The 46th Meeting of the Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TEL) was held in St. Petersburg from July 30 to August 3, 2012.
Members discussed a review of the TEL 2010-2015 Strategic Action Plan. Members agreed to the principles of revision of the TEL 2010-2015 Strategic Plan as follows: (1) update the plan for the 2010-2015 timeframe; (2) add new action items, if necessary, to harmonize with the TELMIN 9 Declaration; (3) keep existing action items; and (4) consider a plan for next timeframe in a timely manner.
The following Steering Group Meetings reported to the TEL 46 Plenary meeting:
ICT Development Steering Group Meeting (DSG)
Members discussed the following issues and projects:
- APNIC IPv6 deployment status update
- APEC e-Government Research Center at Waseda University, Japan
- ICT Applications for People with Special Needs (Seniors and People with Disabilities)
- APII Test Bed Project
- APII R&D Test Bed Network Project
- Workshop on broadband network development for green growth
- Innovative value-added service of ICT: Cloud Computing Applied to tele-health management platform system
- Application of ubiquitous Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for customised management in emergency situations
- The Information Integration on Disaster Prevention & Relief in the Asia-Pacific Region Forum
- Enhance competence in implementing ICT universal services programs/projects in APEC
Liberalization Steering Group Meeting (LSG)
Members discussed the following issues and projects:
- Workshop on Telecom Competition Policy in APEC Economies
- Classification of ICT Services in the Digital Economy
- Industry Roundtable “New Business on Cloud Services”
- MRA Task Force Meeting Report
- Review of TEL Assessment Report and TEL Strategic Action Plan: 2010-2015
- Net Neutrality in Canada, Hong Kong, China and Singapore
- Case study on Packet Sharing (Japan)
- The FCC and the Open Internet (USA)
- Information Exchange
- Public-Private Partnership in Singapore
- PPP Models for ICT Sector in Viet Nam
- Universal Service Obligation (USO): Private Participation in Thailand
- PPP Initiatives (Malaysia)
Security and Prosperity Steering Group Meeting (SPSG)
Members discussed the following issues and projects:
- MRA for Equivalence of Technical Requirements (MRA-ETR)
- Review Opinion on APEC TEL MRA (Korea)
- Proposed Changes to Guideline for MRA-ETR Implementation (Canada)
- Proposed Outline for MRA-ETR Economy Internal Procedures (Canada)
- Stock-take of MRA implementation and benefits
- Update on the Development of Regional MRAs
- Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) MRA
- The ASEAN Telecommunications Regulatory Council MRA (ATRC MRA)
- Market surveillance
- Post-market surveillance: a case study of mobile phones and altered test reports in Thailand
- Japanese Market Surveillance results
- Information Communication Certification Council of Japan (ICCF) information
- Way Forward
- Readiness to implement MRA-ETR
- Develop a plan and strategy for obtaining qualitative and quantitative data and information from economies on the benefits of the MRA-CA
- Expand and document best practices for implementing market surveillance
- Project management approach for implementing MRAs
- A review of the APEC TEL website and update MRA information to facilitate MRA-ETR
- Follow-up on any training need of Members
For further information, please refer to the TEL 46 Chair’s Summary.
The 9th Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information (TELMIN8) was held in St. Petersburg, Russia on August 7-8, 2012. The Ministers adopted a declaration, which urged TEL members to advance implementation of the APEC TEL Strategic Action Plan 2010-2015, focusing on the following areas: Developing ICT to promote new growth, Enhancing socio-economic activities through the use of ICT, Promoting safe and trusted ICT environment, Promoting regional economic integration, and Strengthening cooperation in the ICT sector.
For further information, please refer to the “Saint Petersburg Declaration: Building Confidence and Security in the Use of ICT to Promote Economic Growth and Prosperity.”
APEC economies have achieved the goal of tripling internet access in the region, originally set in the 2000 APEC Leaders' Declaration (the Brunei Declaration) and the goal of universal internet access by 2010. Economies are currently working to establish and implement policies to reach the goal of universal access to broadband by 2015.
The TEL has also been promoting the use of ICT for socio-economic development and recently conducted workshops on transfer of green ICT and disaster management. In addition, the TEL has been working towards trade and investment facilitation in ICT, including the implementation of MRA.
The MRA on Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment (MRA-CA) is in its 12th year of implementation. It benefits manufacturers by reducing the cost of getting a product approved and by reducing the time taken for products to reach the market. It also benefits consumers by ensuring access to a variety of competitively-priced products. The MRA TF completed the text of the MRA for equivalence of technical requirements in telecommunications equipment (MRA-ETR) to complement the MRA-CA, which was endorsed at the 8th Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information in October 2010.
Promoting a safe and trusted ICT environment is another priority for the TEL and various cybersecurity initiatives have been conducted by the TEL. In 2010, the TEL created and observed Cybersecurity Awareness Day on 29th October 2010 with exhibition of posters on cybersecurity, which will continue to be observed by TEL members every year.
The TEL has been also successful in its active engagement of the private sector and other international organisations to achieve synergies and progress work in areas of mutual interest. Many TEL projects are initiated and driven solely by the private sector, and others are joint private-public sector initiatives in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Global Business Dialogue on e-Society (GBDe), the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), the Internet Society (ISOC) and the International Telecommunications Users Group (INTUG).
Kenji TANAKA (Mr)
Chair
Counsellor
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
2-1-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 100-8926
Japan
Tel: +81 3 5253 5929
Fax: +81 3 5253 5930
Email:
Yuka KOBAYASHI (Ms)
Assistant to the Chair
International Economic Affairs Division
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
2-1-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8926
Japan
Tel: +81 3 5253 5929
Email:
Nur Sulyna ABDULLAH (Ms)
Vice Chair
Director, International Affairs
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
Email:
Mikiharu SHIMIZU (Mr)
Program Director
APEC Secretariat
Email: