (i) infrastructure, interoperability, and standardization; (ii) Internet naming and addressing; and (iii) dissemination of information about IP-based networks and the implications of their development for ITU member states, particularly the least developed countries.” Id.; see also ITU Radiocommunications Assembly (RA03) Question (269/4) (2003) (requesting ITU Radiocommunication Sector to study, inter alia, the technical and operational characteristics that could facilitate the mass production of simple (VSAT) terminal equipment at affordable prices).
[39] Perhaps in a preemptive effort to forestall such opposition, ITSO has clarified “that the standard could be customized to only provide basic bit rate broadband connections for private users, while industry would retain the flexibility to develop higher bit rate solutions better suited for their requirements,” which would not need to conform to universal technical standards. International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm>; accord id. (asserting that the private sector should support the GBSI because “a worldwide market for the satellite-broadband industry will represent tremendous business opportunities for the private sector. . . . Therefore, the telecommunications industry, particularly satellite operators, should be encouraged to participate in the development of a global broadband satellite offer. . . .”).
[40] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative, Brochure (March 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/download/news_events/itufinal44.pdf>.
[41] International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm>; accord id. (asserting that the private sector should support the GBSI because “a worldwide market for the satellite-broadband industry will represent tremendous business opportunities for the private sector. . . . Therefore, the telecommunications industry, particularly satellite operators, should be encouraged to participate in the development of a global broadband satellite offer. . . .”).
[42] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[43] Fred Donovan, Broadband For The Have-Nots, Interspace, Apr. 23, 2003.
[44] See Toumi European Roundtable Presentation, supra note [5] (“Satellite services are naturally international, since satellite geographical coverage spans beyond national and regional boundaries.”).
[45] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[46] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[47] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[48] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[49] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[50] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[51] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[52] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002). With respect to this “public service dimension,” the GBSI Initiative also admonishes national governments themselves to “[c]onsider public funding for broadband services to benefit poor communities.” International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm>.
[53] Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative (Dec. 17, 2002).
[54] United Nations Millennium Declaration, UN G.A. Res. No. 55/2. ¶ 20 (Sept. 8, 2000). See also United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report 2006, at 25 (2006) (reporting MDG target, “[i]n cooperation with the private sector, [to] make available the benefits of new technologies— especially information and communications technologies.”), online at <http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGReport2006.pdf>.
[55] U.N. G.A. Res. No. 56/183 (Dec. 21, 2001), <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/background/resolutions/56_183_unga_2002.pdf>. The proposal to recommend the convening of a World Summit on the Information Society was first adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU in 1998. See ITU Res. No. 73, Minneapolis Session (1998). The WSIS was envisioned by ITU as a means of implementing the ITU’s earlier “Buenos Aires Initiative,” adopted in 1994, which resolved that “the ITU should facilitate non-discriminatory access to telecommunication technologies, facilities and services. . . .” ITU Res. No. 64, Kyoto Session (1994).
[56] U.N. G.A. Res. No. 56/183 (Dec. 21, 2001).
[57] U.N. G.A. Res. No. 56/183 (Dec. 21, 2001).
[58] U.N. G.A. Res. No. 56/183 (Dec. 21, 2001).
[59] U.N. G.A. Res. No. 56/183 (Dec. 21, 2001).
[60] World Summit on the Information Society, First Phase: 10-12 December 2003 Web Page, <http://www.itu.int/wsis/geneva/index.html>. More than 11,000 participants from 175 countries attended the first phase of WSIS in Geneva, including nearly 50 Heads of state/government and Vice-Presidents, 82 Ministers, and 26 Vice-Ministers from 175 countries as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society. Id.
[61] For outcome documents from the Geneva Phase of WSIS, see World Summit on the Information Society, First Phase: Geneva Documents Web Page, <http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/index1.html>.
[62] <http://www.itu.int/wsis/basic/about.html>. More than 19,000 participants from 174 countries attended the second phase of WSIS in Tunis, including nearly 50 Heads of state/government and Vice-Presidents and 197 Ministers, Vice Ministers and Deputy Ministers from 174 countries as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society. Id.
[63] See Tunis Commitment, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc>; Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, Document: WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6(Rev.1)-E, Nov. 18, 2005, <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/6rev1.doc>.
[64] U.N. G.A. Res. No. 56/183 (Dec. 21, 2001).
