Existing national regulations covering the introduction and use of telecommunications equipment are not automatically waived in the event of a natural disaster. Customs and immigration officials may insist on applying the letter of the law. If no licence exists and the requisite permission to import and use telecommunications equipment has not been granted, it will probably be impounded. Furthermore, the person bringing it in may even, in some cases, be detained. Some current regulatory barriers include restrictions on:

• the import or export of telecommunications equipment;
• the use of telecommunications equipment or of radio frequency spectrum;
• the transit of telecommunications resources into, out of, and through the territory of a third country.

Sovereign States have legitimate concerns regarding the unlicensed use of telecommunications equipment: telecommunications have become a strategic resource and, if used in an uncoordinated way, can interfere with local communications services including those used for security and the safety of human life. Moreover, the regulations that exist are often internationally agreed rules applied on a national level.

Work to remove such barriers has until now been hampered by the lack of an international legal instrument which can provide for the use of telecommunications equipment in the service of humanitarian assistance.