Page Two	E-mail PagePrint Version

WASHINGTON, DC - 04/15/04 - The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released the results of its 2004 Annual Review of Foreign Compliance with Telecommunications Trade Agreements - also known as the "Section 1377 Review". 

The report identifies global barriers facing US consumers and businesses in the estimated $1.3 trillion dollar telecommunications services and equipment market.

Recently, the US won a major victory in the first-ever telecommunications dispute in the WTO, prevailing in a case against Mexico involving overcharges to US companies and consumers for phone calls to Mexico of over $1 billion dollars since the year 2000.

Three key barriers cited by the report include: the "proposed exclusionary" standards for equipment and services in China and Korea; the "high interconnection rates" for mobile and wireline networks in Europe and Asia; and the restrictions on accessing wholesale transmission capacity in Germany, India, Switzerland, and Singapore.

In addition, at least two countries - Mexico and South Africa - "have been slow in implementing their commitment to permit US suppliers to resell basic telecommunications services in their markets," the report said, adding "as in past years, the lack of fully independent regulators continues to weaken the competitive landscape in numerous countries."

Washington, the report said, "will continue to address these issues vigorously through a range of actions including bilateral engagement with our trade partners to hold them accountable to fully implementing their existing commitments; negotiating and adopting strong disciplines in Free Trade Agreements and the WTO to eliminate or prevent the emergence of such trade distorting barriers; and where warranted, initiating dispute settlement action."

New free trade agreements (FTAs) now in force with Chile and Singapore, and recently completed ones with six countries in Central America, Australia, and Morocco, "offer disciplines to address these issues in a growing list of markets," it said.

According to the USTR, "all recent FTAs concluded by the United States contain specific prohibitions against the use of exclusionary standards in the telecommunications sector, ensure reasonable and non-discriminatory access and interconnection among network operators, and provide strong provisions on independent regulators, including powers to enforce rules in a transparent and meaningful way."

Consistent with the FTAs, the USTR said, "Singapore has proposed instituting sharp reductions in leased line rates to spur competition in business services, and Australia has announced steps to address mobile interconnection rates that are among the highest in the region."

But other telecom issues remain unresolved recently with the USTR stepping up direct engagement with governments to address potential barriers - in particular, measures are scheduled to come into force in June in both China and Korea that would have the effect of excluding US technology from those markets. 

"If those countries proceed with implementing rules that are exclusionary and inconsistent with their trade commitments, USTR will consider all possible options to address these barriers. Resolution of standards issues with China will be one of the topics for discussion at the meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) scheduled for the end of April," the USTR said.

Other countries "that will require continued attention this year include Germany, which has yet to implement a number of pro-competitive regulatory rules, and which will be adopting a new telecommunications law; Japan, whose policies on regulating interconnection and licensing mobile wireless services have been unsatisfactory; and Mexico and South Africa, which have been slow to implement WTO-mandated commitments to permit resale of telecommunications services," the USTR said.

In addition, "despite positive action by some regulators, there have been troubling reports of mobile wireless operators in several countries seeking to unilaterally raise interconnection rates without adequate justification, a trend that would negatively impact US consumers and businesses," the USTR said, adding that "where developments in these countries raise potential problems, [the USTR] will actively engage to ensure that new trade barriers do not emerge."

The entire report can be found at http://www.ustr.gov/sectors/industry/Telecom1377/2004/1377report.pdf

Go back, or read the latest Page Two stories:

NETSUITE GOES LIVE IN SINGAPORE

SAN MATEO – 10/28/08 – Business management software developer NetSuite Inc. has launched a new venture - NetSuite OneWorld in Singapore; the move was spurred by forecasts that that Asia-Pacific software as a service (SaaS) revenues will grow from $274 million in 2007 to around $1.8 billion by 2011.