TAIPEI Doha

ICT & the Doha NegotiationsState of Play: 

ICT & the Doha Negotiations State of Play Trade in Services Division WTO, Geneva http://www.wto.org

The Doha Trade Negotiations : 

The Doha Trade Negotiations 12 telecom negotiating proposals submitted Bilateral request-offer talks underway Initial offers” began March ’03 Revised offers due May ’05 Sector experts come for bilaterals & “friends” groups Attitude is positive, but remains guarded Emerging economies more pro-active than in the past National ICT plans driving telecom Many emerging economies have ICT export interests

Slide3: 

Basic Telecom Baseline for the Round 1997: The 4th Protocol 69 governments 9 MFN exemptions In force: Feb ‘98 2 still to ratify Today: 91 governments 6 Members & 16 acceding countries committed 3 protocol schedules improved “Phased-in” already in place by at least a dozen countries More underway ….

Slide4: 

Baseline for the Round: The Reference Paper Competition - avoid abuse of dominance Interconnection - guarantee fairness Regulator - independent of operators Universal service - competition friendly Finite resources - administer fairly (e.g. spectrum, numbering, rights of way) Licensing - added transparency Telecom Regulatory Principles Today, 77 governments have adopted in full; 7 in part

Slide5: 

Typical Market Access Limitations Profile... (In percent of country grouping) Limits on Number of Suppliers Limits on Foreign Equity Emerging economies Industrialized Economies

Doha Round: TelecomNegotiating Proposals: 

Doha Round: Telecom Negotiating Proposals 12 submissions from 26 Members Australia Canada Chile Colombia Cuba Japan European Korea Communities Mexico Norway United States Switzerland

The common elements…: 

The common elements… New commitments by those that don’t Better commitments by those that do Reduce limits on foreign equity & number of suppliers Expand coverage -- market segments, means of supply (resale vs. facilities), modes of supply (cross border) Commit on or move forward phase-in dates More on less committed services (value added, transport capacity, satellite services) … and encourage more to commit on the Reference Paper

Telecom Offers Tabled: 

Telecom Offers Tabled So far, 50 offers (74 governments) A few entirely new commitments: on basic telecoms on value-added services on the Reference Paper Improved telecom commitments indicated in 12 offers (36 governments)

Computer ServicesExisting GATS Commitments: 

Computer Services Existing GATS Commitments 67 Members have commitments: Consultancy services related to the installation of computer hardware - 57 Software implementation services - 62 Data processing services - 60 Data base services - 54 Other - 35 Classification issue: Today, most services are a blend of these sub-sectors

Computer ServicesNegotiating proposals: 

Computer Services Negotiating proposals Canada Costa Rica European Communities (in business services) India Japan (in business services) Mercosur (+Bolivia) United States (in telecom and related services) Representing 25 governments

Computer Services Offers: 

Computer Services Offers So far, 50 offers (74 governments)* *counting EU Member States individually

Audio-VisualExisting commitments: 

Audio-Visual Existing commitments 25 Members have committed most are on “motion tape and video tape production and distribution” Very few are on radio or TV programming & services

Audio-VisualNegotiating proposals: 

Audio-Visual Negotiating proposals Brazil Japan Switzerland United States

Audio-VisualIssues raised: 

Audio-Visual Issues raised Review of classification to take into account technological and commercial developments. Increased liberalization and reduction in MFN exemptions Regulatory issues: e.g. subsidies, "cultural diversity safeguard", public services, illicit content, competition issues Support for focus on developing countries' interests and prospects in this sector

ICT & Convergence? Negotiating Proposals : 

ICT & Convergence? Negotiating Proposals Consider commitments in light of technological innovation & media convergence. (Chile) Negotiate on a range of integrated services (voice, data, video) by all technologies (US) Commitments should be technology neutral, & interpreted in an extensive manner, to include internet-based developments (Switzerland) Don’t neglect satellite, mobile & Internet services (Australia & Norway)

Convergence &Classification issues : 

Convergence & Classification issues Scope & coverage of commitments Overlap across sectors and across sub-sectors Content vs. the enabling (i.e. telecom or computer) service Integrated service offerings - commercial & technological e.g. fixed wireless convergence, broadband multimedia New technologies - satellite, mobile, Internet , etc When is a service a “new” service?

Slide17: 

A listed service covers, unless otherwise stated: local, long distance & international service any wire-based or wireless technology facilities-based or resale-based supply public or non-public (CUG) services The telecom Chairman’s Note: as a classification “solution”

Slide18: 

Chairman’s Note services/categories matrix ?

Implications for telecomsof the Chairman’s Note: 

Implications for telecoms of the Chairman’s Note Evolving technologies.. IP...Broadband.. wireless More integrated & diverse commercial offerings Changing regulatory models The Chairman’s Note on telecom anticipated & may help address some such trends Can address regulatory and technological distinctions where they exist and when necessary in schedules Yet, clarifies when commitments do extend to all forms of technology, market segments, or users

Slide20: 

Convergence & cross-sectoral classification issues ?

Telecom vs. Computer Services? Examples ...: 

Telecom vs. Computer Services? Examples ... Telecom? On-line information & database retrieval... On-line data processing... Electronic Data Interchange, E-mail, voice mail… Internet … Computer service? Database services Data processing services “Applications” software services Internet

Telecom vs. AV?Examples ...: 

Telecom vs. AV? Examples ... Telecom? Internet access services Satellite transmission.. Internet/telephony over cable TV networks…. Telecom transmission services Audio-Visual? Internet video streaming DTH satellite TV Cable TV services & programming Broadcast transmission

Telecom vs. AV?Some background ...: 

Telecom vs. AV? Some background ... Telecom negotiators have devoted some thought to convergence and clarified some concerns, e.g. telecom typically deals with transport, not content thus, while suppliers may “carry” AV products, the telecom commitments do not extend to “programming” Audio visual negotiators have not yet done so ... Definition & coverage of “broadcast” transmission has not been clarified (...UNCPC is hopeless) continued relevance or applicability of traditional programming measures to new technologies has not been explored

…more on regulatory issues?: 

…more on regulatory issues? The Reference Paper continues to be a valuable tool to guide liberalisation (Chile) All that commit should adopt it (Mexico) Reduce regulatory requirements to minimum necessary to ensure quality, universal service, and address scarce resources (EU) More work on licensing requirements and technical standards (Australia) Address unreasonably high licensing charges (Japan) Clarify “allocation of scarce resources” as regards spectrum and standards (Australia) Encourage competition enhancing means to allocate frequencies (Switzerland) Develop criteria on independence of regulators (Australia)

Convergence & rulemaking?: 

Convergence & rulemaking? Could new multimedia services also need to benefit from guarantees like those in the Reference Paper, e.g. on interconnection & unbundling? How and when might the Telecom Annex and Reference Paper disciplines apply to Internet ... or other access/transport technologies? Could new or improved regulatory disciplines and principles needed for the coming of age of multimedia mobile and satellite services?