[65] See International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, "Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative," Presentation to the World Summit on the Information Society (Sept. 2003), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/GBSI_UPDATE.htm>. The GBSI Initiative was presented to the WSIS delegates in Geneva by ITSO Director General Ahmed Toumi.
[66] WSIS Geneva Plan of Action, Doc. No. WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E, Dec. 12 2003, ¶ 9 (2003).
[67] WSIS Geneva Plan of Action, Doc. No. WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E, Dec. 12 2003, ¶ 9(d) (2003) (emphasis added). Accord id. ¶ 9(i) (resolving that governments should “[e]ncourage the use of unused wireless capacity, including satellite, in developed countries and in particular in developing countries, to provide access in remote areas, especially in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and to improve low-cost connectivity in developing countries.”) (emphasis added).
[68] WSIS Geneva Plan of Action, Doc. No. WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E, Dec. 12 2003, ¶ 9(d) (2003) (emphasis added). The reference in this sentence to “other relevant international organizations” appears to relate to ITSO.
[69] ITU, “Connect the World: Partners and Projects” Web Page, <http://www.itu.int/partners/project.asp?lang=en&id=5>.
[70] ITU, “Connect the World: Partners and Projects” Web Page, <http://www.itu.int/partners/project.asp?lang=en&id=5>.
[71] ITU, “Connect the World: Partners and Projects” Web Page, <http://www.itu.int/partners/project.asp?lang=en&id=5>.
[72] ITU, “Connect the World: Partners and Projects” Web Page, <http://www.itu.int/partners/project.asp?lang=en&id=5>.
[73] The text of the model GBSI “Memorandum of Understanding” is online at <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=330&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[74] GBSI Model Memorandum of Understanding (Jan. 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=330&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[75] GBSI Model Memorandum of Understanding (Jan. 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=330&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[76] GBSI Model Memorandum of Understanding (Jan. 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=330&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[77] GBSI Model Memorandum of Understanding (Jan. 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=330&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[78] GBSI Model Memorandum of Understanding (Jan. 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=330&link_src=HPL&lang=english>. In addition, each MoU Signatory also “ask[ed] the Director General of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) to serve as the liaison for this Memorandum.” Id. It is unclear what consequences flow from the Director General’s designation as “liason” for the MoU agreements.
[79] The GBSI MoU signatories include: Arabsat, Asiasat, Eutelsat, Hispamar Satellites, Hispasat, Intelsat Ltd., Intersputnik, New Skies Satellites, Rascom, Star One, SES Global, SES Americom, Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, Telespazio, Alcatel Space, EADS Astrium, EMS Technologies, Hughes Network Systems, Nera Satcom, Viasat, the Advanced Satellite Mobile Systems – Task Force (ASMS-TF), and the European Satellite Communications Network of Excellence (SatNEx). Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative, Brochure (March 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/download/news_events/itufinal44.pdf>. Two of the MoU signatories—Intelsat Ltd. (of Bermuda) and New Skies Satellites (of the Netherlands)—are private companies that today operate the 30 satellites formerly operated by ITSO’s predecessor, the INTELSAT treaty organization.
[80] Telespazio, now a joint venture of Finmeccanica and Alcatel, formerly served as the designated Italian Signatory to the INTELSAT treaty organization. See Telespazio History, <http://www.telespazio.it/history.html>.
[81] ITSO Press Release No. 2005-102, Satellite Industry Takes Another Step to Shape Future of Satellite Broadband (Jan. 18, 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=22999&id=352&link_src=HPL&lang=english>. The Rome meeting of 18 GBSI signatories followed an earlier, organizational meeting in which 15 GBSI signatories met on October 28, 2004, at the headquarters of Hispasat in Madrid, Spain. ITSO Press Release No. 2004-108, Satellite Industry Leaders Gather to Shape Future of Satellite Broadband in Madrid (Nov. 4, 2004), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=&id=280&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[82] ITSO Press Release No. 2005-102, Satellite Industry Takes Another Step to Shape Future of Satellite Broadband (Jan. 18, 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=22999&id=352&link_src=HPL&lang=english>. Accord ITSO Interim Report on the GBSI Implementation, Letter from Director General Ahmed Toumi to Mr. Kumar Singarajah, Feb. 2 2005, ITSO Ref. No. 02-02-05/DG-09, <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/letter_SAP_REG.htm>.
