WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/W/27 
S/CSC/W/44 10 February 2005 
 
 
(05-0548) 
Council for Trade in Services  Special Session Committee on Specific Commitments Original:   English 
 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES  
 
Classification in the Telecom Sector under the WTO-GATS Framework
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 9 February 2005, from the delegation of the European Communities, is being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services and the 
Members of the Committee on Specific Commitments.  
 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Summary : 
 
1. This Communication addresses the legal uncertainty created by the existing classification 
used in the telecom sector under th e GATS.  Classification is first and foremost the basis to identify 
all services which Members wish to open to competition (market access) and for which they wish to ensure non-discrimination (national treatment).  But the classification used so far is based on business 
concepts and words that do not clearly match toda y's reality of the telecom sector: it creates legal 
uncertainties on the scope of commitments made so  far, as well as on the scope of commitments under 
negotiation.  This Communication proposes to use th e more comprehensive classification of telecom 
services as found in the Annex on Telecommunication Services to the GATS.  By classifying telecom 
services as the services of "transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means" the legal uncertainty of the existing classification can be avoided.  This Communication does not deal 
with content or regulatory issues. Rather, th is Communication is based on the premise that 
telecommunications services do not cover economic activities or services which require telecommunications services for their transport or delivery and the supply of which is subject to 
specific commitments undertaken in ot her relevant sectors.  This paper is also based on the view that 
the issue of regulations of telecommunications ser vices (in the sense of application of regulatory 
principles such as those included in the reference pa per) is a separate issue and should be addressed, if 
needed, separately in terms of a dditional commitments that Members have made or would wish to 
make.  
2. Finally, all commitments made so far should not be reduced, and the proposal outlined in this 
paper can be easily implemented w ithout affecting those commitments. 
 
I. STATE OF PLAY  
1. Definitions of the GATS relating to the scope of telecom sector 
3. The GATS does not address the sector in its main text, but it defines Telecommunications 
services  in its Annex on Telecommunications as follows: "Telecommunications means the TN/S/W/27 
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 transmission and reception of signals by any el ectromagnetic means."  There are only two other 
definitions in the GATS Annex on Telecommunicati ons which describe parts of the telecom sector.  
They concern "public telecommunications services"
1, and "Intra-corporate communications.2"  These 
definitions are used for specific obligatio ns under the GATS Annex on Telecommunications. 
4. The Decision on negotiations on basic telecommunications services, which forms part of the 
annexes of the Uruguay Round agreemen ts defines "basic telecommunications " as "all 
telecommunications transport networks and services.3"  Thus in effect, basic telecommunications 
services, as defined by this De cision, cover virtually all telecommunications services, even though 
participants in the negotiation may have taken co mmitments on a limited num ber of them.  Such a 
definition does not affect the scope of the telecom sector. 
5. Thus overall, the GATS and its appendices only provide very general definitions for 
telecommunications services. 
2. The Schedules of commitments 
6. WTO Members adopted during the Uruguay Round a classification to provide a 
comprehensive basis covering all services sectors, enclosed in document MTN.GNS/W/120 of 
10 July 1991, and hereafter referred to as W120.  WTO Members intended to base commitments in 
the telecom sector, as for other services sectors,  on W120.  W120 includes the following 14 sub-
sectors (a.-n.) and an "other" category (o): 
a.  Voice telephone services  7521 
b.  Packet-switched data transmission services  7523**
c.  Circuit-switched data transmission services  7523** 
d.  Telex services  7523** 
e.  Telegraph services  7522 
f.  Facsimile services  7521**+7529**
g.  Private leased circuit services  7522**+7523**
h.  Electronic mail  7523** 
i.  Voice mail  7523** 
j.  On-line information and data base retrieval  7523**
k.  Electronic data interchange (EDI) 7523**
l.  Enhanced/value-added facsimile services, incl.
  store and forward, store and retrieve  7523** 
m. Code and protocol conversion  (n.a.)
n.  On-line information and/or data 
  processing (incl.transaction processing) 843**
o.  Other 
                                                      
 1 "Public telecommunications transport service" means any telecommunications transport service 
required, explicitly or in effect, by a Member to be offe red to the public generally. Such services may include, 
inter alia , telegraph, telephone, telex, and data transmission typically involving the real-time transmission of 
customer-supplied information between two or more points without any end-to-end change in the form or content of the customer's information. 
 
