OTTAWA – Canada has joined four other nations Thursday to form a coalition with the intention of strengthening the global telecommunications sector.
The Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT) includes the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Australia and “seeks to build a coalition of countries and stakeholders to foster diverse supply chains, secure and interoperable standards, and innovation in the telecommunications sector,” a press release said.
The group said it intends to use the forum to exchange information on their policy approaches to telecommunications, including the future of telecom, security considerations and supplier diversity.
Supplier diversity, such as for radio access networks, is something the US and Canada have spoken previously so providers are not reliant on single suppliers, such as from China, for their network builds. The idea is that with more interoperability, networks can more easily address security issues.
The group also intends to share information about their approaches to research and development, including having joint and co-funded programs and pairing telecommunications labs.
In that same vein, the group wants to consider aligning strategic objectives including pooling “our collective resources in order to deliver larger scale joint projects where appropriate.”
“We intend to explore options to support principles on open disaggregation, standards-based compliance, demonstrated interoperability, and implementation neutrality, such as those set out in the 2021 Prague Proposals on Telecommunications Supplier Diversity, and the UK’s Open RAN Principles,” the release said.
Last year, the United Nations’ telecommunication regulator, the International Telecommunications Union, elected American Doreen Bogdan-Martin to secretary general. It was seen as a victory for the U.S. and its allies because of the ITU develops international connectivity standards in communications networks.
The GCOT also wants to enhance its international partnership and “build secure and resilient digital infrastructure.”
The scope of the group includes:
- Telecommunications supply chain diversification
- 6G and future telecommunications
- Telecommunications security and resilience
- Telecommunications skills
- Coordinated approaches to telecommunications standards development
