ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/17/2003 03 September 2003
Australia signs telecommunications MOU with India
The following press release has been issued by the Office of the Australian Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston:
The Australian Government has signed a telecommunications Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Indian Government, building on a history of cooperation on telecommunications issues with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, said the Government signed the MOU late last week, with the Indian Government represented by the Minister for External Affairs, Mr Yashwant Sinha.
India and Australia are both active members of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The two countries are seen as leaders in the region and have worked closely together on regional preparation for ITU world conferences on radio frequency spectrum and regulatory matters.
The MOU with India will encourage cooperation in the field of telecommunications in the following areas:
- Telecommunications services
- The exchange of information about telecommunications policy, regulation and convergence
- Improvement of technological processes within the existing telecommunications services
- Sharing of information on spectrum management, technical standards and mutual recognition arrangements
- Exchange of knowledge about the economic, social, educational and scientific aspects of telecommunications, and
- Exchange of expertise through participation in specialised international organisations.
Australia already has joint statements and MOUs with countries such as Indonesia and Israel, setting out agreed areas of cooperation in relation to the development of telecommunications.
The Australian Government's MOU with India on telecommunications follows the signing of a MOU on information technology with India in 2000.
For further details, please contact Mr Rory Medcalf, First Secretary (Political), on telephone 26888223, ext. 197.