AMB. GROSS LEADS INTERAGENCY DELEGATION TO BRAZIL FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRASILIA 001870 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/CIP AMB DGROSS, NFETCHKO, TFINTON FCC FOR DTATE, HDOMENICI, BLERNER COMMERCE PASS TO NTIA FOR MBAKER, JCOFFIN TAGS: ECON ECPS TINT TSPA BR SUBJECT: AMB. GROSS LEADS INTERAGENCY DELEGATION TO BRAZIL FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS ¶1. Summary: Ambassador David A. Gross, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy (EEB/CIP) led a senior-level U.S. delegation to Brazil for meetings with the Brazilian Ministry of Communications and the telecommunications regulator, the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) August 14-16, 2007. The delegation, which included Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Deborah Tate and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) Meredith Baker, secured a commitment from ANATEL to move toward establishing a mutual recognition agreement with the United States for importation of telecommunications and information technology (IT) equipment. The Ministry of Communications also expressed interest in working with the U.S. in its Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI) efforts in Africa. End Summary. -------------- Mutual Recognition Agreement -------------- ¶2. Prior to meeting with the Ministry of Communications and ANATEL, the telecommunications regulator, in Brasilia, the delegation traveled first to Sao Paulo to meet with U.S. telecommunications and IT companies operating in Brazil. During the course of a two-hour roundtable discussion, U.S. companies (including Intel, Cisco, and Nextel) described market access difficulties faced by telecommunications and IT companies trying to do business in Brazil and issues related to Brazil's Universal Service Fund (USF). In addition to criticizing Brazil's complicated tax and tariff policies (that have an impact on all industries),industry representatives singled out the need for a mutual recognition agreement between the United States and Brazil in order to speed the introduction of new equipment/technologies to the Brazilian market. Industry representatives described how approval of a recent application to the FCC for a particular piece of equipment took only three weeks while a similar application to ANATEL has been pending for three months. (Note: Mutual recognition agreements are negotiated by USTR with technical assistance from the FCC. Post will work with EEB/CIP, FCC and USTR to follow up. End Note.) -------------- Cooperation in Africa -------------- ¶3. In a private meeting with the delegation, Minister of Communications Helio Costa noted that while the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates a number of projects (primarily language exchange) with countries in Africa, he would like his Ministry to cooperate with the U.S. on DFI projects in Africa. Amb. Gross noted that the State Department was developing a conference in West Africa for early 2008 with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) that would be similar to EEB/CIP's 2007 East Africa conference that took place in Kigali, Rwanda, and that we would welcome Brazil's participation. EEB/CIP has offered to follow up with the Embassy as planning for this conference progresses. -------------- -------------- Other Industry Concerns/Independence of Regulatory Agencies -------------- -------------- ¶4. Representatives of the industry also encouraged the U.S. Delegation to share its procedures and experiences for managing spectrum and other telecom issues with the Brazilian government. Noting that convergence of services across platforms (cable, fixed and mobile telephone companies, satellites) is flourishing in the United States, the facilities-based competition in Brazil is slow to develop (although companies are just beginning to offer "triple play" services - Internet, Telephone, and Television - in Brazil) because of conflicting legislation that regulates the media, telephony, and the Internet. The delegation also noted that the U.S. government (NTIA) would be more than happy to share additional information about digital television (DTV) transition in the United States, as appropriate, as this issue was raised by industry. ¶5. Industry sources also noted their growing concern over what they see as increasing Brazilian government criticism and interference in Brazil's independent regulatory agencies - primarily through withholding of budgetary resources. Independent regulatory agencies have come under heavy criticism for their competency following the recent plane crash in Sao Paulo. The day the delegation met with ANATEL, Minister of Communications Costa participated in a BRASILIA 00001870 002 OF 004 Congressional debate on the role of independent regulatory agencies and argued that such organizations should not be "untouchable." Privately, Costa told the delegation that the Ministry was only seeking to reclaim powers that had been taken away from it when Brazil privatized its telecommunications industry in 1997. At that time, Costa explained, ANATEL was created by the 1997 Telecom Act and the Ministry of Communications was abolished. The Lula administration has since reestablished the Ministry to set telecommunications policy, so the 1997 law needs to be amended to reapportion certain powers back to the Ministry. -------------- Internet Governance -------------- ¶6. Both ANATEL and the Ministry of Communications expressed a desire for internationalization of the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN),the entity charged with assigning domain names for the Internet, and Brazil's plans to raise this issue at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to be held in Rio de Janeiro on November 12-15, 2007. The delegation noted the importance of ICANN being transparent and accountable to the international community, stressed the importance of more countries participating in ICANN's Government Advisory Committee (GAC), highlighted the importance of scholarships for developing countries to attend ICANN meetings, and noted that ICANN's Board of Directors was becoming more international and that this is a welcome development. The delegation pointed out that ICANN is only responsible for a small part of management of the Internet and that the IGF is not a forum for negotiation, but rather a forum for discussion. ¶7. The delegation also stressed that the United States supports expanding the number of languages supported by the Internet (e.g., the internationalized domain names (IDN) issue),but that critical and lengthy