2 "Intra-corporate communications" means te lecommunications through which a company 
communicates within the company or with or among its subsidiaries, branches and, subject to a Member's 
domestic laws and regulations, affiliates. For these purpose s, "subsidiaries", "branches" and, where applicable, 
"affiliates" shall be as defined by each Member. "Int ra-corporate communications" in this Annex excludes 
commercial or non-commercial services that are supp lied to companies that are not related subsidiaries, 
branches or affiliates, or that are offe red to customers or potential customers. 
 3 Paragraph 1 of the Decision on negotiations on basi c telecommunications services states: "Negotiations 
shall be entered into on a voluntary basis with a view to the progressive liberalization of trade in 
telecommunications transport networks and services (herei nafter referred to as "basic telecommunications") within 
the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services." TN/S/W/27 
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The (**) indicates that the service specified constitutes only a part of the total range of activities covered by the CPC 
concordance (e.g.  voice mail is only a component of CPC item 7523). 
 
7. Contrary to most other services sectors under W120, there is no unequivocal link between that 
classification and the CPC classification, which lists  telecom services in the following manner (see 
Annex 1 for the detailed definitions): 
752 Telecommunicati ons services 
 
7521 Public telephone services 
75211 Public local te lephone services 
75212 Public long distan ce telephone services 
75213 Mobile telephone services 
7522 Business network services 
75221 Shared network services 75222 Dedicated network services 
7523 Data and message tr ansmission services 
75231 Data network services 75232 Electronic message and information services 
7524 Programme transmission services 
75241 Television broadcast transmission services 75242 Radio broadcast transmission services 
7525 75250 Interconnection services 7526 75260 Integrated teleco mmunications services 
7529 Other telecommunications services 
75291 Paging services 75292 Teleconferencing services 75299 Other telecommunicati ons services n.e.c. 
Telecommunications services, not elsewhere classified.  This class includes mobile maritime and air-to-ground communications services.  
8. Most WTO Members have made commitments by using the W120 structure but there are 
significant disparities (see Annex 2 for more details): only a few who acceded to the WTO after the "basic telecom negotiations" systematically used W120 with its CPC references.  While in many ways 
it corresponds to liberalisation calendars that vary  according to the kinds of services, it is also 
signalling several problems in the classification per se . 
 
II. PROBLEMS WITH THIS CLASSIFICA TION: INCONSISTENCIES, BUSINESS 
IRRELEVANCE AND UNCERTAINTY 
1. The W120 classification is confused and part of it is not up-to-date 
9. It is probably fair to say that the classificati on in W120 for telecom was heavily influenced by 
the state of market liberalisation in many Members at the time, whereby public voice services (and often the circuit-switched data transmission services  carried out over the same networks) were not 
liberalised, but other services were provided by a lternative operators in a variety of competitive 
situations. This leads to some remarkable outcomes, e.g.: 
- It is not technologically neutral
 (e.g.  it differentiates between two ways of 
transmitting data: packet-switched a nd circuit-switched transmission); 
- Some of those services hardly fit in today's business models : "code and 
protocol conversion" is not a service provided on its own from one company to 
another and is usually part of another service mentioned in W120 (e.g.  data TN/S/W/27 
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transmission); "enhanced/value-added facsimile services" are not relevant any more; telex and telegraph are also  not very much used any more. 
- Some categories potentially overlap
: it is for example difficult to explain why 
there are two separate lines for "On-line information and data base retrieval" 
and "electronic da ta interchange". 
- The link with the CPC creates some confusion : first of all, many categories are 
linked to a CPC category with double asteri sks to state that this covers only 
part of that category, but the ever unan swered question is which part? Also, the 
CPC lists interconnection services sepa rately (CPC7525) from public voice or 
data services.  Thus, do categories "a, b and c" cover activities of 
interconnection of a wholes ale operator for voice, and data transmission? It 
would not make technical and economical sense to leave them out, but one 
must admit that the link with CPC creates confusion. 
- the CPC itself is not up-to-date : for instance, it classifies mobile services in 
CPC75213 but covers there only voice and facs imile.  In line with the state of 
telecom art at the beginning of the nineties, the CPC does not explicitly envisage mobile data services: it could have introduced a m obile data category 
under CPC7523, but it does not.  That be ing said, some may al so argue that the 
definitions under CPC7523 do not preclude th e use of mobile networks as they 
do not refer explicitly to a fixed access.   Can one then argue that categories b 
and c covering data transmission serv ices under W120 cover mobile data 
transmission?  The equivocal link with  the CPC does not clarify this, even 
though the practice of WTO Members may shed some light.  In fact, a few 
Members have mentioned mobile data services in their schedules (New 
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Se negal, Trinidad & Tobago, United 
States) and sometimes referred to "CPC7523**"(e.g.  New Zealand), always 
within category o.  At the same time , some Members (e.g.  Norway, Turkey) 
have classified "mobile services" under category o, without any CPC number, 
which could arguably cover m obile data services, at least more than in the case 
of schedules which explic itly talk about "mobile telephone  services".  Some 
Members (e.g.  Sri Lanka) have also committed "data communications 
services" without any W120 or CPC refe rence, which arguably covers mobile 
data services. 
- Finally, W120 introduces overlaps with th e computer related services sector: 
n. on-line information and/or data refers  to CPC843, which covers data base 
processing. 
 
