Instead of seeing our message switches as primarily handling WMO format, we may come to a situation where the WMO format is a special case of a more general capability to handle the message and file formats which become dominant through their use by many communities on the Internet. To take advantage of the new technologies we may also need to rethink how we represent the information within messages. Use of the new technologies associated with the Internet will allow the meteorological community to take advantage of cost reductions in hardware, software and communications channels that are being led by the growth of the Internet and its applications. We will, however, need to accept that WMO standards will only be one set among many, and a relatively minor consideration at that. This level contains the procedures, which ensure that the GTS operates successfully as a complete system.
Some operational procedures are internal to a particular centre.
Efforts have been made over recent years to improve this co-ordination, for example through the exchange of routing directories among the major RTHs and through improved monitoring procedures. For many years, the links of the GTS were bilaterally agreed and funded by each pair of centres paying their national telephone providers for 'half' of a leased circuit. This simple economic model fails to address all our current requirements. In recent years, the UK has been active in setting up various schemes for sharing the costs of data exchange. The underlying principle is that cost sharing must relate fairly to the costs borne and the benefits derived by each member of a scheme.