International Telecommunication Union Internet Challenges & IP Telephony Connect 2001 Cancun, October 16-18, 2001 Robert Shaw ITU Internet Strategy and Policy Advisor International Telecommunication Union The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its membership.

International Telecommunication Union Internet in Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) mid-2000 to mid-2001, international Internet connectivity to Latin America & Caribbean grew 500% Growth twice as fast as any other world region 2,500% growth between Latin America countries Fastest growth of any intra-regional bandwidth Source: Telegeography, Packet Geography 2001

International Telecommunication Union Inter-regional Internet backbone 357 Mbit/s 19’716 Mbit/s Asia- Pacific Latin America & Caribbean 2’638 Mbit/s 127 Mbit/s Arab States, Africa 468 Mbit/s 171 Mbit/s Europe 56’241 Mbit/s USA & Canada Source: TeleGeography Inc., Global Backbone Database. Data valid for Sept

International Telecommunication Union Top Latin America & Caribbean Internet Hub Cities in 2001 RankCity, CountryInternet Bandwidth (Mbps) 1Miami, USA7,825 2São Paulo, Brazil4,984 3Buenos Aires, Argentina4,017 4Mexico City, Mexico2,182 5New York, USA2,003 6Santiago, Chile1,770 7Dallas, USA1,546 8Monterrey, Mexico1,077 9Rio de Janeiro, Brazil1,029 10Los Angeles, USA975 Source: Telegeography, Packet Geography 2001

International Telecommunication Union Top Latin America International Internet Routes RankCity, Country Internet Bandwidth (Mbps) 1São Paulo, BrazilMiami, USA3,384 2Buenos Aires, ArgentinaMiami, USA1,455 3Mexico City, MexicoDallas, USA1,340 4Buenos Aires, ArgentinaSantiago, Chile824 5Buenos Aires, ArgentinaNew York, USA698 6Buenos Aires, ArgentinaSão Paulo, Brazil666 7Monterrey, MexicoLos Angeles, USA656 8Santiago, ChileMiami, US503 9São Paulo, BrazilNew York, USA475 10Rio de Janeiro, BrazilNew York, USA378 Source: Telegeography, Packet Geography 2001

International Telecommunication Union IP Telephony: What is it? Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony is a generic term describing voice or fax carried over IP-based networks, such as the Internet. IP Telephony is important: –In the short-term, because it cuts the cost of calls, especially if routed over the public Internet –In the longer-term, because telecoms carriers are migrating their separate voice and data networks to converged IP-based networks Examples of IP Telephony Service Providers include Net2Phone, Dialpad.com, iBasis, etc.

International Telecommunication Union Why is IP Telephony important? IP Telephony traffic, in million minutes 0.0% 0.2% 1.6% 5.5% 3.2% 0 1'000 2'000 3'000 4'000 5'000 6'000 7' As percentage of int'l outgoing traffic Source: ITU Internet Reports, adapted from TeleGeography Inc.

International Telecommunication Union IP Telephony Flavours Often treated differently from policy or regulatory perspective –Carried solely across the public Internet –IP is underlying transport or signalling technology for PSTN services (e.g., using SS7) –IP telephony on full end-to-end “private” IP networks (e.g., using “softswitch technology”) –Combinations of the above with gateways between Internet or private IP-based networks and the PSTN

International Telecommunication Union Country positions on IP Telephony 189 ITU Member States As of March Based on responses to ITU regulatory questionnaire and inputs to WTPF-01. No policy or No response 98 Prohibited 35 Regulated if "real-time" 7 Unregulated, 26 countries Unregulated if not "real- time", 18 Light regulation 5

International Telecommunication Union Pricing IP Voice Services In high-price, monopoly markets –Where permitted, IP Telephony creates opportunities for low-cost calls –Even if not permitted, IP Telephony is widely used to reduce costs of international call termination In markets in transition to competition –IP Telephony offers a route towards early introduction of competition and creates downward pressure on prices In competitive, low-price markets –Main market opportunity for IP Telephony is in value-added services, e.g., unified messaging

International Telecommunication Union What are the Key Issues? Technical: –How to define IP Telephony? –Is quality of service comparable? Will it improve? –How to handle numbering/addressing issues? Economic: –What price and cost savings can be expected? –How quickly will carriers migrate their networks? –Isn’t it just a form of bypass of telecom monopolies? Regulatory: –Is it voice or is it data? –License it? Prohibit it? Restrict it? Liberalise it? –Should IP Telephony providers contribute to Universal Service?

International Telecommunication Union ITU Information Resources ITU Internet Reports 2001: IP Telephony – World Telecommunication Policy Forum: IP Telephony – Secretary General’s Report on IP Telephony – ITU Internet Country Case Studies – IP Telephony Case Studies (e.g., Bolivia, Columbia, Peru) –

International Telecommunication Union ITU Information Resources ITU News Article on IP Telephony – BDT’s Meeting on WTPF Opinion D Part 3 – Workshop on Internet and IP Telephony, Lima, Perú, July 2001 – strategy/internet/iptelephony/Seminars/perujuly2001/ strategy/internet/iptelephony/Seminars/perujuly2001/ Note on IP Telephony for Americas Regional Prepatory Meeting (16-18 October 2001) for WTDC 2002 –

International Telecommunication Union ITU Information Resources ITU-T Study Group 13: Lead Study Group for IP related matters – Some SG13 IP Overview Matters – ENUM (E.164 Numbering Plan Mapped to DNS) – and Packetizer: A resource for packet-switched conversational protocols (technical site by Rapporteur of ITU-T Q.2/16 dealing with H.323) –