10. Thus, W120 leads to much confusion and is antiqua ted in a number of respects.  But that is 
not all. 
2. Some services are not covered with certainty 
11. First, by referring to only some CPC numb ers (7521, 7522 partly and 7523), W120 may have 
left out some services that the CPC classification allo cated in other categories.  For instance, air-to-
ground and maritime mobile services (e.g.  satellite -based mobile services) are explicitly excluded 
from 7521 and included in 7529, which is not mentione d in W120, and accordingly in schedules.  And 
in effect, many Members have listed satellite service s in their schedules in the o-other category, but 
very few mention air-to-ground and maritime mobile  services: that is the case for Dominica, Kenya TN/S/W/27 
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(which covers them "only for GMPCS MOU"), Maur itius, Poland, and Trinidad & Tobago, but most 
Members mentioning satellite services identify onl y satellite-based fixed services such as VSAT 
services in the o category (e.g.  Bangladesh, Romania, Thailand) or "earth stations" (e.g.  Bangladesh, 
Malaysia).  Some mention more broadly fixed sat ellite services (e.g.  Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, 
Jamaica, Senegal) or more simply satellite services (e .g.  Bulgaria, Côte d'Ivoire, Israel, South Africa) 
and in that case it may be argued that the notion of fixed refers to the satellite not the service.  But 
overall, the question remains: are satellite-based  mobile services forgotten in many schedules? 
12. Also, CPC7529 includes teleconference services, and teleconference services are mentioned 
explicitly only in a few schedules (e.g.  Bangl adesh, Ghana, Indonesia,  Jamaica, Thailand, 
Venezuela).  But then does that mean that for example most count ries which made full market access 
commitments for voice services intended not to cover teleconference services?  
13. In addition, CPC7526 includes "integrated telecommunications services", meaning "to 
simultaneously or alternatively transmit voice, da ta and/or image".  Does that mean that such 
integrated services are not covered by W120?  One possibility is to regard these services as a 
combination of a, b and c for both voice and data ser vices.  It may however give rise to arguments as 
to whether "image" is covered by these categori es of W120, when "images" is mentioned in the 
overall CPC752 category for the Telecom sector e xplicitly only in CPC7526, and implicitly in 
CPC75292 which talks about video conference services4.  Indeed, while voice and data are 
systematically mentioned in a way or another by the classification and by the schedules, only very few 
schedules mention explicitly the transmission of "i mages": some do it at the head of the telecom 
section along with CPC7526 (the EC and some ot her European Members) or simply mention 
CPC7526 in category o (e.g.  Antigua & Barbuda).  But nowadays images occupy a more and more 
significant part of what is transmitted by teleco m operators (e.g.  photos over mobile networks, 
advertisement or documents over fixed internet access, etc).  Does that mean that all other schedules 
do not cover the transmission of images?  Or do most WTO Members consider that images are just 
packets of bits in the same way as data, and therefor e do they consider that the notion of "data" also 
cover "images" for these purposes?  Similar questions  could be raised about the notion of "sound": the 
existing classification mentions voice but not sound,  some schedules mention sound and the reality of 
business is that users download ring tones and many other forms of sounds.  And here again similar 
arguments could be made (notably about existing coverage under the concept of data).  This is 
important for businesses both now (see examples above) and for the future, as services which transmit 
some images or sound are claimed to have great  potential in the future, over broadband networks. 
 
III. A POSSIBLE WAY FORWARD 
1. A proposed solution 
14. The W120 is based on business concepts and words that do not clearly match today's reality 
of the telecom sector.  The uncertainty arising th ere from is compounded by the fact that the existing 
classification introduces distinctions on the basis of the format or kind of what is transmitted (voice, 
data, image etc).  Thus one needs to come back to what the activity of telecom operators today 
genuinely covers.  There are of course a variety of  business models and technologies used.  Examples 
given above show that companies invent ever mo re ways to provide services and develop business 
models that were not envisaged in previous negotia tions, with more to come: e.g.  combination of 
mobile and fixed access, including rerouting of calls and conversion of voice into data messages.  It 
means that WTO schedules on market access and nationa l treatment will not be able to cope with 
evolution if the scope of coverage of the sector is  not defined clearly.  Thus, how best can the sector 
be characterised for these purposes?  
                                                      
