U.S. WCIT Delegation List Released; Google Has Most Representatives Among Industry Players

The U.S. delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) includes representatives from top U.S. technology companies, including AT&T, Apple, Facebook and Verizon, according to a list of 95 members of the delegation released at delegation leader Terry Kramer’s request (http://xrl.us/bnup6h). Delegates to WCIT, which is set to begin Dec. 3 in Dubai, will decide how to revise the treaty-level International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), which have not been updated since they were first adopted in 1988.

There are 98 people on the U.S. WCIT delegation -- three people opted not to be included on the publicly released list, said delegation spokesman John Alden. Kramer said at a Telecommunications Industry Association event Friday that members of the delegation were allowed to ask that their names not be publicly disclosed, though he encouraged them to go public (CD Oct 15 p3).

Google has four representatives on the delegation, the most of any U.S. company, including Ross LaJeunesse, the company’s head of public policy and government affairs for the Asia-Pacific region, and Sarah Falvey, policy manager for Google’s Washington office. Google is concerned some countries are using the ITRs and the ITU to push for more control over Internet content, Falvey said at a Federal Communications Bar Association event earlier this month. Google wants to ensure the ITU does not increase the scope of its mission to include the Internet, which would result in the Internet evolving in the same way in the future, she said (CD Oct 4 p9). AT&T, Cisco and Verizon each have three representatives in the delegation; Intel, Iridium Satellite, Microsoft and TMG Telecom each have two. Other major companies like Amazon, PayPal and Sony are also represented on the delegation.

The delegation includes a “core delegation” of 40 representatives from the U.S. government, including 15 from the State Department and four each from the FCC, Department of Defense and NTIA. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, the FTC, NASA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the White House are also on the delegation. Top government representatives include Philip Verveer, U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department, and Mindel De La Torre, FCC International Bureau chief. Assistant International Bureau Chief Kathryn O'Brien, who is also on the delegation, said at an FCBA event earlier this month that the U.S. wants the ITRs to remain a “high-level” document rather than one that delves into specific policy problems that are best solved in other venues.