WWRF speaks out on developing countries needs at International Telecommunication Union

Developing Countries’ Needs

Countries with a tradition of telecoms technology development – often the greatest economies in the world, especially in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia – have overwhelmingly had the biggest role in setting up international standards. For example, at the recent ITU workshop on its vision for mobile networks beyond IMT-2020, there were no representatives from Latin America and only one African country directly presenting at the event.

However, Professor Angeliki Alexiou, the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) representative, stressed that “the ITU and regulators should give a central role to developing regions to set priorities in education, health provision, farming, [and] industry.” According to her, the diversity of challenges such countries face does not allow for a “one-size-fits-all” approach to developing 6G. “Selection of use cases and usage scenarios and their specifications will help streamline the objectives and requirements and will play more than ever before a decisive role.” Among the concerns, the professor emphasised that many developing countries are not currently thinking about 5G.

“So it is essential that technologies selected [for 6G] can be upgraded by software and are affordable by developing countries as they migrate from 4G to beyond IMT-2020, either directly or via IMT-2020.” WWRF proposes that 6G should meet developing countries’ needs by 2030.

See the presentation here