4 Please note that the word image includes here both still and moving images. TN/S/W/27 
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 15. This Communication addresses the transmission of some content (irrespective of whether the 
format of the content is voice, data, image or any ot her, i.e. content-neutral by electromagnetic means. 
Indeed, there is a growing consensus among legislator s and regulators to consider telecommunications 
services in their simplest definition, which is th e one in the GATS Annex on Telecommunications: 
"Telecommunications means the transmission and recep tion of signals by any electromagnetic means."  
Many national laws are based on this comprehensiv e definition of telecommunications services, and 
they apply the principles of competition and non-disc rimination for all the serv ices covered by that 
definition, except occasionally for certain services (u sually public voice or faci lities-based public voice 
services) which are subject to a transition to competition.  
16. Thus, it would seem possible for WTO Member s to make market access and national 
treatment commitments on the whole sector of telecommunications services by simply referring to it as "any service consisting of the transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means".  Such a definition based on the functions performed
 would cover unmistakably all telecom services.  By 
putting such a definition in the first column of the sc hedule to identify the scope of services that are 
considered to fall within the sector in a functi onal manner, WTO Members wo uld create greater legal 
certainty, and fall in line with the international consensus that regulators should not discriminate 
between different technologies in providing services, between differen t content being transmitted or 
between different business models. 
2. Link with other services 
17. Such an approach would impact neutrally u pon different business models, ways of providing 
services, and technology.  That being said, trad itional telecom operators (in the sense of telecom 
operators at the time W120 was conceived) have ente red into many business fields (acting as financial 
intermediaries, information providers, database mana gers etc.) that are no longer only transmission 
and reception activities.  Notwithstanding this di versification of operators, the notion of 
telecommunications services does not cover services which require telecommunications services for 
their transport, in particular any economic activity consisting of the provision of content.  There are 
indeed many services which are provided over telecommunications services: financial services (e-banking such as the provision of information on account s or the issuance of transfer orders, securities 
brokerage, etc.), information services (providing news, location-based information, etc.), entertainment (video-on-demand services, games, etc. ) etc.  Those services can be equally provided 
by the service suppliers which provide the tran smission service or by other service suppliers. A 
proposed specific wording in the schedule is give n as an example in Annex 3 to underline that 
telecommunications services do not cover services which require telecommunications services for their transport and the supply of which is subject to specific commitments undertaken in other relevant sectors.  
18. Computer-related services constitute one of th e sectors for which the question of distinction 
from telecom services is the most acute.  The solu tion proposed in this paper clarifies the link with 
computer services (data hos ting, data processing).  
19. First, the proposed classification does not change  the fact that computer related services such 
as data hosting (including internet web hosting
5 today) remain in the sector of computer related 
                                                      
5 Web-hosting is understood here as the offer of storage capacity on a server by one company A to 
another company  B who would wish for instance to make information available about its activities (typical 
website of a company). That does not include the separate activity of accessi ng that informati on by individuals 
who probably use the services of another company C (Internet service provider) to access the Internet. TN/S/W/27 
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services (CPC844), independently of the fact that they may have been provided by "telecom operators.
6" 
20. Second, the classification avoids confusion about data processing: the W120 classification 
raises a problem of overlap between the telecom and computer-related services sectors, by including 
"2.C.n - online information and/or data pro cessing (CPC843**)" in the telecom sector.  This sub-
sector is part of CPC84 and therefore covered by computer services, but is not covered by the 
definition of telecommunications services of the GATS Annex on Telecommunications.  Using this latter definition for commitments in the telecomm unications sector would therefore avoid making 
commitments for the same activity in two different  parts of the schedule, as can be the case when 
using the W120 classification.  Those WTO Members that may have made commitments for 2.C.n 
and would choose to adopt the definition of tel ecommunications services of the GATS Annex on 
Telecommunications, would usually ha ve no concrete changes to implement (due to the fact that 
commitments on computer related services are usually more liberal and include CPC843). In a few rare cases when they have not already made comm itments on CPC843, they would simply have to 
transfer their commitments applying to 2.C.n to the CPC84-computer services section.    
21. Third, the proposed new classification would clarif y the scope of sub-sectors 2.C.h to 2.C.m.  
Services like voice mail and e-mail, and enhanced/value-added facsimile services, incl. store and forward, store and retrieve, fall under the proposed definition of telecommunications services, because 
the mere fact that in these services messages are stored  for retrieval by the recipient does not alter the 
primary purpose of these services, which is the tran smission and reception of information.  On the 
other hand, with the developmen t of technology and services, many services have evolved which 
involve transmission but which provide storage and processing as additional services of primary interest for the user.  Such additional activities are not part of the service of transmission and 
reception of information; they require transmission se rvices in order to be provided but they consist of 
computer related services per se  (e.g., data hosting, data processi ng) providing a different service and 
a different functionality to the user.  These activiti es cannot be covered by sub-sectors 2.C.h to 2.C.m 
since the terms of sub-sectors 2.C.h to 2.C.m rema in within the ambit of services providing mainly a 
transmission and reception of information, as character ised by the definition of telecommunications in 
the WTO and the CPC codes referenced by these sub-sectors.  These activities are captured in the 
WTO classification (W120) by the computer-related services sector (1.B, CPC84).  Without changing 
this fact of the existing WTO classification, the proposed new classification would make it clearer that 
WTO commitments for enhanced services provided by  operators today require commitments within 
the telecom sector for the services that ensure the transmission and reception, as well as commitments 
for the data processing and other additional services in  the computer-related sector.  For example, a 
simple e-mail service (wit h an inbox and an outbox, such as the standard Yahoo! Service available 
throughout the world) is a telecom service (tra nsmission and reception of messages, with limited 
storage for retrieval by the recipient as explained ab ove), but when it is combined with an archiving 
system or some other system for processing of messages under user control,  then both a telecom 
service and a computer-related service are provided. 
22. In a nutshell, the relation with other services in the WTO should be clearly governed by the 
principle that services that provide transmission and reception of signals by electromagnetic means 
are covered by the telecom sector, and the rest, including any additional function that is not 
                                                     
