Delegations of the RCC full members – Communications Administrations (CAs) of the Azerbaijan Republic, Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Republic of Uzbekistan, Ukraine and RCC observers – CAs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of Latvia, Republic of Slovenia, IOSC Intersputnik, as well as representatives of the international organizations took part in the session.
The session was presided by the Chairman of the RCC Board, Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Mr. Igor O. Schegolev.
A speech of welcome from the President of Turkmenistan. Mr.G.M.Berdymukhammedov was read by the Minister of Communication of Turkmenistan, Mr.R.A.Khodjakurbanov. The floor for the greeting addresses was given to the Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau Mr. Valery Timofeev then to the Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (TDB) Mr. Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid. Director of ITU TDB delivered information on the ITU initiative “Connect the World” and the possibility of carrying out of such event for the RCC participants’ countries.
The greeting address from Mr.Eduard Dayan Director General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Bureau was delivered as well.
The participants of the RCC Board session discussed the preliminary outcomes of the 24th UPU Congress that completed its work in August 2008 in Geneva (Switzerland). It was noted that the RCC Postal Commission and Postal Operators Board had done significant preliminary work including the RCC Common proposals preparation.
The majority of the RCC proposals are reflected in the documents adopted by the UPU Congress: General Regulations of the UPU, Universal Postal Convention, Letter Post and Parcel Post Regulations.
The RCC CAs joint work has allowed to strengthen the role and authority of the Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications. The RCC participants’ countries were elected into the UPU governing bodies: the Azerbaijan Republic, Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Ukraine to the Council of Administration, the Azerbaijan Republic and Russian Federation – into the Postal Operations Council.
It was decided to go on with implementation of the 24th UPU Congress decisions by the RCC working bodies paying special attention to the improvement of postal services quality.
Having heard the question “Interaction of postal operators of the RCC participants’ countries in the field of postal security” the Board considers it expedient to charge the RCC Postal Commission, RCC Postal Operators Board and RCC PSAG to render assistance and support to the RCC participants in development and implementation of joint projects on prevention and identification of the causes of illegal actions on the postal networks, use of postal network for terrorist purposes, on suppression of attempts of money laundering and other illegal actions.
The progress in the RCC CAs preparations for the forthcoming ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08, 21-30 October 2008, Johannesburg, RSA), touching interests of a wide circle of customers, providers of communication equipment and services was discussed. The RCC Board made a point of the RCC Communications Administrations coordination of positions on shaping technical policy of the communication networks development with the view of the national communication networks entry into global info-communication infrastructure developing on the basis of advanced technologies.
The RCC Communications Administrations decided to carry out regular consultations and coordinate their positions during the Assembly proceedings, to support each other in protecting mutual interests, including promotion of candidates to the Study Groups and Advisory Group of the ITU Standardization Sector leadership.
The Board approved the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society decisions (WSIS, Geneva 2003, Tunis 2005). It was decided to regularly present information to ITU about projects and initiatives in the RCC participants’ countries within the framework of the WSIS decisions fulfillment and to take part in preparation of proposals for development of a road map of the ITU decisions on WSIS implementation up to 2015. The promotion of the internationalization of the high level domain names on the Internet to ICANN was supported and it was decided to study the possibility of the establishment of an Advisory Group under the RCC on coordination of Cyrillic introduction on the Internet.
Having considered the outcomes of the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) the Board noted that WRC-07 adopted important decisions concerning development and introduction of the next generation mobile communication systems, air telemetry and remote control systems, satellite services, digital radio broadcasting, radiocommunication application at forecasting and detecting natural calamities and ensuring safety. The RCC Commission on Regulation of Frequency Spectrum Use and Commission for Satellite Communication, TV and Sound Broadcasting work was approved, they have started systematic preparations for the Radiocommunication Assembly and World Radiocommunication Conference 2011.
Having heard the question on the progress in implementation of the Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC-06) decisions and on the experience in digital broadcasting introduction in the RCC participants’ countries, the Board considers it necessary to carry out a complex of organizational and technical actions on development of programs for digital television broadcasting introduction, frequency assignment plans, on identification of criteria and parameters of digital broadcasting technical facilities, etc.
Special attention was given to the issues of interaction in the field of digital broadcasting standardization, decommissioning of analogue broadcasting stations and coordination of frequency assignments to terrestrial digital broadcasting stations between the RCC Communications Administrations. It was decided to study the possibility to hold a conference on the experience in digital terrestrial radiobroadcasting introduction with involvement of a wide circle of experts.
The participants of the session considered the preliminary outcomes of the work on the review of the RCC statutory documents. Taking into consideration the Draft Agreement on establishment of the international organization the Regional Commonwealth of Communications developed by the International Association “International Law Association” and approved by the RCC Working Group, the Board requested the RCC CAs to study the possibility to conduct the intrastate procedures needed for preparing this Agreement signing. It is planned to consider the implementation of works on this question at the 40th session of the RCC Board.
The Working Group under the RCC Telecommunication Operators Board delivered a report “On introduction of new telecommunication services” that reflects the problems of development and efficient introduction in the shortest possible time of new prospective international telecommunication services based on intellectual and data transmission networks under fast-paced modern market. Taking into consideration positive dynamics of the International FreePhone Services development the Board recommended the RCC Telecommunication Operators Board members to study the issue of organization of access to the Service from mobile networks and networks of other fixed communication operators providing international communication services in their countries.
The session participants discussed the issues of the Commonwealth activities.
The RCC Board admitted the State Enterprise “Center of Special Telecommunications” (Republic of Moldova) and Closed JSC “TransTeleCom Company” (Russian Federation) to the RCC Telecommunication Board with the status of associated members.
A new version of “Provisions on R&D works execution at the Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications” was approved.
The RCC Board approved the List of actions to be carried out in 2009 within the framework of the Commonwealth Charter activities and elected the RCC working bodies heads (Operators Boards and Commissions) for a regular three-year term, as well as the members of the RCC Inspection Committee.
The Board appointed Mr. Pavel A. Buceatchi, the head of the Communications Administration of the Republic of Moldova, the Vice-Chairman of the RCC Board.
It was decided to hold the regular 40th session of the RCC Board in Slovenia in the 2nd quarter of 2009. Preliminary agenda of the session has been formed.
The participants of the session expressed their gratitude to the Communications Administration of Turkmenistan for the hearty welcome and organization of the RCC Board session.
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