1. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 1 THE FUTURE OF VOICE Session 6: Shaping an Enabling Regulatory Paradigm Sergio Antocicco International Telecommunications Users Group

2. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 2 What is INTUG? a group representing user views to: –European Commission –OECD, ICC/UNICE, CTO –ITU, WTO, APEC TEL, CITEL an association of associations: –national user groups –multi-national corporations –individuals, eg academics formed 1974 (Swift, SITA, Reuters) A catalyst for change

3. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 3 Links in all Continents

4. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 4 Our aims effective global reach via competition seamless service interoperability better value/quality - fit for purpose investment and innovation in services constructive industry co-operation with: –governments and regulators –operators and service providers –equipment manufacturers Global economic and social growth via telecoms

5. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 5 Our activities lobbying at global and regional levels affecting national policy processes speeches and presentations a source of information early awareness of issues networking amongst users informal channels to governments

6. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 6 Voice services Technologies and users have different clocks For cultural reasons voice services will remain the most widely used services for the next decades Today, Videoconference is still considered a voice service with an add- on option

7. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 7 The IP revolution seen by users First reaction: a cheaper voice communication technology Second reaction: a powerful tool for integrating voice and data Third reaction: a new tool for communication services, among which, there is a huge usage of voice services

8. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 8 IP pricing mechanism Logically, by volume (time and distance insensitive) Dependent on bandwidth Competition constraint: the rental of a videocassette at the shop round the corner

9. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 9 IP pricing mechanism - 2 Consequently, voice should cost almost zero A commercial challenge for most “ legacy ” Operators which must be addressed by offering new applications

10. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 10 VoIP All Operators use VoIP technologies within their networks Savings are mainly retained by Operators BUT..... VoIP services offerings transfer most of savings directly to final users Which hurdles could be devised?

11. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 11 VoIP - HURDLES Emergency services access User physical location A service unable to supply those services doesn ’ t comply with Universal Service Obligations Therefore, it must be subject to strong limitations

12. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 12 VoIP – A POSSIBLE SOLUTION Operators know where users are located Therefore, they can send relevant information to the VoIP Client, together with, for instance, the IP address, at log-on The VoIP Client can send location data stored, if an emergency call must be made Rules and standards are necessary Is it a problem?

13. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 13 VoIP – INCOMING CALLS Some Operators try to limit the use of geographic numbers for incoming VoIP calls The excuse is the “ nomadic ” characteristic of a VoIP called individual “ You must stay where your phone number is located ” seems a must But, if you divert the call to another location and pay an additional call, everything is OK

14. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 14 VoIP – INCOMING CALLS In some Countries, Authorities are imposing limitations for the use of geographic (E.164) numbers Fixed or Mobile is OK Nomadic use must be limited Users don ’ t want limitations Nomadic use has the same importance of fixed and mobile

15. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 15 VoIP – A NEW PERSPECTIVE Millions people are in the VoIP Village: the World Growing figures are stunning Social, economic and political consequences of cheaper & more efficient communications are unbelievable VoIP services must be supported, non opposed

16. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 16 VoIP – A PROPOSAL Phone numbers refer to specific Countries VoIP users are citizens of the World They participate to a community without borders A worldwide numbering scheme could reflect those characteristics

17. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 17 VoIP – A PROPOSAL VoIP numbers could be, for instance, 10 digit long, starting with 5 5XXX XXX XXX could become the “ Planet Earth citizen ” phone number Each inhabitant of our Planet could have its own VoIP phone number eNUM system could manage also those numbers, allowing routing and the usage of mnemonic identifiers

18. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 18 VoIP – A PROPOSAL A worldwide Organisation (ITU?) should manage the number assignements (as it happens for frequencies) Some new technical standards should be developed The risk is that it could work!

19. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 19 VoIP – A PERSPECTIVE Communication is the basis for freedom and for cultural growth We will continue using the voice as a basic tool THEREFORE VOICE WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE KILLER APPLICATION!

20. INTUG ITU - The Future of Voice Geneva, 15-16 January 2007 www.intug.org 20 Thank You Sergio Antocicco INTUG tel + 39 06 59 58 53 70 (Italy) fax +39 06 59 42 724 (Italy) VoIP Skype and VoipCheap: sergiotlc VoIP dial-in: +1 703 349 0468 (USA) chairman@intug.net