The photo on the left, an over-the-shoulder picture kindly sent us by an observer sitting in the back rows of WCIT 2012 in Dubai, illustrates. While the heavy-duty wrangling is going on, a delegate from an African country is going through the LIRNEasia website. We have yet to analyze the user data from the WCIT days, but we are indeed pleased to have photographic evidence of the efficacy of our website and the utility of its content.
But more than that, our real achievement was on Article 6, where we focused our fire.
The final text from the Chairman of WCIT
42A International telecommunication arrangements
42B 6.1
Subject to applicable national law, the terms and conditions for international telecommunication service arrangements may be established through commercial agreements or through accounting-‐rate principles established pursuant to national regulation.
42C 6.1.1
Member States shall endeavour to encourage investments in international telecommunication networks and promote competitive wholesale pricing for traffic carried on such telecommunication networks.
42D Accounting-‐rate principles
42DA Terms and conditions
42E 6.2
The following provisions may apply where the terms and conditions of international telecommunication service arrangements are established through accounting-‐rate principles, established pursuant to national regulation. These provisions do not apply to arrangements established through commercial agreements.
Unlike in 1988, commercial arrangements are prior to accounting rates for voice. In 1988, accounting rates were the main game and commercial arrangements were hiding in Article 9. Now it is accounting rates that are the exception.
And the ETNO inspired “access charge” proposals and the “sending party network pays” principle that would have balkanized the Internet and/or put most of the content used by the people we research and represent behind paywalls was gone; absent; wiped off the map.
Would have been better if there was a good consensus, that included the countries that have the world largest numbers of actual Internet users. But not bad for little LIRNEasia and all our allies who fought the good fight.
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