The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is an international organisation, subject to a Headquarters Agreement with the UK Government, with its offices situated in Hammersmith, just to the west of central London. It has two broad categories of members: Countries, and ICT Sector Members. Full Member Countries are member states of the Commonwealth that have given an undertaking to make an annual payment to the CTO; Member countries are all other member states of the Commonwealth. ICT Sector Members pay an annual membership fee and include other government departments or regulators, private sector companies, civil society organisation, international organisations, and other entities that share the CTO’s objectives.

According to its constitution, the CTO has four main purposes:

• To support the development and use of ICTs within the Commonwealth and beyond;
• To promote the provision and use of ICTs to meet the needs of members, to support development in Member countries, and to ensure the inclusion of marginalised people;
• To promote effective cooperation and partnership amongst its members and other organisations; and
• To develop and implement activities to promote the above three objectives.

To this end, the CTO has four main organs:

• The CTO Council is composed of Full Member Countries, is the principal organ of the CTO and meets at least once a year;
• The Executive Committee acts on behalf of Council in the interval between meetings and makes recommendation to the Council concerning the CTO’s strategic policies;
• The CTO Forum is composed of representatives of Full Member Countries, Member Countries and ICT Sector Members, and provides an opportunity for them to contribute ideas and provide advice to Council; and
• The CTO Secretariat is the legal representative of the CTO, and is responsible to Council for carrying out the functions of the CTO.

The Secretariat has three main Departments:

Corporate Services, including

• Membership Division
• Communications Division

Operations, including

• Capacity Development and Training Division
• Research and Consultancy Division
• Events and Conferences Division

Finance and Administration, including

• Finance Division
• Human Resources Division
• Administration Division