RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
13November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4831)
Original: English Group onBasic Telecommunications
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
Offer onBasic telecommunications
Revision
TheEuropean Communities andtheirMember States hereby submit theattached revised offer
totheGroup onBasic Telecommunications.
Thisofferisconditional andmaybemodified, reduced orextended, depending ontheprogress
ofwork intheGroup onBasic Telecommunications and,inparticular, onthewillingness ofnegotiating
partners toassume, taking intoaccount theirlevelofdevelopment, commitments comparable tothose
proposed bytheEuropean Community andtheirMember States. Thisrevised conditional offerwill
notbeconfirmed bytheECanditsMember States unless there isacomplete multilateral agreement,
includinginternationalservicesandsatellite(basedservices,onanMFN-basisfrommaintradingpartners.
TheEuropean Communities andtheirMember States reserve theirright tomake technical
amendments tothisoffer, including references toCPC numbers.S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page2THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
2.C Telecommunications
services
AllsectorsThehorizontal reservations contained in
documents GATS/SC/31, GATS/SC/7,
GATS/SC/33 andGATS/SC/82 apply.
FIN:Thegeneral horizontal requirements
forlegal entities inGATS/SC/33 shall not
apply tothetelecommunications sector
except as:
-halfofthefounders, halfofthemembers
oftheboard ofdirectors andthemanaging
director must have permanent residence in
theEuropean Economic Area. Ifthe
founder isalegal person, itmust have
residence intheEEA.Thehorizontal reservations contained in
documents GATS/SC/31, GATS/SC/7,
GATS/SC/33 andGATS/SC/82 apply.
FIN:Thegeneral horizontal requirements for
legal entities inGATS/SC/33 shall notapply to
thetelecommunications sector. Requirements
concerning theÅland islands shall continue to
apply.TheEuropean Communities
andtheir Member States
undertake additional
commitments ascontained in
theattachment, allparts of
which areequally binding.
B:Licensing conditions may
address theneed toguarantee
universal service, including
through financing, ina
transparent,
non-discriminatory and
competitively neutral manner
andwillnotbemore
burdensome thannecessary.
1)3) AllMember States :theprovision of
allradio-based services issubject tothe
availability offrequency.1) None
1) None except for:
P:international services canbesupplied
onlybycompanies established inPortugal.
GR:access through S.A. andthecompany
must beexclusively engaged inthesupply
oftelecommunication services.
2) None 2) NoneS/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page3Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
3) None except for*(*):
GR:access through S.A. andthecompany
must beexclusively engaged inthesupply
oftelecommunication services.
P:Thedirect orindirect participation of
natural persons, whoarenon-nationals of
ECMember States ornon-EC companies
orfirms inthecapital ofcompanies
supplying basic telecommunications
services cannot exceed 25%.
F:Indirect: none. Non-EC natural or
juridical persons maynotholddirectly
more than20% oftheshares orvoting
rights ofcompanies authorised toestablish
andoperate radio-based infrastructure for
theprovision oftelecommunications
services tothegeneral public. Forthe
application ofthisprovision, companies or
firms legally established according tothe
laws ofaMember State oftheECare
considered ECjuridical persons.
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.3) None
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.
*(*)Footnote forclarification purposes: Some ECMember States maintain public participation incertain telecommunication operators. ECMember States reserve their
rights tomaintain suchpublic participation inthefuture. Thisisnotamarket access limitation. InBelgium, government participation andvoting rights inBelgacom are
freely determined under legislative powers asispresently thecaseunder thelawof21March 1991 onthereform ofgovernment-owner economic enterprises.S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page4Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Domestic andinternational
Domestic andinternational
services provided using any
network technology, ina
facilities based orresale basis,
inthefollowing market
segments:
a. Voice telephony
(CPC 7521)
b. Packet switched data
transmission services
(CPC 7523**)
c. Circuit-switched data
transmissions services
(CPC 7523**)
d. Telex services
(CPC 7523**)
e. Telegraph services
(CPC 7522)
f. Facsimile services
(CPC 7521**+7529)1) None except for:1
E:none, except thattheliberalisation
calendar willbeasfollows: oneadditional
nation-wide licence inJanuary 1998; full
liberalisation asfrom 30.11.19982.
IRL: None except forpublic voice
telephony andfacilities-based services
where none asof1January 2000.
GR,P:None except forpublic voice
telephony andfacilities-based services
where none asof1January 2003.
2) None
3) None except for:11) None
2) None
3) None
1Luxembourg hasrequested adelayed datefortheliberalisation oftelecommunications until 1.1.2000. TheECdecision onthisrequest isstillpending.
2Applications forfurther licences tobereceived asfrom 1August 98.S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page5Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
g. Leased circuit services
(CPC 7522**+7523**)E:none, except thattheliberalisation
calendar willbeasfollows: oneadditional
nation wide licence inJanuary 1998; full
liberalisation asfrom 30.11.19982.
Forpublic use
Fornon-public useIRL: None except forpublic voice
telephony andfacilities-based services
where none asof1January 2000.
GR,P:None except forpublic voice
telephony andfacilities-based services
where none asof1January 2003.
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page6Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
o. Other services:
Mobile andpersonal
communications services
andsystems
(CPC 75213* (7523**
+75291*)1) None except for:
IRL: international interconnection of
mobile networks withother mobile orfixed
networks where none asof1.1.1999.1) None
P:establishment anduseofownandthird
party infrastructure, none asif1January
2003
2) None 2) None
3) None except for:
IRL: international interconnection of
mobile networks withother mobile orfixed
networks where none asof1.1.1999.3) None
P:establishment anduseofownandthird
party infrastructure, none asif1January
2003
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page7
ADDITIONAL COMMITMENT BYTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
SCOPE:
Thefollowingaredefinitionsandprinciplesontheregulatoryframeworkforthebasictelecommunications
services underpinning themarket access commitments bytheEuropean Communities andtheirMember
States.
