As a United Nations agency, the ITU has an obligation to identify, define, and produce statistics covering its sector - the telecommunication/ICT sector. This is in line with other specialized agencies that publish statistics covering their respective field of operations and forms part of the global statistical system of the UN. The collection of over 100 telecommunication/ICT indicators is one of the main activities of the unit. The ITU's Market Information and Statistics (STAT) Division collects its Telecommunication/ICT data directly form governments by means of an annual questionnaire that is sent to the government agency in charge of telecommunications/ICT. This is usually the Ministry or the regulatory agency. The STAT Division verifies and harmonizes data, carries out research, and collects missing values from government web sites and operators' annual reports, particularly for countries that do not reply to the questionnaire. Market research data are also used to cross-check and complement missing values.
