WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/W/110/Add.6
21 June 1999
(99-2494)
Council for Trade in Services
Special Session on Telecommunications ServicesOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
AND ITS MEMBER STATES
European Commission Actions to As sist Third Countries in Adapting
to the Changes in the Telecommunications Environment
Addendum
1. This note aims to give an overview of the European Commission contribution in the field of
assistance to third countries for  telecommunication regulatory changes and modernisation . The
note presents past and ongoing activities in this area, but does not include investment projects nor the
actions conducted by EC Member States.
2. From 1992 to 1999 the Commission spent or will be spend around 61 Mn. €1  in grants for the
restructuring of telecommunications according to the following geographical coverage.
A. LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES
3. A programme including important regulatory assistance aspects was undertaken for Central
American countries for the period 1992-97, with a total budget of 17 Mn. €.  This regional program
for technical assistance and telecommunications development included two lines of action: technical
assistance to the Technical Commission of Telecommunications in Central America (COMTELCA)
and the national operators in the fields of regulation, standardisation and approval of equipment and
training of human resources. The second action aimed at the development of rural telephony and thereinforcement of the transmission potential within various countries of the region (Panama, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala).
4. There is an other project covering all Latin American countries to support dialogue and
diffusion of the Information Society as well as cooperation in the field of standards ( 0,6 Mn. €
committed in 1999).
B. M
EDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES AND MIDDLE EAST
5. The projects of technical co-operation and assistance for these regions are carried out within
the framework of the MEDA programme (covering Al geria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority). A project “New approaches to
telecommunications policy” for a total of 2,4 Mn. €  is to be launched in the second half of 1999. The
following actions will be supported notably by the organisation of training courses, seminars and
forums: reform of the telecommunications sector, legislative techniques, participation in the WTO
agreements, privatisation measures, analysis of telecommunications market, etc.
                                                     
1 Euro is approximately equal to US$ 1,03 on 8 June 1999.S/C/W/110/Add.6
Page 2
6. There is also an important number of ongoing projects between the EC and MEDA countries
for regulatory assistance on a bilateral basis. In particular a line of action has been established with
Morocco for a total amount of 4,5 Mn. €  concerning projects of co-operation with the National
Telecommunications Regulatory Agency of Morocco (ANRT). The projects aims to study the
following issues: legislation relevant to the ANRT,  strategy and action plan of the ANRT, financial
management of the ANRT, organisation of financial resources of the ANRT in relation to the sales of
frequencies and technical assistance to ANRT.
7. The second line of action concerns the cooperation with Syria. In particular this involves
assistance to the Syrian Government by supporting the national Syrian Telecom Establishment (STE)
to improve and modernise the telecommunications sector. The specific objectives for this action
include: developing human resources by providing high quality training to groups of STE personnel,
improving administrative and technical procedures of STE, developing planning procedures on thetechnical side, building up operation and maintenance procedures for the local cable network,
introducing modern financial management concepts to improve the monitoring and control of
operations. The total amount of the action is approximately 10 Mn. € .  The agreement of the Syrian
authorities is pending.
C. C
ENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
8. The Central and Eastern Europe countries benefit from technical regulatory assistance in the
telecommunications sector in the framework of the PHARE programme. There are ongoing regional
projects amounting to 2,7 Mn. €  for the following countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic,
Estonia, FYROM, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Po land, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia. The major area
of interest are: tariffs, quality of service, spectrum management, accounting practices and costallocation, training of staff, liberalisation and standardisation.
9. Furthermore the following bilateral projects have been undertaken since 1992:
• 8 projects with Bulgaria for a total amount of 2,6 Mn. €  in the field of technical assistance,
training, restructuring and spectrum management. Most of these projects were concluded in 1998;
• 7 ongoing projects with the Czech Republic and Slovakia for a total amount of 0,1 Mn. € for
technical assistance in implementing legislation in the telecommunications sector;
• 2 ongoing projects with Latvia for a total amount of 0,6 Mn. €  in the field of procurement
assistance and training;
• 6 projects with Poland for a total amount of 3 Mn. € for training in the telecommunications
sector, in particular for rural telecommunications. Most of these projects were concluded in 1998;
• 10 projects with Romania for a total amount of 3 Mn. € for technical assistance for the
introduction of GSM services, quality management in telecommunications and training. Four of
these projects are ongoing;
• 3 ongoing projects with Slovenia for a total amount of 0,5 Mn. € for technical assistance for the
introduction of GSM services and training.
D. C
OMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
10. A number of CIS countries are benefiting from technical regulatory assistance in the
telecommunications sector in the framework of the TACIS programme. There are currently 2 ongoing
regional projects totalling 2,5 Mn. € for CIS countries and Mongolia.S/C/W/110/Add.6
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11. In addition, the following projects have been conducted on a bilateral basis:
• 6 projects with Russia for a total amount of 6,8 Mn. €  dealing with technical assistance on
management and maintenance for telephone netw ork operators, technical assistance for mobile
communications networks operators in rural areas, technical assistance to the regional
telecommunications training centres and support to radio spectrum frequency management. Most
of these projects were concluded in 1998;
• 1 project with Georgia for 1 Mn. €  dealing with telecommunications development strategy is
ongoing;
• 1 project with Kazakstan for 1,8 Mn. €  dealing with technical assistance for frequency
management is ongoing;
• 1 project with Uzbekistan for 1 Mn. €  dealing with further assistance to the telecommunications
sector is waiting for statement of endorsement.
E. AFRICA
12. The European Development Fund committed 82 Mn. € for Africa in the period 1995-1998 for
projects related to telecommunications infrastructures. Supporting the establishment of a regulatory
framework in Africa is an ongoing activity with priority given in particular to the least developed
countries. At this stage, one study to explore a regulatory model that countries with low telephone
penetration and low GDP in Africa is in preparation.
F. OTHER COUNTRIES
13. There is a number of ongoing programmes between the EC and other countries for regulatory
assistance. Such as:
• 3 ongoing projects with China for a total amount of 0,7 Mn. € in the field of testing and
certification and for the creation of an education and standardisation centre;
• 1 project concluded in 1995 with India for an amount of 0,6 Mn. € in the field of training.
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