International Telecommunication

The United States International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) advises the Department of State in the preparation of U.S. positions for meetings of international treaty organizations, develops and coordinates proposed contributions to international meetings as U.S. contributions, and advises the Department on other matters to be undertaken by the U.S. at these international meetings. The international meetings addressed by the ITAC are those of the International Telecommunication Union, the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American States, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Members of the ITAC are drawn from the government, network operators, service providers, and manufacturers involved in the telecommunications sector.

ITAC is composed of three sectors:

• Telecommunications Standardization (ITAC-T);
• Telecommunication Development; and
• Radiocommunication reflecting the structure and function of the ITU.

1. ITAC-T includes three study groups:

• Study Group A: U.S. policy, standardization, regulatory, and competitive aspects of the operations and tariffs of telecommunications services.
• Study Group B: Switching and signalling for transmission systems, ISDN, and software languages.
• Study Group D: Data networks and telematic transmission service, digital video, modem, and digital circuit multiplication techniques

2. ITAC-D includes two study groups:

• Study Group 1 - Telecommunication development, strategies, and policies
• Study Group 2 - Development, harmonization, management and maintenance of telecommunication networks, and services including spectrum management

3. ITAC-R includes eight study groups:

• Study Group 1: Spectrum management
• Study Group 3: Radio wave propagation
• Study Group 4: Fixed satellite service
• Study Group 7: Science services
• Study Group 8: Mobile, radiodetermination, amateur, and related satellite services
• Study Group 9: Fixed service
• Study Group 10: Broadcasting service: sound
• Study Group 11: Broadcasting service: television

--  National Participation
--  International Participation