New global organization will focus on “shared priorities” including open networks and diversifying the telecom supply chain
The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Japan have joined together to form the new Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT).
The partners say that they will focus on “shared priorities such as telecommunications supply chain diversification and open network architectures – building broader international consensus on key areas of telecommunications policy and promoting innovation and growth opportunities for industry.”
“Ensuring the security, resilience, and innovation of telecommunications networks is a global issue,” GCOT’s statement of intent reads. “The international community needs to work together to foster diverse supply chains, secure and interoperable standards, and innovation – including for the development of future telecommunications technologies such as 6G.”
GCOT laid out five areas of focus for its efforts: telecom supply chain diversification; telecom security and resilience; telecom skills; 6G and future telecommunications; and coordinated approaches to telecom standards.
The group intends to focus on those areas through information sharing; cooperation on research and development initiatives; alignment of funding priorities (as well as “considering options to pool our collective resources in order to deliver larger scale joint projects where appropriate”); supporting the principals of “open disaggregation, standards-based compliance, demonstrated interoperability, and implementation neutrality” in standards development; and support for additional international outreach and collaboration.
According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, GCOT is the “broadest international grouping to date” focused on those priorities.
“The critical telecommunications issues of today are global in scope,” said Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for communications and information and NTIA administrator. “This groundbreaking coalition will help the U.S. and our partners respond decisively to cross-border opportunities and challenges. By working ever more closely together, the Coalition members will advance secure, diverse, resilient, and innovative telecommunications networks around the world.”
