 Hi, and welcome to this introductory video on the activities of ITUT Study Group 3. We're here in Geneva at the headquarters of the International Telecommunication Union, the ITU. I'm Laura Cervasteva, and I'm responsible for coordinating the work of this group. But first, what are study groups exactly? Well, study groups are the building blocks, if you like, of the standards-making process of the ITUT. This is where our members agree through a process of international consensus, achieved in rooms just like this one. On the development of global standards for telecoms. Now good example is the standard for video compression, which was developed here at the ITU, and is now widely used across the internet. So what does Study Group 3 do? Well, interestingly enough, the origin of the work of this study group actually dates back to the early days of the International Telegraph Union, as it was known in the 19th century, and to those very early negotiations on interconnection of telegraphic networks and the settlement of accounts between countries. So I suppose in this way it can be said that Study Group 3 is part of the very DNA of the ITU. Study Group 3, or SG3 as it's known, is home to the series of standards called the D-Series recommendations. It's responsible for tariff and accounting of international telecom services, costing methodologies, and related economic and policy issues. And yes, you'd be right to think that the mandate of the group is fairly broad. Now the standardization sector of the ITU has a number of technical study groups working on a wide variety of subjects, from e-health to cloud computing. But Study Group 3 is the only study group that's working on policy and economic issues, and it's also the only study group working on the financial aspects of telecommunications. The group is responsible more specifically for fostering collaboration between members to establish rates for services that are as low as possible. So it won't come as much of a surprise to you that tackling the high rates for mobile roaming is a key part of the mandate of SG3. In 2012, we adopted a standard, a recommendation on mobile roaming. But roaming is just a part of the group's work. SG3 is now tackling a growing number of issues. Just some examples for you. We've been working on the economic issues surrounding the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, dispute resolution mechanisms related to telecoms charging and invoicing, alternative calling procedures such as callback, hubbing, and the economic impact of those, and international internet connectivity, which as you know still comes at a very high cost in some regions and continues to have a negative impact on the ability of people in developing countries to access the internet. So those are just some of the topics that we're working on. But I'd also like to tell you that in addition to the vital standardization role that it plays on the global stage, Study Group 3 also works very closely in the regions in order to bridge the standardization gaps, so to speak, and enable developing countries to reap the benefits of the technology revolution. Study Group 3 has four active regional groups. For the Arab states, for Latin America and the Caribbean, for Asia Oceania, and for the African region. So in summary then, Study Group 3 is a long-standing global forum that's dedicated to improving our understanding of the financial and economic aspects of telecommunications, and particularly in the light of the rapid growth we've seen in the industry, notably in mobile, and the shift to IP-based and future networks. So that brings a short introduction to an end. We hope to see you at one of our SG3 meetings in the very new future.