RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/GBT/W/1/Add.45
14February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0607)
Original: English Group onBasic Telecommunications
COMMUNICATION FROM JAMAICA
Draft Conditional Offer onBasic Telecommunications
Thefollowing communication iscirculated attherequest ofJamaica tomembers ofthe
Group onBasic Telecommunications.
_______________
Jamaica hereby submits thisDraft Conditional Offer onBasic Telecommunications. This
Offer isconditional. Jamaica reserves therighttomodify, reduce orwithdraw thisOffer inwhole
orinpartatanytimeprior totheconclusions ofthenegotiations onBasic Telecommunications.
Jamaica further reserves therighttomake technical changes totheOffer andtocorrect
anyoffers, omissions andinaccuracies.S/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page2JAMAICA DRAFT CONDITIONAL OFFER
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. COMMUNICATION
SERVICES
C. Telecommunication
Services
AllSubsectors listed
belowThehorizontal commitments remain asindicated
intheSchedule ofSpecific Commitments
(GATS/SC/45)
(3) Voice telephone, facsimile, telex, and
teleprinter services maynotbesupplied
overcable TVnetwork facilitiesSeeattached additional
commitments onregulatory
disciplines.
TheGovernment willsubmit to
Parliament anewdraft lawon
Telecommunications. Thislaw
willprovide thelegislative
framework fortheprovision of
telecommunication services
reflecting technological
advances andpro-competitive
practices inthesector.
a. Voice telephone services
(7521)
- domestic, fixed network
only
- international, wire and
wireless networks
- forpublic use
d. Telex services (7523**)
e. Telegraph services (7522)(1) Until Sept. 2013, bypass ofexclusive
private operator notpermitted.
Callback services andrefiling notpermitted
(2) Callback services notpermitted
(3) Reserved toexclusive supply until
Sept.2013. Nolimitation onforeign equity
participation intheexclusive private
operator.(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
g. Private leased circuit
services (7522**, 7523**)
- domestic, fixed network
facilities
- international, wire and
wireless network facilities
f. Facsimile services
(7521**, 7529**).
l. Enhanced/value-added
facsimile services, incl.
store andforward, store
andretrieve (7523**)(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsS/GBT/W/1/Add.45
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
a. Voice Telephone Services
(7521)
-forprivate use(1) Until Sept. 2013, bypass ofexclusive
private operator notpermitted
(2) None
(3) Reserved toexclusive supply until Sept.
2013
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsTheGovernment isinthe
process ofreviewing thiswith
theexclusive private operator
inthecontext ofthedraft
Telecom Billandthe
establishment oftheregulatory
regime in1997. Ifthe
outcome ofthisreview is
favourable, theGovernment
willsubmit animproved
commitment onprivate voice
telephone services.
b. Packet-switched data
transmission services
(7523**)
- Domestic
c. Circuit-switched data
transmission services
(7523**)
- Domestic(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitments
h. Electronic mail
(7523**)
i. Voice mail (7523**)
j. On-line information and
databaseretrieval
(7523**)
k. Electronic data
interchange (7523**)
m. Code andprotocol
conversion
n. On-line information
and/or dataprocessing
(incl.transaction
processing) (843**)(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsS/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page4Modes 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
o. Other
Internet andinternet access
services (75260)(1) Until Sept. 2013, excludes voice telephony
overInternet
(2) None
(3) Until Sept. 2013, excludes voice telephony
overInternet
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsTheGovernment isinthe
process ofreviewing thiswith
theexclusive private operator
inthecontext ofthedraft
Telecom Billandthe
establishment oftheregulatory
regime in1997. Ifthe
outcome ofthisreview is
favourable, theGovernment
willsubmit animproved
commitment onvoice over
Internet.
Digital mobile services
(terrestrial):
- Cellular/mobile telephone
services(1) Commercial presence required
(2) None
(3) Five totenyearlicence scheduled tobe
issued toexclusive private operator
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitments
Mobile telephone services
(satellite-based)
- Domestic(1) None
(2) None
(3) Five totenyearlicence scheduled tobe
issued toexclusive private operator
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsS/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page5Modes 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
Mobile telephone services
(satellite-based)
- International
Fixed satellite transport services
- International(1) Until Sept. 2013, theexclusive private
operator hasrights offirstrefusal toenter
intoarrangements withsuppliers ofsuch
satellite services
(2) None
(3) Until Sept. 2013, theexclusive operator
hasrights offirstrefusal tosupply such
services
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitments
Digital mobile services
(terrestrial):
- Mobile dataservices
- Personal communications
services
- Paging (75291)(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal section
Video transmission services
(satellite-based)(1) Until Sept. 2013, excludes video telephone
(2) None
(3) Until Sept. 2013, excludes video telephony
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsTheGovernment isinthe
process ofreviewing thiswith
theexclusive private operator
inthecontext ofthedraft
Telecom Billandthe
establishment oftheregulatory
regime in1997. Ifthe
outcome ofthisreview is
favourable, theGovernment
willsubmit animproved
commitment onvideo
telephony services.S/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page6Modes 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
Trunked radio system services (1) None
(2) None
(3) Until Sept. 2013, interconnection withlocal
public switched network notpermitted
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitments
Teleconferencing services
(75292)(1) Until Sept. 2013, onlyonnetwork facilities
supplied bytheexclusive private operator
(2) None
(3) Until Sept. 2013, onlyonnetwork facilities
supplied bytheexclusive private operator
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitment(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitments
International voice, dataand
video transmission services
supplied tofirms involved in
information processing located
within freezones(1) None
(2) None
(3) Until Sept. 2013, interconnection withthe
local public switched network not
permitted.