tests need to be undertaken to ensure that technical risks to the network are avoided. Note: ICANN will be testing eleven (11) new languages very soon. End Note. The delegation pointed out that cybersecurity is a critical area for collaboration and that the U.S. would be happy to hold a dialogue with Brazil on this issue. The delegation noted that the U.S. objective for the IGF will be to address the central and critical issues of increasing Internet access around the world and promoting the free flow of information and freedom of expression on the Internet. -------------- Digital Radio Standard -------------- ¶8. Costa said Brazil was very near selection of the U.S. In Band On Channel (IBOC) Digital Radio broadcast standard (designed by U.S. company IBIQUITY). In order to be able to reach the most remote parts of the country and meet its goal of 100% radio coverage for the country by the end of President Lula's term of office, Costa indicated that Brazil is also looking to the European digital radio standard for short wave radio. The delegation addressed the proliferation of Digital Radio in the United States, noting that as of August 2007, the FCC has authorized 1,276 stations (213 AM and 1,063 FM) to broadcast using the IBOC system, and approximately 700 FM stations have requested and received special temporary authority for multicasting. The FCC will follow-up with the Ministry and ANATEL regarding technical questions on aspects of how IBOC is working in the United States. -------------- --- Spectrum Policy and DTV/700 MHz and AWS Auctions -------------- --- ¶9. The delegation provided both ANATEL and the Ministry with a presentation on "US Telecom and Regulation and Market Developments." Among the topics discussed was the FCC's recent auction of Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) spectrum licenses, where more than 100 companies won licenses in the auction, at a price of almost $14 billion. The delegation emphasized that this auction should dramatically increase the availability of next generation mobile services, including mobile broadband. Following a discussion of auction issues with U.S. Ambassador Sobel, the delegation invited Brazilian government officials to observe an FCC auction either virtually or in person. ¶10. Moreover, the delegation addressed the FCC's role in furthering BRASILIA 00001870 003 OF 004 the United States mandate to convert to digital television. Federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast in digital only by February 18, 2009. The FCC recently adopted rules with respect to reclaimed 700 MHz spectrum from the broadcasters that the Commission will auction on January 16, 2008, to providers planning to provide innovative new services like WiMax. The delegation noted that some of the reclaimed spectrum will be used for providing interoperability between first responders. Costa noted that Brazil had last year chosen the Japanese Digital Television (DTV) standard (over the two espoused by the United States and Europe respectively) and that their transition date is June 20, 2016. ¶11. The delegation also noted that the FCC will help facilitate this transition for millions of Americans by setting technical rules and policies, ensuring vigorous enforcement of those rules, and promoting consumer awareness. ¶12. Costa explained that Brazil has modified the DTV standard to enable better mobile reception while using less power for transmission. Based on these modifications, he indicated that Brazil and Japan would soon be sending a joint delegation to other Latin American countries to urge them to adopt the hybrid Japanese/Brazilian standard. -------------- Broadband -------------- ¶13. Minister Costa described a number of innovative programs aimed at increasing Internet broadband penetration in Brazil, including a project to connect 18,000 schools by the end of 2007 and 142,000 schools by the end of Lula's term. The Ministry is not applying a one-size-fits-all method to increase access to the Internet. Costa described projects that employ wireless and satellite technologies as well as more traditional methods such as through television cable (Triple Play - voice, Internet and Television - services are now available in Sao Paulo and on a more limited basis in Rio de Janeiro). Costa also said that his Ministry is exploring the possibility of employing Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) technology, which would reduce the cost of having to lay new cable to many locations. In several of the projects, U.S. companies such as Cisco, Motorola, and Intel are actively partnering with Brazil. ¶14. Costa added that an important legislative obstacle that is inhibiting further spending on these sorts of projects will soon be overcome. Brazil's 1997 Telecom Act established a Universal Service Fund to help connect remote and poor locations of the country. According to Costa, the Act stipulates that Universal Service Funds are to be spent on traditional wireline telephony, which is more costly and economically less attractive than wireless services as has been demonstrated in Brazil and many other developing countries. Costa said that there is currently about U.S. $2.5 billion in the fund that will be available for broadband deployment projects once the law is modified. ¶15. The delegation discussed with both ANATEL and the Ministry the FCC's commitment to achieving ubiquitous broadband deployment in the United States. The delegation noted that inter-modal competition has developed due to the FCC's efforts to remove regulatory hurdles and promote infrastructure investment and that competition in broadband has spurred a dramatic increase in deployment across the country. -------------- Public Diplomacy -------------- ¶16. The U.S. Delegation also undertook several significant public diplomacy activities, including an exclusive interview with important business periodical Valor Economico. The resulting article highlighted the U.S. interest in deepening its relationship with Brazil while stressing the importance of the private sector and the critical role of independent regulatory agencies, which have come under heavy criticism for their competency following the recent plane crash in Sao Paulo. The delegation also held an outreach event with business and law students at the prominent Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo and participated in a press conference with Minister Costa at the conclusion of the meetings with the government in Brasilia. BRASILIA 00001870 004 OF 004 ¶17. This cable was cleared by Amb. Gross and other delegation members in Washington. SOBEL