 
 6 That is true for services provided by "telecom operators" whether they involve content provided by 
business partners or individual end-users. For instance, "blogs" are online comments posted by individuals about 
events, personal life, etc. Individuals can add photos, videos, and other kinds of documents.  "Blogs" also 
usually include space for comments by ot her individuals and statistics about vi sitors etc. "Blogs" services thus 
involve essentially computer-r elated services: these are services of hosting of those messages, documents and 
comments (a database service classified in CPC844), and services consisting of computing the number of 
visitors of a blog (this is a data processing service CPC843). TN/S/W/27 
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 intrinsically linked to the transmission and reception,  should find its place elsewhere, whether or not it 
is the same entity providing both services
7.  For example, an ISP may offer at the same time Internet 
access (a telecom service), an extensive number of information services (weather, news, sports etc., which are content services), as well as some databa se services (by hosting the data for the information 
services), which are computer-related services. 
3. Flexibility 
23. Such an approach still leaves enough flex ibility for WTO Members to accommodate 
particular situations.  
24. First and foremost, such an approach does not  require any change in internal regulatory 
frameworks.  National laws usually define telecommunications as per the GATS Annex on 
Telecommunications and apply the principles of comp etition and non-discrimination for all the services 
covered by that definition, except sometimes as re gards competition for certain services (usually public 
voice or facilities-based public voice services) which are subject to a transition to competition.  Such a 
classification does not prevent those who wish to ma intain an exclusive right for some services to 
continue to indicate explicitly the scope of these ex clusive rights in the mark et access column of their 
schedule.  
25. Also, those Members not wishing to commit certain services could list in the first column of 
the schedule (definition) those services that they do  not wish to commit.  For instance, those who 
would like to exclude broadcasting transmission services (services consisting of the transmission of broadcast TV programmes to the public) may simply add the words in the first column "Services of 
broadcasting transmission of TV programmes to th e public are not included".  In addition to the 
exclusion of certain specific services, Members may wish to exclude certain types of services, e.g.  
they could state in the first column: "local servi ces are not included" or "facilities-based services are 
excluded".  There can also be exclusion of certain  specific networks or technologies, e.g.  Members 
could state in the first column: "cable TV networks  are excluded" or "fixed wireless local loops are 
not included".  There is no limit a priori  to the type of exclusion that Members may wish to make.  It 
is for Members to propose them and ne gotiate them as under any classification. 
26. And finally, such a scheduling approach woul d not require any modification of internal 
regulatory categories such as those categories used for licensing systems. If a Member has different 
categories of licences it can continue to implement them or even modify them freely, so long as it 
maintains competition and does not discriminate betw een operators as per its commitments on market 
access and national treatment. 
4. What about existing texts on scheduling in the telecom sector? 
27. Schedules of commitments in the telecom sector  have been made according to the two notes 
of the "basic telecom negotiations": these are th e "Note for Scheduling Basic Telecom Services 
Commitments" (S/GBT/W/2/Rev.1) and "Market Access Limitations on Spectrum Availability" 
(S/GBT/W/3).  Commitments made under the Fourth Protocol to the GATS have to be read in the 
light of those notes, which have been included in the report of the negotiations.  Members who 
acceded to the WTO afterwards also explicitly b ase their schedules on the principles of these notes.  
These notes are important and are included in the Scheduling Guidelines (S/L/92).  
                                                     
