Despite O'Rielly Push, US Not Well Positioned to Take on Leadership Role at ITU
Despite FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s calls for the U.S. to take on a bigger leadership role at the ITU, industry officials said the best the U.S. can hope for next year when the ITU holds elections is leadership of one of the three sectors: Radiocommunication (ITU-R), Telecommunication Standards (ITU-T) or Telecommunication Development (ITU-D). Doreen Bogdan-Martin, from the U.S., has been mounting a campaign to head ITU-D. Bogdan-Martin, an ITU employee since 1994, is already the highest-ranking woman at the ITU, as chief-strategic planning and membership.
O’Rielly questioned on several occasions why the U.S. doesn’t have a bigger leadership role at the ITU, especially since it provides significant financial support. Elections next occur at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2018 in Dubai. “We have an opportunity to run a candidate or multiple candidates from the United States and from the region for the open slots that are available,” O’Rielly said in an Oct. 5 speech at a 5G Americas conference. If the U.S. is going to be part of the ITU, “we should have a seat at the leadership table,” he said (see 1710050055).
O’Rielly is right and the ITU is a far from perfect institution, said Doug Brake, telecom policy senior analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “It’s bureaucratic, slow to embrace new technology, and can enable protectionism and footnote sniping for unrelated political grievances,” Brake said. “But to cede the body to other, more active governments would be a mistake. More American leadership would be great, and we also need more State Department participation in the WRC [World Radiocommunication Conference] process.” The U.S. can go its own way on some bands like 28 GHz, “but that doesn’t make the ITU irrelevant,” Brake said. “If anything, as spectrum gets more crowded and we are increasingly connected globally, it will become an increasingly important body.”
"One of the many challenges in dealing with the thorny issues emanating from the ITU is that it operates under principles of one country, one vote,” said former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell. “The U.S. can get outvoted by the BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India and China] nations and their client states when they are well organized, and even by Western European countries joining them at times. Sometimes, it's simply impossible to push rope uphill." O'Rielly and the ITU didn't comment.
Industry officials active in ITU said the election process is complicated and the U.S. has only one candidate -- Bogdan-Martin -- with any chance of election. A former State Department official said the U.S. had the chance to run Bogdan-Martin, but the Obama administration decided not to do so. In total, ITU has five elected positions -- secretary general, deputy secretary general, and chiefs of the three sectors. No American is seen as likely to get one of the two top slots when elections take place next year. Each serves a four-year term. No woman has ever held one of these leadership slots.
ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao of China and Deputy Secretary General Malcolm Johnson of the U.K. are seeking re-election. Johnson is from a U.S. ally on most issues, but he's seen as very independent and his base of support comes from Anglo-Africa.
A lawyer active in ITU matters said O’Rielly’s remarks questioning whether the U.S. should cut support for the U.N. organization caused a ripple in ITU circles and “really, really” weren't helpful to Bogdan-Martin’s candidacy. Other industry officials who have been active at the ITU said having a U.S. head of ITU-D would be a good thing, though it historically has been a more important sector for developing countries. The U.S. has traditionally played a prominent role in the ITU Council, the equivalent of the board of directors, but hasn’t had anyone in one of the leadership positions in many years.
“Generally, I agree with him that the ITU requires reform” and the Obama administration probably should have pursued leadership positions at the ITU, said a former State Department official. But push-back came from both inside and outside the administration. The complaint at the time was "if we had leadership positions, then we would own the outcomes of ITU deliberations and end up empowering an organization that we wanted to stay within its mandate,” the former official said. In a group like ITU, power doesn’t belong to those who provide the most support and Bogdan-Martin earned the support of membership “by showing respect for the institution and diligence in her work," the former official said. "We don't need to buy her seat and we can't.” Bogdan-Martin’s chance for success will be enhanced if she gets strong support from the U.S. government, said a second former official.