[83] Id.
[84] ITSO Press Release No. 2005-102, Satellite Industry Takes Another Step to Shape Future of Satellite Broadband (Jan. 18, 2005), <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/tpl1_itso.cfm?location=22999&id=352&link_src=HPL&lang=english>.
[85] Id.; The RFI was released just three weeks after the Rome Meeting. See GBSI MoU Request For Proposals—Study of the Financial Analysis of the Long-Term Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI) Business Concept, ITSO Ref. No. 02-02-05/DG-10, Feb. 2, 2005, <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/Call_for_proposals.htm>.
[86] GBSI MoU Request For Proposals—Study of the Financial Analysis of the Long-Term Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI) Business Concept, ITSO Ref. No. 02-02-05/DG-10, Feb. 2, 2005, <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/Call_for_proposals.htm>.
[87] GBSI MoU Request For Proposals—Study of the Financial Analysis of the Long-Term Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure (GBSI) Business Concept, ITSO Ref. No. 02-02-05/DG-10, Feb. 2, 2005, <http://216.119.123.56/dyn4000/dyn/docs/ITSO/gbsi2005/Call_for_proposals.htm>. The financial analysis solicited in the RFI sought “a description of the potential market size, including CPE quantities, transponder loading assumptions, user churn rates, unique market characteristics and user price sensitivity (as differentiated across regions proposed to be served).” Id. The RFI also requested researchers to “identify those costs that need to be improved to make the global broadband mass-market service more affordable.” Id.
[88] ITSO Press Release No. 2005-114, ITSO Director General Promotes Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure Initiative During Tunis Phase of the WSIS (Nov. 18, 2005). At WSIS2, Director General Toumi also participated on the ITU’s “Connect the World Initiative” round table discussions, moderated by Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships. During this event, Toumi signed a “Global Pledge to Connect the World,” in which ITSO and other IGOs and governments jointly pledged to work to narrow the global digital divide. Id.
[89] Both documents are online at <http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/doc_multi.asp?lang=en&id=2266|2267>.
[90] TUNIS COMMITMENT, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 2 <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc>. Cf. id. ¶ 21 (“[W]e shall pay special attention to the particular needs of people of developing countries, countries with economies in transition, Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States, Landlocked Developing Countries, Highly Indebted Poor Countries, countries and territories under occupation, and countries recovering from conflict or natural disasters.”).
[91] TUNIS COMMITMENT, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 9 <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc>.
[92] See, e.g., TUNIS COMMITMENT, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 34 <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc> (“We recognize the need for, and strive to mobilize resources, both human and financial . . . to enable us to increase the use of ICT for development and realize the short-, medium- and long-term plans dedicated to building the Information Society. . . . ”); Id. ¶ 33 (“[W]hile technical cooperation can help, capacity building at all levels is needed to ensure that the required institutional and individual expertise is available”). TUNIS AGENDA FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6(Rev.1)-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 8 (“[B]ridging the digital divide . . . will require adequate and sustainable investments in ICT infrastructure and services, and capacity building, and transfer of technology over many years to come.”); see also id. ¶¶ 18, 23, 27-28 (setting forth funding mechanisms and priorities).
[93] TUNIS AGENDA FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6(Rev.1)-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 96. The Tunis Agenda further elaborates that such efficient and equitable spectrum access regimes are prerequisites for “creating a trustworthy, transparent and non-discriminatory legal, regulatory and policy environment.” Id.
[94] TUNIS
COMMITMENT, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 10 <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc>. Accord
id. (“We underline the importance of removing
barriers to bridging the digital divide, particularly those that hinder the
full achievement of the economic, social and cultural development of countries
and the welfare of their people, in particular, in developing countries.”).
[95] TUNIS AGENDA FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6(Rev.1)-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 14. See also id. ¶ 26(a) (acknowledging that “policy and regulatory incentives aimed at universal access and the attraction of private-sector investment” must be created before parallel financial mechanisms can be used equitably and universally).
[96] TUNIS COMMITMENT, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 18 <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc>.
[97] TUNIS AGENDA FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6(Rev.1)-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 50(f).
[98] TUNIS COMMITMENT, Doc. No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, Nov. 18, 2005, ¶ 28 <http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.doc>. See also id. ¶ 29 (calling for the development of interoperative platforms and free and open-source software).