FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 06, 2009
               

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TIA Represents U.S. Telecommunications Industry at U.S.-India ICT Working Group Meeting

Arlington, Va. – The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leader in advocacy, standards development, business development and intelligence for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, represented the U.S. Telecommunications Industry at the U.S.-India ICT Working Group, a forum jointly organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Indian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.  The meeting, held on November 4 at the Department of State in Washington, DC, covers three broad areas of interest to the U.S. ICT industry – Telecommunications, Information Technology, and Media and Broadcasting.  India, with nearly 500 wireless subscribers, is one of the largest and fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world. 

Expressing his support for the U.S.-India ICT Working Group, TIA President Grant Seiffert said “the leadership of the State Department and participation of other U.S. government agencies in this forum has been invaluable to ensuring a friendly, constructive dialogue on issues of interest to both of our countries in this important sector of the global economy.  India is an enormous market for our industry and this dialogue is an important tool in exchanging experiences and offering recommendations on how to improve the climate to ensure a robust and competitive ICT market for both of our countries.”

At the meeting, TIA applauded India for having undertaken a number of important liberalizing reforms that have opened the Indian telecommunications market to competition, which has made it one of the world’s most dynamic markets.  In addition to welcoming the scheduled January radio spectrum auction for 3G and Wireless Broadband, TIA made a number of recommendations with respect to how India licenses and regulates services, manages and allocates spectrum, and regulates Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Although India did not make any immediate commitments, it responded positively to several of the policy recommendations, such as allocating spectrum in an internationally harmonized manner, and welcomed further discussion with industry on many others. TIA’s official submission for the ICT Working Group can be found at http://www.tiaonline.org/gov_affairs/press_publications/documents/telecompolicypaperfinal.pdf . 

The Working Group was led by Ambassador Philip Verveer, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State, and Secretary R. Chandrashekhar of the Department of Information Technology of the Ministry of Communications & Information Policy.  Also present from the U.S. government were Commissioner Michael Copps of the FCC and Anna Gomez, Deputy Administrator of NTIA.  Joint Secretary J.S. Deepak of the Department of Telecommunications and Additional Secretary Uday Kumar Varma of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting joined Secretary Chandrashekhar on the Indian side.  Tech America represented the U.S. side in the IT session and the U.S.-India Business Council represented the U.S. in the Media and Broadcasting session.

The next meeting of the U.S.-India ICT Working Group is tentatively scheduled for May/June 2010 in Hyderabad, India on the margins of the ITU World Telecommunications Development Conference scheduled between May 24 and June 4, 2010

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About TIA

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) represents the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry through standards development, advocacy, tradeshows, business opportunities, market intelligence and world-wide environmental regulatory analysis. With roots dating back to 1924, TIA enhances the business environment for broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite and unified communications. Members’ products and services empower communications in every industry and market, including healthcare, education, security, public safety, transportation, government, the military, the environment and entertainment. TIA co-owns the SUPERCOMM® tradeshow and is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Visit tiaonline.org.

TIA’s Board of Directors includes senior-level executives from ACS, ADC, ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, ANDA Networks, ArrayComm, AttivaCorp, Avaya, Bechtel Communications, Inc., Cam Communications, Cisco Systems, Corning Incorporated, Ericsson, Inc., GENBAND, Inc., Graybar, Henkels & McCoy, ILS Technology, Intel Corporation, LGE, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, OneChip Photonics Inc., Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corporation, Tellabs, Tyco Electronics, Ulticom, Inc.,  and Verari Systems. Advisors to the Board include FAL Associates, Orca Systems and Telcordia Technologies.

 

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