OTI Relaunch Promotes Development Of The Television And Telecommunications Industry In The Ibero-American Region

In this new era of the organization's 45-year history, and with the mission to promote "more content and better connectivity," OTI's objectives include: encouraging regulatory authorities in the region to adopt best practices, defending freedom of speech, improving access and connectivity for the region's people and encouraging the development of compelling new content for distribution across various platforms.

"Communications are undergoing an impressive and constant evolution. OTI's transformation is driven by the need to respond to a world that is constantly changing due to technological convergence, and the challenges and opportunities that it brings," said Emilio Azcárraga Jean, President of OTI, during his presentation. "The new OTI, together with its members, will defend freedom of expression as one of its fundamental objectives."

Azcárraga Jean also commented on the importance of OTI member companies that bring together an audience of nearly 500 million people and revenue of more than USD $127 billion.

The event featured presidents and senior executives from OTI member companies and the region's leading media and telecommunications conglomerates, including America TV, AT&T, Canal 13, Canal Uno TV, Caracol, Grupo Bandeirantes, Grupo Clarín, Grupo Imagen Multimedia, Grupo PRISA, izzi Telecom, Latina, Medcom, Mega, Multimedios, Radiorama, RCN, Red Uno, Sipse, Sky, TCS, Teleamazonas, Telemundo, Teletica, Televicentro, Televisa, TV Azteca, TVN, Unitel, Univision and Venevisión.

Additionally, OTI announced their support for the Organization of American States' (OAS) campaign "More rights for more people." This collaboration with the OAS is one of the first pan-regional efforts demonstrating OTI's commitment to promoting human rights, particularly among vulnerable groups, including disabled people, those of African descent and women, among others.

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro said, "Freedom of expression is one of the most important human rights to build and strengthen our democracies."

Almagro also stressed that the OAS will be a strategic partner with OTI in strengthening democracy and increasing access to human rights for all people.

Freedom of speech, a significant issue for the region's media and telecommunications companies and their respective audiences, was also an important theme in the discussions. Jorge Carlos Rendo, President of Grupo Clarín, spoke about Argentina and the relationship that should exist between government and media.

Faced with adversity, Rendo stated that Grupo Clarin's commitment to democracy and its role as an independent news outlet allowed it to resist authoritarianism. He said that as a media company, its interest is to inform, create and distribute content.

Meanwhile, Rob Gallagher, director of research and analysis at Ovum, shared his perspective on the challenges that content and telecommunications companies face as a result of new and innovative services provided through the Internet. Gallagher stated that users will use a greater variety of devices to consume content, and consumption will continue to increase.

The event's keynote speaker was Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive officer of WPP, the world's largest communications services group, who spoke about the challenges content and telecommunications companies currently face to connect audiences with advertising messages, given the changing technological landscape.

In the case of Latin America, despite the difficulties that the region's economies have faced, Sorrell stated that he is still a believer in the power of Latin America and its significant influence in shaping the communication industry's growth.

As part of its activities in 2016, OTI could participate in the IV Communications Forum, an initiative of the Spanish Government that would take place during the XXV Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Cartagena, Colombia.

With these actions OTI strengthens its position as the leading international organization for the content and telecommunications industry in the Ibero-American region, committed to developing an inclusive and fair social agenda.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160408/353113

SOURCE Organizacion de Telecomunicaciones de Iberoamerica (OTI)