Global Telecom Conference Set in Qatar

GENEVA, Jan. 27 -- More than 1000 policymakers and practitioners from international government and private organizations are expected to attend the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC '06), to be held March 7-15 in Doha, Qatar.

The telecommunication conference, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is the first world development conference since the two-phase World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held last November in Tunis, Tunisia and in 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland. WTDC '06 will focus on development priorities and initiatives, taking into account the WSIS Geneva plan of action and the Tunis agenda, which aim to bridge the global "digital divide." The goal of WTDC is to promote international cooperation, regional initiatives and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and institutions in developing countries, and to devise a Doha action plan to implement these goals over the next four years.

Participants will also consider two new global initiatives to benefit persons with disabilities, and on telecommunications for disaster prevention. Several regional initiatives are also being considered, including rural connectivity including broadband access, regional Internet exchange points, public Internet access in remote areas, internationalization of domain names and enhancement of regional roaming capabilities

The conference is open to ITU member states and members of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector. For registration information, visit:: www.itu.int/ITU-D/wtdc06/index.html