Telecommunications features in GATS and describe the ongoing negotiating

Telecommunications features in GATS and describe the ongoing negotiating

Telecommunications features in GATS and describe the ongoing negotiating

Introduction

The convergence between telecommunications and competition regulators has, as discussed previously, prompted arguments that the need for sector specific regulators has passed. There do remain special features associated with the sector. An extensive description of these is found in an Oftel discussion paper on the application of the Competition Act in the telecommunications sector. Two factors perhaps call for specific mention. In most sectors of economic activity, competing undertakings can operate 'at arms' length'. There is no need for motor car manufacturers, for example, to discuss manufacturing plans and techniques. As discussed extensively in the previous module, telecommunications operators require to interconnect with each other in order to attain the goal of universal connectivity. Whilst not itself incompatible with the goals of competition policy, such a situation does call for a degree of special handling. Again, whilst the introduction of competition may be seen as desirable, wasteful and unnecessary duplication of infrastructure is not to be encouraged. Beyond issues of fixed line networks, this issue is of considerable current significance in respect of mobile networks where sharing of facilities and resources between competing operators may reduce the environmental impact of transmitter and receiver masts. (Haykin, Simon 2001, 755-87)

European Union involvement in the telecommunications sector can be traced to the mid 1980s. A useful history of EU action can be found here. EU initiatives have focused on two issues, harmonisation of national laws largely in order to ensure compatibility of systems for purposes of interconnection and liberalisation or the opening up of telecommunications markets to competition. The former aspects have been dealt with primarily by the Information Society Directorate of the Commission and the latter topic has been dealt with under the auspices of the Competition Directorate (DG IV). The relationship between the two branches of the topic (and at time between the two departments of the Commission) is somewhat complex and, at times, strained. (Haykin, Simon 2001, 755-87)

Explanation

Geneva, 5 Oct 2000 - The new talks under way at the World Trade Organization (WTO) under its General Agreement on Trade in Services, will radically restructure the role of governments worldwide, and subject an ever-greater degree of governmental decision-making to oversight by the WTO, according to a new publication. The publication, “GATS: How the WTO New 'Services' Negotiations Threaten Democracy", is a study by a Canadian trade policy specialist, Mr. Scott Sinclair, and is published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), based in the Canadian Province of British Colombia. In the study, Sinclair says that “despite the breakdown in global trade talks in Seattle in December 1999, negotiations are now underway at the WTO to radically restructure the role of governments worldwide—subjecting an ever-greater degree of governmental decision-making to oversight by the WTO.”

These negotiations are aimed at expanding the General Agreement on Trade in Services (or GATS), a framework agreement adopted as ...