ITU appoints Utsumi as chief

The International Telecoms Union (ITU) has appointed Yoshio Utsumi as secretary general.

Utsumi - currently Japan's telecoms minister - was elected at the ITU's Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis by delegates from the 146 member states present. He secured an absolute majority in the first ballot with 85 votes, ahead of the current deputy secretary general, Henry Chasia of Kenya, who recorded 52 votes.

Utsumi will replace Pekka Tarjanne of Finland, who has served a nine-year term in office.

In his acceptance speech, Utsumi said the ITU's role is becoming ever more crucial with the "explosion of new services, telecoms players and regulatory frameworks" that are emerging as a result of the "telecommunications revolution". In order to achieve this, he said the organisation must "be strengthened and even reborn as an effective force".

Utsumi re-emphasised the ITU's core functions as global coordinator of frequency allocation and authoriser of global standards for the telecoms industry.

He also highlighted the relatively slow rate of infrastructure growth in the developing world. He said that the most important mission of the ITU is to the telecoms haves and have-nots. To tackle the problem, he pledged to strengthen the ITU's regional offices and expand the organisation's role in promoting the global information society.