RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/GBT/M/1
11September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3567)
Group onBasic Telecommunications
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OF19JULY 1996
1. TheGroup onBasic Telecommunications helditsfirstmeeting on19July1996. Theagenda
forthemeeting wascontained inWTO/AIR/372 of25June1996.
2. Itwasconfirmed thatthename oftheGroup would be,ascitedinthe30April Decision on
Commitments inBasic Telecommunications oftheCouncil forTrade inServices (S/L/19), theGroup
onBasic Telecommunications.
3. Under thefirstagenda item, oncomposition ofthegroup andrequests forobserver status,
theChairman proposed that,sincetheGroup isnowconstituted byaDecision oftheServices Council,
itsmembership might beopentoallmembers oftheCouncil. Participants agreed tothisproposal.
Assuch, thedistinction made intheNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications between WTO
Member governments participating fullyandthose participating asobservers willnolonger apply.
TheGroup alsoagreed thatnon-Member Governments andinternational organizations which hadbeen
granted observer status intheNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications (NGBT) would also
haveobserverstatusinthenewGroup.Theunderstandingregardingobservers'participation(ascontained
inPC/SCS/1of30June1994)willcontinuetoapply.TheGroupconsideredarequestfromINMARSAT
forobserver status, butdecided nottoaccede toit.
4. Under thesecond agenda item, theexchange ofinformation onrecent developments in
telecommunications policies, therepresentative ofJapan announced thattheJapanese Government had
recently requested astudy tobeconducted ontheestablishment ofnewrulesforinterconnection policy
tobringthemintoconformitywiththeNGBTreferencepaperonregulatoryprinciples.Therepresentative
ofSingapore saidthattheGovernment haddecided tocurtail theduration oftheexisting monopoly
rights onbasic telecommunications, which would nowlastonlyuntiltheyear2000, rather thanthe
year2007. Therepresentative ofNorway reported thatParliament hadnowapproved theGovernment 's
proposal toopen alltelecommunications markets, including infrastructure, tocompetition asof
1January 1998.
5. Withrespecttotheorganizationoffuturework,theChairmansoughtapprovalofadrafttimetable
ofmeetings andactivities oftheGroup foritswork upuntilthe15February 1997 deadline forthe
negotiations.TheproposedtimetablecomprisedmonthlymeetingsinSeptember,OctoberandNovember,
withahigher frequency ofmeetings intheperiod 15January -15February. Periods ofbilateral
negotiation would beassociated witheachmultilateral meeting. Thetimetable alsocontained indicitative
dates forthesubmission ofneworimproved conditional offers. Theproposal wasagreed. Itwas
suggested thattheGroup keepunder consideration theideaofholding ahigh-level meeting, possibly
inNovember 1996.
6. Indiscussion oftheissues needing tobeaddressed bytheGroup inthecoming months, anumber
ofdelegations identified threeissues asbeing outstanding fromthework oftheNGBT andasrequiring
resolution. These were: (i)theneedtoimprove thenumber andquality ofcommitments offered,
soastoachieve acritical mass; (ii)possible distortions intrade resulting from theco-existence of
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open markets andmonopoly markets ininternational telecommunication services; (iii)problems
concerning themanner inwhich satellite services should bedealt withinnegotiations. Delegations
saidtheyexpected theGroup towork onandresolve thesecomplex andpriority issues inatransparent
manner, inorder tocomplete thenegotiations successfully bytheagreed deadline. Onedelegation said
thatthehighest priority wastoachieve acritical mass ofhigh-quality offers, andthatallother issues
wererelated tothis.Thepoint wasalsomade thatthere wasaneedtodiscuss howcountries planto
implementtheobligationstobetakenon.Thehopewasalsoexpressedthat,giventheshorttimeavailable
tocomplete thework, thesetofissues tobeaddressed could bemutually agreed andthatmajor new
issues would notbeadded totheprocess.
7. Under other business, theChairman proposed andtheGroup agreed tothederestriction of
thedraftschedules andm.f.n. listsonbasic telecommunications attached totheFourth Protocol of
theGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices (S/L/19), subject totheunderstanding thatanydelegation
withanobjection toderestriction ofitsdocument should inform theSecretariat ofitsobjection within
areasonable period oftime.