ITU

1
ITC and ITU cooperation for Teletraffic
Engineering in developing countries
ITUITC Developing Countries Workshop

• Dr Lars Engvall
• Honorary Member of IAC of the ITC

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Introduction

• It was at the ITC 13 in Copenhagen in 1991 that,
  at the initiative of the then Chairman of ITC,
  Professor Arne Jensen, the author of this paper
  was asked to lead impromptu discussions on
  initiatives to increase the participation of
  developing countries in the ITC activities.
• The participation from developing countries at
  ITCs had been very low, mainly due to the
  difficulties of developing countries finding
  financial means of sending representatives to ITC
  congresses.

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PANAFTEL experiences
During five years, 1969-1973, the PANAFTEL
network was studied and the network plans of
Africa were undertaken by a number of consultants
for various parts of the network. The study
of the network required a comprehensive
investigation of the actual and potential traffic
situation in the various countries of Africa.
During the years working for PANAFTEL it was
evident that most developing countries had no
training in TTE and no traffic engineering unit

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MEDARABTEL experiences
Regional network planning project covering all
the Arab League countries as well as some
Mediterranean countries, Bulgaria, Greece,
Turkey, Cyprus and Malta as well as Iran. A
Master Plan was prepared in which extensive use
of satellite and submarine cables were also
studied. Traffic engineering studies, seminars
and meetings were held.
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TETRAPRO project
In the 1970s initiatives were taken by the ITU
Technical Cooperation Department to develop a
comprehensive manual on teletraffic engineering.
A handbook in 7 volumes was finally produced
and published by ITU.
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ITC Committee 3 created
After the ITC 13 in Copenhagen, IAC / ITC
reorganized its structure creating three
Committees for its operation. Committee 3 was
created as a special committee with the purpose
of developing support in TTE for the developing
countries. Dr. Lars Engvall was nominated to
chair this Committee. He was chairman of the ITC
Committee-3 until the ITC 17 (Brazil)
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Cooperation agreement with ITU
Co-operation Agreement Between The
International Teletraffic Congress (ITC), with
its Commission 3 (Developing Countries and ITU
matters), a Sector Member of BDT, and The
Telecommunication Development Bureau, BDT, of the
ITU, Established in order to identify areas
where ITC can support the BDT (ITU) in its
mission to promote and offer technical assistance
to developing countries in the field of
telecommunications and to promote and reinforce
learning and knowledge of the teletraffic
engineering (TTE) fields, being also the
objectives of the ITC contribute to the human
resource development (HRD) for the developing
countries in the fields of teletraffic
engineering (TTE), an activity that is often not
well developed, many times almost
non-existing. Recalling the efforts that has
been done by the TSB of ITU (then CCITT) in
preparing handbooks in this field, and which work
now has been taken over by the BDT (ITU), to
continue develop these handbooks and tools. The
ITC is ready to support the work of BDT (ITU) in
the above-mentioned fields as much as possible
within the financial means of the
ITC a)                     continue organizing
regional seminars for the developing countries in
TTE b)                     continue organizing
(since 1991) workshops within the regular ITC
Congresses c)                      support more
extended training for individual countries in
TTE, when such projects can be developed with
outside financing, e.g. from bilateral and
international financing institutions d)          
           participate in the work of BDT Study
Groups 1 and 2, relevant to the ITC
objectives e)                      attend
regional and world telecommunication events
organized by ITU, actively contributing in
discussions and presenting papers whenever
appropriate. ITC will provide such input to the
work for the developing countries without cost of
manpower. Usually cost for travel and DSA shall
be covered by ITC for shorter missions, subject
to approval by the ITC Cabinet. The support from
BDT (ITU) that would be important as a
collaborative support and partnership in the
above-mentioned activities a)                    
participate in the ITC-Committee 3 work in
preparing regional seminars/workshops that are
worked out together with the host country of the
region suggested, and thereby sponsoring jointly
agreed events (e.g. with indicating in the
invitations sent out by host country
teleorganization, that BDT (ITU) is backing the
event) b)                     although BDT is
not expected to contribute directly financially
to such seminars/workshops, the participation at
such events by BDT, e.g. at opening ceremonies,
presentation of papers, etc., would mean an
expense for the BDT c)                     
continue with its expertise in the field as
lecturer, or otherwise at ITC Congresses held
every two-years, as ITU has used to do since the
first ITC Congress was held in 1955. This
Co-operation Agreement is an initial effort to
create a closer cooperation and collaboration
between our two organizations that will be of
value for the developing countries. The future
collaboration may develop to include other
activities and the two parties will be free to
request and propose ideas of supportive actions
for the developing countries that may be agreed
upon case by case.

• ITC became a Sector Member of ITU-D and
  discussions with ITU-D led to a formal
  Cooperation Agreement between ITU-D and ITC
• On 24 January 2001 a formal agreement of
  cooperation between ITU-D and ITC was signed by
  the Director of BDT, the ITC Chairman, and the
  Chairman of the ITC-Committee 3

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ITC activities for TDAG and Study Group 2

• ITC has during the years actively taken part in
  the ITU-D (and ITU-T) activities
• ITC has been represented at most of the TDAGs
  (Telecommunication Development Advisory Group)
  meetings.
• ITC has supported the work within the Study Group
  2

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TTE Handbook finalized in 2003

• ITC Committee-3 proposed to develop a Handbook on
  TTE within the ITU/BDT Study Group 2 Programme,
  Question 16/2
• The work on the TTE Handbook was carried out
  during the 1998-2002 SG 2 period
• In 2002 the proposed Handbook was delivered as
  comprehensive document of over 250 pages.
• A special document on Basic mathematics and
  statistics was also developed, to help prepare
  students of the Handbook.

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ITC Workshops

• Since the ITC 13 in 1991 when the idea of
  introducing workshops dedicated to the developing
  countries were first suggested, ITC Workshops
  have been held during the following ITCs.
• WORKSHOP at ITC16 (1999)
• WORKSHOP at ITC 17 (2001)

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ITC Regional Seminars

• 2002 Port Moresby Papua New Guinea
• 2000 Hangzhou China
• 1999 Damascus Syria
• 1998 Bamako Mali
• 1998 Saint-Petersburg Russia
• 1997 XI'an Chian
• 1995 Bangkok Thailand
• 1995 Pretoria South Africa
• 1995 Saint-Petersburg Russia
• 1993 Bangalore India
• 1993 Brasilia Brazil
• 1993 Saint-Petersburg Russia
• 1992 Beijing China
• 1991 Cracow Poland
• 1989 Moscow USSR
• 1988 Beijing China
• 1988 Sofia Bulgaria

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Future ITC and ITU challenges

• At the ITU TDAG 8 meeting in Geneva early 2003
  the ITC representative, Dr Lars Engvall, former
  Chairman of ITC Committee-3 and now Honorary
  Member of IAC suggested that ITC investigate if
  interested ITC members, e.g. retired members, or
  from universities, institutes or manufacturers,
  could set up a pool of members that could
  volunteer to support ITU-D on missions, seminars,
  etc. only receiving the financial support for
  travel