 
 7 That means in particular that  existing commitments may very well not cover sufficiently existing 
services  provided by what people consider as "telecom op erators" if there are commitm ents only in the telecom 
sector and other relevant sectors. TN/S/W/27 
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28. The first one basically states that any service committed can be supplied for local, long-
distance and international transmission, on a public or non-public basis, on a facilities-basis or on a 
resale-basis, and with any technology (copper, cable, fibre optic, wireless, satellite, etc.), whether the 
user is mobile or not.  This means in particular  that existing commitments cover new and previously 
unexpected technologies now waiting for commercia l launch (powerline transmission).  The 
definition proposed in this paper implicitly en compasses all technologies and all forms and ranges of 
transmission services supplies.  However, it would do no ha rm to restate this principle.  In addition, an 
explicit statement of this principle may become relevant where some exceptions are introduced by 
Members, to confirm that services committed can be supplied for local, long-distance and 
international transmission, on a public or non-public  basis, on a facilities-basis or on a resale-basis, 
and with any technology (copper, cable, fibre optic, wire less, satellite etc.), whether the user is mobile 
or not. 
29. The second note states that limitations on spectru m available for telecom services can restrict 
the number of operators without being considered a market access restriction.  This issue cannot be 
addressed by a definition or classification of the telecom sector, but still needs to be addressed. 
30. These notes do not solve the problems of coverage of the existing classification, as they apply 
to sectors committed , thus they do not ensure coverage of what is not within the sector committed due 
to deficiencies in the classification.  That being said, it would be useful at the end of these negotiations to confirm their continued applicati on to new commitments, whatever the classification 
used. 
5. Link with regulatory issues  
31. A number of WTO Members have committed to the Reference Paper as additional 
commitments.  While some apply it to the whole te lecom sector, many apply it only to the services 
they have committed in the Fourth Protocol to the GATS.  The issue for those latter Members of 
whether to apply the Reference Paper to the whol e telecom sector or not, as suggested in some 
proposals for negotiation (e.g.  S/CSS/W/119), should be considered separately from the issue of the 
scope of the sector for the scheduling of market access and national treatment commitments, which is 
the focus of this note.  If Members agree on a revi sed classification, it can be used for scheduling 
market access and national treatment commitment s, ensuring liberalisation and removal of 
discriminations for all telecom services.  As regards additional commitments, the schedules can 
maintain the same level of commitments so far by  simply stating, in the column of additional 
commitments, that the Reference Paper applies to  the list of services committed when they were 
committed, and list those services ther e, as in the initial schedule.  
6. Implementation 
32. Those who would wish to use the approach pr oposed above will find in Annex 3 an example 
of a schedule that is modified to  follow the classification proposed. 
33. Of course, all WTO Members are free to continue to use the existing W120 to schedule 
commitments.  Applying the solution proposed in this paper can be done only on a voluntary basis.  In any event, Members should ensure that they k eep at least the same level of commitments.  TN/S/W/27 
S/CSC/W/44 Page 10 
 
 
ANNEX 1 
CPC CLASSIFICATION OF TELECOM SERVICES 
 
752 Telecommunications services 
 
7521 Public telephone services  75211 Public local telephone services
 
Switching and transmission services necessary to est ablish and maintain communications within a 
local calling area.  This service is primarily designed (used) to establish voice communications, but 
may serve other applications such as text commun ication (facsimile or teletex) and is generally 
provided for a flat monthly fee independently of  the number of calls made by the subscriber. 
Exclusions :  Private line services and rental services of te rminal equipment are classified in class 7522 
(Business network services) and 7541 (Equipment rental services), respectively. 
 
75212 Public long distance telephone services  
Switching and transmission services necessary to establish and maintain communications between 
local calling areas.  This service is primarily d esigned (used) to establish voice communications, but 
may serve other applications such as text communi cation (facsimile or telete x) and may be provided 
on a toll or flat rate basis.  This service provi des the customer with acce ss to the supplier's and 
connecting carrier's entire telephone network or, in some instances, to a limited number of exchange 
areas (WATS service).  75213 Mobile telephone services
 
Radio telephone services which, by means of tran sportable equipment, give both-way access to the 
public telephone network or other mobile telephones.  Some versions of this service, with proper 
terminal equipment, may be used to tr ansmit facsimiles as well as voice communications. 
Exclusion :  Air-to-ground and maritime mobile communications services are classified in subclass 
75299 (Other telecommunications services n.e.c.).  7522 Business network services 
 
75221 Shared network services
 
Network services necessary to establish telephone co mmunications between selected (point-to-point 
or multi-point) locations (terminals) via a public (share d) network.  This type of service is primarily 
used to establish long distance voice communications but some versions can also accommodate 
facsimile and data transmission.  It is provided on a pay-as-you-use basis at discount rates over 
regular long distance telephone charges.  75222 Dedicated network services
 
