The ITU - the world regulator of telecommunications is to unveil its 8th report on 'Trends in Telecommunication Reform, the Road to the Next Generation Network (NGN)' and give an update on the 'Connect Africa Summit' as well as the future of the ITU in global connectivity.

This is coming as the ITU says it has a strong financial footing to embark on a strategic plan to fulfil its mission of connecting the world, achieving the 2015 connectivity targets and fast-tracking the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking during the opening session of the ITU Council of Ministers meeting, the ITU Secretary-Genera,l Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, said that the growth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector globally would be heralded by next-generation networks - the chairman of Council of Ministers, Mr Friedrich Riehl and Mr Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, the Director of the ITUs Telecommunication Development Sector, would join him at the presentation of the report on the 4th of September 2007.

The 8th edition of the report, the ITU said, is aimed at enabling regulators and policy-makers in developing countries to better understand changes and transformation in the ICT sector so they could evolve their policy and regulatory frameworks to leverage today?s technological and market developments.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Media Relations and Public Information, Mr. Sanjay Acharya, said that the NGN offers the opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog several generations of technology and move away from a "one network, one service" approach to the delivery of many services over a single network as well as the convergence of services and applications on both fixed and mobile platforms.

"This next-generation architecture will help leverage new technologies to dramatically reduce the cost of market entry, increase flexibility and seamlessly accommodate in a single multi-service network both voice and data," he declared.

Giving a glimpse of the ITU report to be unveiled, he said, by the end of 2006 there were a total of nearly 4 billion mobile and fixed line subscribers and over 1 billion Internet users worldwide.

On the 'Connect Africa Summit', the ITU said that investments in ICT infrastructure on the continent has improved dramatically in recent years, and that a 'Marshall Plan' for ICT infrastructure development is needed to mobilize the world's human, financial and technical resources to connect everyone in the region.

Meanwhile, ministers from 17 countries are expected to attend the ITU Council, including Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Ghana, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia and Ukraine.

Highway Africa News Agency