It is widely known that global broadband connectivity is a significant enabler for the achievement of sustainable development for all and that Internet access, which is the backbone of today’s knowledge, will accelerate the achievement of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Under the ITSO Agreement, ITSO’s primary role is that of supervising and monitoring Intelsat’s provision of international public telecommunications satellite services as specified in the Public Services Agreement (PSA) entered into between ITSO and Intelsat. Through this oversight role, ITSO is able to ensure that Intelsat provides, on a commercial basis, international public telecommunications satellite services, maintains global connectivity and coverage, serves its lifeline connectivity customers, and provides non-discriminatory access to the Intelsat system.

As a result of exercising its supervisory function, ITSO provides an important forum for Member States and facilitates the discussions and exchanges among them as they assess their international public satellite telecommunications requirements. Indeed, the availability of satellite broadband services is becoming a priority for many developing countries and therefore ITSO should continue to promote policies and services that bridge the digital (broadband) divide.

In order to fulfill its Goals and Objectives and to implement its Strategic Plan, ITSO collaborates with other organizations and participates in partnerships, programs and initiatives, that aim to bridge the digital divide, such as the United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and, most recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Internet for All Project as well as the ITU-D m-Powering Development Initiative.

Since its creation, the Broadband Commission has continuously demonstrated the importance of broadband and information and communication technologies (ICTs) as contributing factors to the realization of the UN goals. In addition, the report of the Broadband Commission Working Group on Technologies in Space and the Upper Atmosphere, to which ITSO significantly contributed, concluded that satellite and high-altitude systems offer significant advantages for expanding broadband coverage in developing countries as well as driving solutions essential to meeting the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In this context, the Director General of ITSO is pleased to share with you a PowerPoint presentation from Intelsat which shows how Intelsat’s satellite technology can be leveraged to achieve SDGs and highlights some examples of Intelsat technology being utilized to accelerate digital inclusion initiatives across the world to achieve SDGs.

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