Network services necessary to establish telephone co mmunications between selected (point-to-point 
or multi-point) locations (terminals) via private line(s) .  This type of service is primarily used to 
establish voice communications between distant PBX' s (tie line), between a distant location and a 
PBX (off premises extension), between a PBX and a distant exchange area (foreign exchange) or 
between designated telephone sets, but may also acco mmodate data transmission .  It is provided on a 
lease basis.  
7523 Data and message transmission services 
 75231 Data network services
 
Network services necessary to transmit data between e quipment using the same or different protocols.  
This service can be provided via a public or dedicat ed data network (i.e. via a network dedicated to 
the customer's use). TN/S/W/27 
S/CSC/W/44 
Page 11 
 
 
 75232 Electronic message and information services
 
Network and related services (hardware and soft ware) necessary to send and receive electronic 
messages (telegraph and telex/TWX services) and/or to access and manipulate information in 
databases (so-called value-added network services). 
 7524 Programme transmission services  75241 Television broadcast transmission services
 
Network services necessary for the transmission of te levision signals, independently of the type of 
technology (network) employed.  This subclass doe s not include satellite-to-cable services where the 
provider sells T.V. signals via satellite to cable  companies (as opposed to selling use of satellite 
facilities) nor does it include DTH (direct-to-ho me) satellite services where the provider sells 
television programme packages directly to households located in remote areas. 
 
75242 Radio broadcast transmission services  
Network services necessary for the transmission of a udio signals such as radio broadcasting, wired 
music and loudspeaker service.  7525 75250 Interconnection services
 
Network services by one carrier to another when a communication originating in a carrier's territory 
must travel through another carrier's network to reach its destination.  7526 75260 Integrated telecommunications services
 
Private point-to-point or multipoint network servi ces which enable the users to simultaneously or 
alternatively transmit voice, data and/or image.  This type of service offers high bandwidth capacity 
and flexible, customer controlled network reconfi guration to accommodate cha nging traffic patterns. 
 7529 Other telecommunications services  75291 Paging services
 
The summoning of a person to the telephone through the use of an electronic pager.  This subclass 
includes tone, voice and digital display paging services.  75292 Teleconferencing services
 
Network and related services necessary to hold a one-way or two-way fully interactive video 
conference. 
 75299 Other telecommunications services n.e.c
. 
Telecommunications services, not elsewhere classifi ed.  This class includes mobile maritime and 
air-to-ground communications services. TN/S/W/27 
S/CSC/W/44 Page 12 
 
 
ANNEX
 2 
CLASSIFICATION OF THE TELECOM SECTOR IN  
SCHEDULES OF COMMITMENTS SO FAR 
 
The few facts hereafter show the disparities in the use of W120 a nd CPC and some inconsistencies 
created by the use of W120 and CPC in existing GATS schedules covering the telecom sector:  
- Only a few who acceded to the WTO after the "basic telecom negotiations" 
have systematically used W120 with its CPC references, all others do not. 
- Most Members which made commitments for categories h to n (usually in the 
Uruguay Round) used the expressions of those categories but not CPC numbers and, in many cases, not even the letters h, i, etc. 
- Many Members (e.g.  Bangladesh, Belize, Chile, Czech Republic, Dominica, 
Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala etc.) quot e CPC numbers for categories a to g 
(usually committed after the Uruguay R ound) but many others do not (e.g.  
Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, Côte  d'Ivoire, Croatia, El Salvador, EC, 
Hong Kong, China, Hungary, etc.).  Among those who do not use CPC numbers, a few (e.g.  Australia, EC) list at the top of the telecom section a list of CPC numbers to define thei r overall scope of commitments. 
- Some Members use the same letters a,  b, c, etc. of W120 but the sub-
categories do not correspond to those of W120 (e.g.  Pakistan which follows W120 only for a, b, and c). 
- Some Members use their own expressions for some categories (e.g.  Thailand 
for "database access services" to cover category j). 
- Some Members have not used W120 at  all: Gambia based its commitments 
on the CPC, Argentina used the CPC partly and an own list of services (mainly mobile, trunking and leased circuit services); also some Members use their own expressions for the whole list of services they commit (e.g.  Brunei Darussalam, Colombia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Uganda). 
- The "o. other" category has usually been  used to list services that were 
already liberalised contrary to the fixed network services, or services which 
had a calendar of liberalisation differe nt from that of the fixed network 
services: mobile services, satellite services, etc.  On the other hand, Members who had already liberalised all services did not mention specifically those services under category o. 
- Many Members have made specific references to some technologies and 
allocated them in very varied ways to the W120 categories (as they followed 
the structure of W120).  For instance, Morocco and Tunisia registered "Frame 
relay" under a separate "o.-other" category.  The most frequent case concerns Internet-based services: a number of Members mention specifically this technology, sometimes using detailed expressions (such as "internet and 
internet access services" for Antigua  & Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, 
Ghana, Grenada, Kenya, Suriname, or "Data services TCPIP (internet) for Uganda) or more simply "internet services" (Belize, Oman).  Most put it in the "o.-other" subcategory (Antig ua & Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, 
Ghana, Grenada, Kenya, Suriname, Uganda) others in "g. Private leased TN/S/W/27 
S/CSC/W/44 
Page 13 
 
