European Telecommunications Standards Institute

ETSI (French: Institut Europ‚en des Normes des T‚l‚communication; German:
Europ„isches Institut f?r Telekummonikationsstandards) was established in
March 1988 in response to the inability of the European Conference of
Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) to keep up with the
schedule of work on common European standards and specifications agreed to
in the 1984 Memorandum of Understanding between CEPT and the EC. ETSI has
a contractual relationship with the EC to pursue standards development for
telecommunications equipment and services, and it cooperates with other
European standards bodies such as CEN/CENELEC. ETSI membership includes
the telecommunications administrations that constitute the CEPT as well as
manufacturers, service providers, and users.