RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/GBT/M/7
13February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0567)
Group onBasic Telecommunications
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OF10FEBRUARY 1997
1. TheGroup onBasic Telecommunications helditsseventh meeting on10February 1997. The
agenda forthemeeting iscontained inWTO/AIR/520 of4February 1997.
2. TheChairman invited theDirector General toaddress theGroup atthebeginning ofthelast
week ofnegotiation. TheDirector General saidthatthenegotiation wasvitalbothinterms ofthe
economic benefits thatwillflowfromcommitments toopentelecommunications markets insomany
countries andbecause itwould strengthen thecredibility oftheservices agreement bydemonstrating
thatitcandeliver valuable results eveninsectors ofthegreatest technical andpolitical complexity.
Henoted thatparticipants hadmade significant progress since thesuspension ofthenegotiations last
April andthattherewerestillmargins forfurther improvements andsome more newoffers. Regarding
theissueofthe‘critical mass'henoted thattheoffers nowinplace weresubstantially better innumber
andinquality thanthose available inApril andhestressed theimportance atthisstageofthenegotiations
offurther improving thequality oftheexisting offers wherever possible. Heunderlined thatthechance
ofsecuring thebestpossible outcome would bemuch greater ifdelegations whowere considering
improvements came forward withtheirbestoffers early intheweek rather thanattheend.
3. Under thefirstagenda item, presentation ofneworrevised draftoffers, Ghana, Grenada and
Malaysia introduced newdraftoffers, bringing thetotalnumber ofoffers onthetableto43.Brazil,
Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Mauritius, NewZealand, Norway andPeruintroduced revised
draftoffers withrespect totheoffers tabled lastApril. Bolivia, Canada, Poland, Slovak Republic and
South Africa introduced further revisions oftheoffers tabled inrecent weeks. Thedelegations ofSri
Lanka andTanzania announced thattheyintended tosubmit newdraft offers, while several other
delegations including Colombia, Morocco, Philippines andVenezuela announced thattheyintended
tosubmit revised draftoffers. Australia, theEuropean Union, theUnited States andSouth Africa
saidthattheywould submit further revisions oftheoffers tabled inrecent weeks. Thedelegation of
Honduras regretted thattheywerenotabletosubmit anofferbefore thedeadline, butannounced that
oncetheinternal process ofreform hadbeencompleted theywould consider making commitments
inthebasictelecommunications sector after15February 1997. TheSecretary General oftheCaribbean
Telecommunication Union (CTU), whointroduced theoffer from Grenada, announced thatother
Caribbean countries would submit newoffers before theendoftheweek. Among thedelegations who
intervened under thisagenda item, some stressed that,although theywere veryencouraged bythe
progress made since lastApril, thequality ofmany offers could stillbeimproved, including those
ofmajor trading partners andbeyond. Several delegations announced thattheyhadmade orintended
tomake technical changes totheirdraftoffers taking account oftheChairman 'sNotes onscheduling
andspectrum availability. Some delegations saidthattheyintended tospecify intheirrevisions that
theiroffers didnotcover broadcasting services through cable orsatellite. Therepresentative ofthe
EuropeanUnionsaidthattheirrevisedofferwouldincludeaclearerdefinitionofbasictelecommunication
services.
4. TheChairman welcomed allnewandrevised draftoffers aswellasthestatements bythose
delegations whoexpressed theintention ofsubmitting neworrevised draftoffers. Heinvited major
trading partners toassume aleading roleinthefinaleffort tofurther improve theoffers which were
./.S/GBT/M/7
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already onthetable. Heexpressed appreciation forthelarge number ofcountries whohadadopted
either initsentirety orinmost ofitssubstantial points thereference paper onregulatory principles
andforthose whohaddeleted reference tofrequency orspectrum availability fromthemarket access
limitation column. Healsoinvited other delegations toconsider further thepossibility ofremoving
reference tofrequency orspectrum availability fromthemarket access limitation column inlinewith
theapproach outlined intheChairman 'sNoteonMarket Access Limitation onSpectrum Availability.
5. Intheexchangeofviewsonthestatusandremainingworkofthenegotiations,severaldelegations
saidthattheywereencouraged bytheresults achieved sofarandemphasised theimportance ofreaching
asuccessful conclusion based onMFN, comprehensive coverage andbalance ofcommitments reflecting
thelevelofeconomic development ofMembers. Onedelegation underlined thecritical significance
ofasuccessful conclusion ofthenegotiations forthecredibility oftheGATS andWTO agreements
andnoted howtheresulting legalstability andpredictability would beimportant inorder toincrease
trade andinvestment inthebasic telecommunications sector. Some delegations saidthatatthispoint
inthenegotiations itwascrucial thatparticipants maintain orimprove theiroffers, asanyreduction
inonecountry 'soffermight leadother countries todothesame. Other delegations stressed theneed
foradditionalcommitmentsonregulatoryprinciplesandurgedotherparticipantstoincreasetheadherence
tothepro-competitive regulatory principles contained inthereference paper. Another delegation noted
thatforeign investment wasanimportant aspect ofmarket access andexpressed concern thatseveral
offers stillcontained limitations onforeign investment. Thedelegation alsonoted that,given the
confusionastowheretheboundarybetweenbasictelecommunicationsservicesandbroadcastingservices
might lie,theinclusion ofadefinition ofthescope ofthenegotiations onbasic telecommunication
insome offers didnothelptoclarify theissue, andmight potentially scaledown theoffer. Regarding
theissue ofthetreatment ofaffiliates ofInternational Satellite Organizations (ISOs), thedelegation
expressed concern attheprospect thatsome participants might consider excluding ISOsaffiliates from
theiroffers andsuggested thatabetter wayofdealing withtheissuewould betomake those affiliates
subject tolicensing conditions addressing theissue offaircompetition.
6. Under other business, theChairman introduced adraftoftheReport oftheGroup onBasic
Telecommunications totheCouncil forTrade inServices forconsideration bydelegations withaview
tofinalising itforadoption atthemeetings tobeheldattheendoftheweek.
7. TheChairman reminded participants thatthenextmeetings oftheGroup werescheduled for
14and15February 1997. Heinformed delegations thatitmight however become necessary tohold
aninformal meeting oftheGroup before 14February. Heinvited delegations tosubmit theirfinal
offers bymid-day on14February, inorder toallow timeforthefinalevaluation oftheoffers.