RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/GBT/M/6
10February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0495)
Group onBasic Telecommunications
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OF31JANUARY 1997
1. TheGroup onBasic Telecommunications helditssixthmeeting on31January 1997. Theagenda
forthemeeting iscontained inWTO/AIR/508 of21January 1997.
2. Under thefirstagenda item, presentation ofneworrevised draftoffers, Bulgaria, ElSalvador,
Indonesia, Romania andSouth Africa introduced newdraftoffers. Australia, Czech Republic, Mexico,
Poland andSingapore introduced revised draftoffers withrespect totheoffers tabled lastApril. Several
other delegations, including Bangladesh, Ghana, Israel, India, Japan, Jamaica, Korea, Malaysia,
NewZealand, Pakistan, PeruandThailand announced thattheyintend tosubmit neworrevised draft
offers inthecourse ofthefollowing week andbefore theendofthenegotiations. Canada,
Slovak Republic andSouth Africa alsoannounced thattheyintend tosubmit further revisions ofthe
draftoffers theytabled intherecent weeks. Some delegations reported thatamong theimprovements
they hadincluded orwished toinclude intheir offers, were: theinclusion ofmore basic
telecommunications sub-sectors; higher limits ornolimits toforeign equity participation; more
regulatory principles (andinsome cases theadoption oftheentire reference paper); theadoption of
a‘technology neutral 'approach toscheduling inviewoftheChairman 'sNoteonscheduling; andthe
deletion ofreferences totheavailability offrequencies orspectrum from themarket access column.
3. Inanexchange ofviews onprogress inbilateral negotiations, several delegations reported that
theywereveryencouraged bytheprogress made inthepastweek inbilateral meetings andthatthey
looked forward toasuccessful conclusion based onMFN treatment andcomprehensive coverage by
thedeadline of15February. Itwasnoted thatbilateral meetings hadbeenuseful inresolving some
outstanding technical issues andshould helptoovercome theremaining issues. Onedelegation noted
thatthelevelandthequality oftheoffers onthetablewasimproving andthatthose offers should be
maintained andwherever possible further improved. Thedelegation alsoargued thatsuccess would
depend onwhether itwaspossible toachieve abalance between rights andobligations resulting from
thenegotiations. Another delegation saidthatthefinalobjective ofthese negotiations should bethat
ofcreating multilateral MFN-based rulessubject todispute settlement forthebasictelecommunications
sector. Some participants encouraged alldelegations whohadannounced theintention tosubmit new
orrevised draftoffers tosubmit theircommitments assoonaspossible, sotoallow fordiscussion at
bilateral meetings ontheconcrete terms ofthese neworrevised offers. Onedelegation expressed
appreciation fortheefforts made bymany delegations insubmitting theirneworrevised draftoffers
andinparticular fortheefforts made bythose countries whohadveryrecently joined theWTO.
4. Under thethirdagenda item, discussion ofoutstanding issues, theChairman circulated adraft
Chairman 'sNoteon‘Market Access Limitations onSpectrum Availability '.TheNotewasintended
toclarify thatspectrum management wasnotperseamarket access limitation asdefined byArticle XVI
oftheGATS, andtherefore neednottobelisted under themarket access column ofoffers. Thenote
stated thatMembers maintain therighttomanage thespectrum, provided thatthisisdoneinaccordance
withArticle VIandotherrelevant provisions oftheGATS. Several delegations indicated thatfollowing
thecirculation ofthenotetheywereprepared toremove reference tofrequency orspectrum availability
andinvited other delegations todothesame. Onedelegation noted that,although theywelcomed the
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noteandwerewilling toremove reference tofrequency orspectrum availability, theymight wishto
seekfurther reassurance through some form ofbinding interpretation. Some delegations saidthey
welcomed theinitiative oftheChairman andwished togivefurther consideration tothepossible
implications ofthenote. TheChairman saidthathewould issuethenoteunder hisownauthority and
asked delegations toreflect ontheapproach outlined inthenoteandtoconsider deleting reference
tofrequency orspectrum availability from theirschedules.
5. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Union stated thatinitsviewthescope ofthenegotiations
covered basic telecommunications, including thetransport ofsignals ofallkinds, independently from
thetypeoftechnology employed, butnotthecontent ofthesignal transported. Ifsuchcontent constituted
aservice initsownright, itshould betheobject ofother negotiations andspecific commitments on
theservices concerned. Intheinterest oftransparency, therepresentative oftheEuropean Union
distributed aninformal textexplaining thisview. Therepresentative oftheUnited States noted that
thenegotiations onbasictelecommunications werenotmeant toprovide market access inbroadcasting
services. Healsonoted, however, thatthewayMembers maydefine thedistinction between basic
telecommunications andbroadcasting services wasfarfrom clear.
6. Onfuture work, theChairman reminded participants thatthenextmeetings were scheduled
for10and15February 1997 andrequested delegations toinvite senior officials totakepartinthe
meeting of10February. Heasked delegations whowerepreparing newoffers tosubmit theminthe
course ofthefollowing week oratleastby10February, although further offers coming inafterthat
dateandbefore thedeadline of15February would stillbeaccepted. Healsoproposed thatanother
formal meeting oftheGBT might bescheduled for14February.
7. Under thefifth agenda item, other business, arepresentative fortheInternational
Telecommunication Union (ITU) introduced astatement from theITUSecretary General. Init,he
saidthatasuccess ofthenegotiations onbasictelecommunications would helppromote thedevelopment
ofglobal telecommunications networks andservices andwould beinthebestinterest oftheMembers
oftheITU. Healsosaidhelooked forward tomaintaining andstrengthening cooperation between
theITUandtheWTO.