Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) ADVANCING GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS

ICT Standards and Technology Neutrality: Reducing Technical Barriers to Trade September 11, 2008 U.S. – India Commercial Dialogue Nick Fetchko Director International and Government Affairs

Presentation Overview – TIA Standards Activities – U.S. Standards Process – International Standards Process – WTO TBT – Technology Neutrality

TIA at a Glance TIA represents the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry Standards Domestic and International Policy Market Research

World Recognized Standards Authority Accredited Standards Development Organization (SDO) by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 70+ engineering committees formulating positions and preparing international standards and reports for industry and government 1,100 experts and industry leaders involved in committees 1,500 standards published Secretariat for the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) developing next generation of cdma2000 ® wireless connections Secretariat for International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 204 on Intelligent Transport Systems

TIA International Standards Committees Mobile and personal communications systems Fiber optics and cabling infrastructure Vehicular telematics Terrestrial mobile multimedia Healthcare ICT …and many more

What is a standard? A technical standard is an established norm or requirement. It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes and practices. In telecommunications, standards are generally developed to promote interoperability among competing technologies

U.S. Standards Development Model Bottom up approach Voluntary Consensual Industry, Government and other stakeholder involvement Government mandates only if there is a clear public policy need (e.g. Digital Television Broadcasting Standard, public safety)

International Standards Organizations National Standard Setting Bodies (e.g. ANSI) – accredits Standard Development Organizations (e.g. TIA) Regional Standard Setting Bodies – Asia: PASC – Americas: CITEL – Europe: ETSI – Africa: ARSO – Middle East: AIDMO Global – International Telecommunications Union (ITU) – International Organization for Standards (ISO) – International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

WTO TBT Agreement – Principles » Avoidance of unnecessary obstacles to trade » non-discrimination and national treatment » harmonization of technical regulations and standards » equivalence (accepting of other countries technical regulations if policy objectives are equivalent, agreed on bilateral basis) » encourage mutual recognition of conformity assessment procedures » transparency of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures – Created Guidance on: » Technical regulations » Standards » Conformity assessment procedures

TBT Standards Provisions encourages members to participate in international standard development bodies. encourages use of existing international standards for countries’ national technical regulations. Technical regulations promulgated in accordance with relevant international standards are presumed not to create an unnecessary obstacle to international trade.

Trade Implications of Different Standard Setting Approaches – U.S. standards setting process is driven from the bottom up with multi-stakeholder involvement (industry and government). – Model in some countries is a top down approach, with specifications mandated by governments. – Standard policies unilaterally pursued by governments outside of the international standards setting process can create significant barriers to trade. – While WTO TBT provides flexibility for developing countries to enact policies that encourage indigenous innovation or for national security reasons, innovation not undertaken in cooperation with international standard setting processes can create barriers to trade.

Principle of Technology Neutrality Market vs. government driven technology development Government should refrain from dictating one technology over another (e.g. CDMA vs. GSM) Although governments can claim to be technology neutral, licensing policies, national standards/specifications and certification and compliance policies/practices can act to discourage the use or introduction of other technologies

Technology Neutrality In U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreements Principal of Technology Neutrality included in Telecommunications chapters of U.S. bilateral trade agreements: Ratified: – Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Singapore, Peru Pending: – Colombia, South Korea, Panama

Questions What are the primary organizations responsible for the development and application of standards, regulations and conformity assessment for the telecommunications sector in India? What is the Indian industry’s role in these developments? What are the key areas of priority or concern in the area of standardization for the telecommunications industry in India? How could TIA facilitate increased information exchange and cooperation in the area of telecommunications standardization?

Conclusion Thank you.