DEFINITIONS:
Usermean service consumer andservice suppliers.
Essential facilities mean facilities ofapublic telecommunications transport network andservice that
a) areexclusively orpredominantly provided byasingle orlimited number ofsuppliers; and
b) cannot feasibly beeconomically ortechnically substituted inorder toprovide aservice.
Amajor supplier isasupplier which hastheability tomaterially affect theterms ofparticipation (having
regard toprice andsupply) intherelevant market forbasic telecommunications services asaresult
of:
a) control overessential facilities; or
b) useofitsposition inthemarket.
1. COMPETITIVE SAFEGUARDS:
1.1. Prevention ofanti-competitive practices intelecommunications:
Appropriatemeasuresshallbemaintainedforthepurposeofpreventingsupplierswho,aloneortogether,
areamajor supplier from engaging inorcontinuing anti-competitive practices.
1.2. Safeguards:
Theanti-competitive practices referred toabove shallinclude inparticular:
a) engaging inanti-competitive cross-subsidization;
b) using information obtained from competitors withanti-competitive results; and
c) notmaking available toother services suppliers onatimely basistechnical information about
essentialfacilitiesandcommerciallyrelevantinformationwhicharenecessaryforthemtoprovide
services.
2. INTERCONNECTION:
2.1. Thissection applies tolinking withsuppliers providing public telecommunications transport
networks orservices inorder toallow theusers ofonesupplier tocommunicate withusers ofanother
supplier andtoaccess services provided byanother supplier.S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page8
2.2. Interconnection tobeensured:
Within thelimits ofpermitted market access, interconnection withamajor supplier willbeensured
atanytechnically feasible point inthenetwork. Such interconnection isprovided3:
a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards andspecifications)
andratesandofaquality nolessfavourable thanthatprovided foritsownlikeservices or
forlikeservices ofnon-affiliated service suppliers orforitssubsidiaries orother affiliates4;
b) inatimely fashion, onterms, conditions (including technical standards andspecifications) and
cost-oriented ratesthataretransparent, reasonable, having regard toeconomic feasibility, and
sufficiently unbundled sothatthesupplier neednotpayfornetwork components orfacilities
thatitdoesnotrequire fortheservice tobeprovided; and
c) upon request, atpoints inaddition tothenetwork termination points offered tothemajority
ofusers, subject tocharges thatreflect thecostofconstruction ofnecessary additional facilities.
2.3. Public availability oftheprocedures forinterconnection negotiations :
Theprocedures applicable forinterconnection toamajor supplier willbemade publicly available.
2.4. Transparency ofinterconnection arrangements:
Itisensured thatamajor supplier willmake publicly available either itsinterconnection agreements
orareference interconnection offer.
2.5. Interconnection :dispute settlement:
Aservice supplier requesting interconnection withamajor supplier willhaverecourse, either :
a) atanytimeor
b) afterareasonable period oftimewhich hasbeenmade publicly known toanindependent
domestic body, which maybearegulatory bodyasreferred toinparagraph 5below, toresolve
disputesregardingappropriateterms,conditionsandratesforinterconnectionwithinareasonable
period oftime, totheextent thatthese havenotbeenestablished previously.
3Suppliers ofservices ornetworks notgenerally available tothepublic, such asclosed usergroups, have
guaranteedrightstoconnectwiththepublictelecommunicationstransportnetworkorservicesonterms,conditions
andrates which arenon-discriminatory, transparent andcost-oriented. Such terms, conditions andrates may,
however,varyfromtheterms,conditionsandratesapplicabletointerconnectionbetweenpublictelecommunications
networks orservices.
4Differentterms,conditionsandratesmaybesetintheCommunityforoperatorsindifferentmarketsegments,
onthebasis ofnon-discriminatory andtransparent national licensing provisions, where suchdifferences canbe
objectively justified because these services arenotconsidered "like services".S/GBT/W/1/Add.1
Page9
3. UNIVERSAL SERVICE:
AnyMember hastheright todefine thekindofuniversal service obligation itwishes tomaintain.
Such obligations willnotberegarded asanti-competitive perse,provided theyareadministered in
atransparent, non-discriminatory andcompetitively neutral manner andarenotmore burdensome than
necessary forthekindofuniversal service defined bytheMember.
4. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OFLICENSING CRITERIA:
Where alicence isrequired, thefollowing willbemade publicly available:
a) allthelicensing criteria andtheperiod oftimenormally required toreach adecision concerning
anapplication foralicence and
b) theterms andconditions ofindividual licences.
Thereasons forthedenial ofalicence willbemade known totheapplicant upon request.
5. INDEPENDENT REGULATORS:
Theregulatory bodyisseparate from, andnotaccountable to,anysupplier ofbasictelecommunications
services. Thedecisions ofandtheprocedures usedbyregulators shallbeimpartial withrespect to
allmarket participants.
6. ALLOCATION AND USEOFSCARCE RESOURCES:
Anyprocedures fortheallocation anduseofscarce resources, including frequencies, numbers and
rights ofway,willbecarried outinanobjective, timely, transparent andnon-discriminatory manner.
Thecurrent stateofallocated frequency bands willbemade publicly available, butdetailed identification
offrequencies allocated forspecific government usesisnotrequired.