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It was 140 years ago the birth of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) took place. On 24 May 1844, Samuel Morse sent his first public message over a telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, and through that simple act, ushered in the telecommunication age. Barely ten years later, telegraphy was available as a service to the general public. In those days, however, telegraph lines did not cross national borders. Because each country used a different system, messages had to be transcribed, translated and handed over at frontiers, then re-transmitted over the telegraph network of the neighbouring country. The continuing rapid expansion of telegraph networks in a growing number of countries finally prompted 20 European States to meet to develop a framework agreement covering international interconnection. At the same time, the group decided on common rules to standardize equipment to facilitate international interconnection, adopted uniform operating instructions which would apply to all countries, and laid down common international tariff and accounting rules. On 17 May 1865, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed in Paris by the 20 founding members, and the International Telegraph Union (ITU) was established to facilitate subsequent amendments to this initial agreement. India has been the member of ITU since the year 1869. Presently ITU has 189 member states.
World Telecommunication Day 2005, with the theme "Creating an equitable Information Society: Time for Action" marks two important anniversaries for ITU. It will be 140 years since it began helping the world communicate. From the birth of the telegraph, through radio and television broadcasting to satellite communications and the Internet, the work of ITU has helped harness the power of science and technology to fulfill a basic human need for communication. However, 20 years ago, it was not realised that not all people were sharing in the social and economic benefits that telecommunications creates. In 1985 ITU released the landmark Maitland Report, known as the ‘Missing Link’, which was the first to clearly identify the digital divide. Since its publication, ITU has been working in earnest to bring the benefits of ICT to all of humanity. This is in consonance with the endorsement of Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action that embraced the idea of universal and affordable access to ICTs in the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society held in 2003 in Geneva. The second phase of the Summit will be held in November, this year, in Tunis which would measure the progress that ITU has made in fulfilling the specific objectives of the Geneva Declaration and will call on all stakeholders to transform the political will expressed at the first phase into long-term commitments.
It is a coincidental that the Telecommunications Services in India have also attained 150 years. To mark this occasion, the Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Shri Dayanidhi Maran, will release commemorative coins, here tomorrow and also give away the Bharat Sanchar National Awards to the Telecom Employees for their meritorious performance in the presence of Dr. Shakeel Ahmad, Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology.
RM/AMA- 160505 ITU 140 YEARS
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