89 ITU members sign controversial UN telecom treaty
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Participants listen to the speech of Hamdoun Toure, Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the final day of the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Friday, Dec 14, 2012. A controversial new global treaty on telecom regulations was signed on Friday by 89 International Telecommunication Union member states despite US objections to potential regulation of the Internet. -- PHOTO: AP
DUBAI (AFP) - A controversial new global treaty on telecom regulations was signed on Friday by 89 International Telecommunication Union member states despite US objections to potential regulation of the Internet.
"I say to the 89 states that signed today the treaty, thank you," said Mohamed al-Ghanim, chairman of the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WICT-12), organised by the ITU in Dubai.
Fifty-five countries did not sign the treaty, he said.
"I hope that the 55 states that said do not want to sign the treaty, or need to hold consultations, to think again," about the treaty that enters effect in January 2015, said Ghanim, who is the chief of the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
