International Telecommunication Union

It was founded in Paris in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union and became an agency of the United Nations in 1947. The ITU is based in Geneva, Switzerland and has twelve regional and area offices around the world.

The ITU currently has a membership of 192 countries and some 700 private-sector entities. Its activities touch all aspects of the ICT sector, from digital broadcasting to the Internet, and from mobile technologies to 3D TV. The ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.

The RIPE NCC is a Sector Member of the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and the Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D).

ENUM

ENUM is a protocol for mapping telephone numbers to Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI).
Since 2002, the RIPE NCC has provided DNS operations for the e164.arpa zone (ENUM) in accordance with the instructions from the Internet Architecture Board. This is done in cooperation with the ITU, as all requests for ENUM delegation of an E.164 country code must be evaluated by the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (ITU-T TSB).

• More information on RIPE NCC support for ENUM
• RIPE ENUM Working Group

WSIS

The ITU played a major role in organising the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) events in 2003 and 2005 and in coordinating subsequent activities, including the annual WSIS Forums.

• More information on the WSIS

The ITU and IPv6

In October 2004, during the WSIS process, the Director of the ITU-TSB published a memorandum for public comment, entitled "ITU and Internet Governance” [Microsoft Word document].

The memorandum included a proposal to create a new IPv6 address space distribution process based solely on national authorities. As this proposal could have had a serious impact on Internet operators and the global Internet community, the Number Resource Organization (NRO) issued a response, detailing the flaws in the proposal and the negative impact it would have on Internet operations.

• NRO Response to ITU Comments on the Management of Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses

RIPE NCC members signed an Expression of Support for the NRO's response. Several expressions of support were also received by email from members of the RIPE community.

The NRO also published a white paper entitled "The Geography of Internet Addressing" [PDF] outlining the justifications for the existing Regional Internet Registry (RIR) system of Internet number resource distribution.

ITU IPv6 Group

The ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, held in Johannesburg in 2008, produced WTSA Resolution 64, “IP address allocation and encouraging the deployment of IPv6”. This resolution was a significant recognition by the ITU of the importance of IPv6 adoption and marked an increased level of ITU activity in this area.   

The ITU Council 2009 approved a recommendation to convene a group to conduct further activities toward the implementation of WTSA Resolution 64, open to the membership of ITU-T and ITU-D. The ITU IPv6 Group met for the first time in March 2010 and again in September 2010 and March 2011.

As a Sector Member of both the ITU-T and the ITU-D, the RIPE NCC has been involved in the ITU IPv6 Group from the outset, providing advice, feedback and statistics along with the other RIRs and members of the Internet technical community.

World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12)

A World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) will be convened in December 2012, with the goal of revising the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs).

From the ITU website:

The ITRs establish general principles relating to the provision and operation of international telecommunication. They are designed to facilitate global interconnection and interoperability of telecommunication infrastructure, underpin the harmonious development and efficient operation of technical facilities, and promote the efficiency and availability of international telecommunication services. The International Telecommunication Regulations is a treaty instrument of the ITU. These Regulations succeeded the Telegraph Regulations (1973) and Telephone Regulations (1973) in a new treaty adopted at WATTC-88 (Melbourne).

The RIPE NCC will follow and contribute to the discussions that take place during and leading up to WCIT, in coordination with colleagues in the Internet technical community (including the other RIRs) and ITU Member States in the RIPE NCC service region. The overall goal of the RIPE NCC in these discussions is the promotion and defense of the open, bottom-up policy development model that has underpinned the technical evolution of the Internet to date.

The WCIT will run from 3-14 December 2012 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

It will be preceded by a series of preparatory meetings in Geneva. These will take place:

• 27-29 February 2012
• 23-25 April 2012
• 20-22 June 2012

European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT)

In early 2012, the RIPE NCC was granted Observer status in the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) Committee for ITU Policy (ComITU). This committee serves to organise the coordination of CEPT actions and positions in relation to various ITU activities, including the development of Common European Proposals (CEPs) in the lead-up to WCIT-12 and the revision of the ITRs.

The RIPE NCC made the following submission for the consideration of CEPT Member States at their meeting in May 2012:

• Submission on Calling Line Identification in the International Telecommunication Regulations

ITU News