Service tounauthorized parties not
permitted
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitmentsS/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page7Modes 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
Telecommunications equipment1
sales, rental, maintenance,
connection, repair and
consulting services (75410 -
75450)(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal commitments(1) None
(2) None
(3) None
(4) Unbound except asindicated in
thehorizontal commitments
1Bothcustomer premises equipment andnetwork equipment including, butnotlimited to,telephone sets,mobile telephone handsets, facsimile machines, computer terminal
equipment, PBAX.S/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page8
ATTACHMENT: ADDITIONAL COMMITMENTS
REFERENCE PAPER
Scope
Thefollowing aredefinitions andprinciples ontheregulatory framework forthebasic
telecommunications services.
Definitions
Users mean service consumers andservice suppliers.
Essential facilities mean facilities ofapublic telecommunications transport network orservice that
(a) areexclusively orpredominantly provided byasingle orlimited number of
suppliers; and
(b) cannot feasibly beeconomically ortechnically substituted inorder toprovide a
service.
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
Appropriate measures shallbemaintained forthepurpose ofpreventing suppliers who,
alone ortogether, 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 basis technical
information about essential facilities andcommercially relevant information which
arenecessary forthem toprovide services.S/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page9
2. Interconnection
2.1 Thissection applies tolinking withsuppliers providing public telecommunications
transport networks orservices inorder toallow theusers ofonesupplier tocommunicate with
users ofanother supplier andtoaccess services provided byanother supplier, where specific
commitments areundertaken.
2.2 Interconnection tobeensured
Interconnection withamajor supplier willbeensured atanytechnically feasible point in
thenetwork. Such interconnection isprovided.
(a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and
specifications) andratesandofaquality nolessfavourable thanthatprovided for
itsownlikeservices orforlikeservices ofnon-affiliated service suppliers orfor
itssubsidiaries orother affiliates;
(b) inatimely fashion, onterms, conditions (including technical standards and
specifications) andcost-oriented ratesthataretransparent, reasonable, having
regard toeconomic feasibility, andsufficiently unbundled sothatthesupplier need
notpayfornetwork components orfacilities thatitdoesnotrequire fortheservice
tobeprovided; and
(c) upon request, atpoints inaddition tothenetwork termination points offered tothe
majority ofusers, subject tocharges thatreflect thecostofconstruction of
necessary 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 body asreferred toinparagraph 5
below, toresolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions andratesforinterconnection
within areasonable period oftime, totheextent thatthese havenotbeenestablished previously.S/GBT/W/1/Add.45
Page10
3. Universal service
AnyMember hastherighttodefine thekindofuniversal service obligation itwishes to
maintain. Such obligations willnotberegarded asanti-competitive perse,provided theyare
administered inatransparent, non-discriminatory andcompetitively neutral manner andarenot
more burdensome thannecessary forthekindofuniversal service defined bytheMember.
4. Public availability oflicensing criteria
Where alicence isrequired, thefollowing willbemade publicly available:
(a) allthelicensing criteria andtheperiod oftimenormally required toreach a
decision concerning anapplication foralicence and
(b) theterms andconditions ofindividual licences.
Thereasons forthedenial ofalicence willbemade known totheapplicant upon request.
5. Independent regulators
Theregulatory body isseparate from, andnotaccountable to,anysupplier ofbasic
telecommunications services. Thedecisions ofandtheprocedures usedbyregulators shallbe
impartial withrespect toallmarket participants.
6. Allocation anduseofscarce resources
Anyprocedures fortheallocation anduseofscarce resources, including frequencies,
numbers andrights ofway, willbecarried outinanobjective, timely, transparent and
non-discriminatory manner. Thecurrent stateofallocated frequency bands willbemade publicly
available, butdetailed identification offrequencies allocated forspecific government usesisnot
required.