 
circuit services" (Oman), or in "b. Packet switched data" (Pakistan) or look at it from a pure technological point of view  (e.g.  Uganda, which mentions "a. 
basic voice services, including over value-added networks such as internet"); finally, some Members use CPC references for "internet services" 
(CPC75260 for Antigua & Barbuda).  
- For mobile: a number of countries (Gua temala, Croatia, Georgia, Estonia, 
etc.) have committed voice services (C PC7521), and again separately mobile 
services under the category "o. other" w ith a specific reference to CPC75213, 
which normally is already covered under CPC7521.  
- Some Members (e.g.  Latvia, Pakist an, Antigua & Barbuda) mention Trunk 
radio systems, without any CPC number.  
  TN/S/W/27 
S/CSC/W/44 
Page 14 ANNEX 3 
EXAMPLE OF A SCHEDULE UND ER THE NEW APPROACH 
 
A typical schedule consolidating commitments made in 1994 (Uruguay Round) and 1997 (Fourth Protocol to the GATS) on the basis o f W120 looks like: 
 
Sector Market Access National Treatment Additional commitments 
2.C Telecommunications  
 
a) Voice telephone services (CPC7521) 
b) Packet-switched data transmission 
services (CPC7523**) 
c) Circuit-switched data transmission 
services (CPC7523**) 
d) Telex services (CPC7523**) e) Telegraph services (CPC7522) 
f) Facsimile services  
 (CPC7521**+7529**) g) Private leased circuit services  
 (CPC7522**+7523**) 
o) other   
 1) Monopoly for long-distance and international voice services until 1 January 2005. 2) None 3) Monopoly for long-distance and international voice services until 1 January 2005. 4) Unbound, except as indicated in horizontal commitments   
 1) None   2) None 3) None   4) Unbound, except as indicated in horizontal commitments  
 Member X undertakes the obligations contained in the reference paper attached hereto 
h) Electronic mail (CPC7523**) 
i) Voice mail (CPC7523**) 
j) On-line information and database 
retrieval (CPC7523**) 
k) Electronic data interchange (EDI) 
(CPC7523**) 
l) Enhanced/value-added facsimile 
services, including store and forward, 
store and retrieve (CPC7523**) 
m) Code and protocol conversion 
n) On-line information and/or data 
processing (incl. Transaction 
processing) (CPC843**) 
 1) None 
2) None 3) None 4) Unbound, except as indicated in horizontal commitments  1) None 
2) None 3) None 4) Unbound, except as indicated in horizontal commitments  
 
  TN/S/W/27
S/CSC/W/44
Page 15When using the new approach of scheduling commitments, this schedule would become  (without changing the scope of services subje ct to additional 
commitments): 
 
Sector Market Access National Treatment Additional commitments 
2.C Telecommunications  
 
All services consisting of the transmission and 
reception of signals by any electromagnetic means. (*) 
 
 Services of broadcasting transmission of TV 
and radio programmes to the public are not 
included.  
Telecommunications services do not cover the 
economic activity consisting of the provision of content services which require 
telecommunications services for their 
transport.   
 1) Monopoly for long-distance and international voice services until 1 January 2005. 2) None 3) Monopoly for long-distance and international voice services until 1 January 2005. 4) Unbound, except as indicated in horizontal commitments  
 1) None   2) None 3) None   4) Unbound, except as indicated in horizontal commitments Member X undertakes the obligations 
contained in the reference paper attached hereto for the following services: 
a) Voice telephone services CPC7521) 
b) Packet-switched data transmission  services (CPC7523**) 
c) Circuit-switched data transmission 
 services (CPC7523**) d) Telex services (CPC7523**) 
e) Telegraph services (CPC7522) 
f) Facsimile services  (CPC7521**+7529**) 
g) Private leased circuit services  
 (CPC7522**+7523**) o) other 
 
 
[Optional footnote: * This includes notably, but not only, W120-2C - h) Electronic mail (CPC7523**), i) Voice mail (CPC7523**), j) On-line informat ion and database 
retrieval(CPC7523**), k) Electroni c data interchange (EDI) (CPC7523**), l) Enhanc ed/value-added facsimile services, including s tore and forward, store and 
retrieve(CPC7523**) and m) Code and protocol conversion.   
These commitments cover services like voic e mail and e-mail, and enhanced/value-added facsimile services, in cl. store and forwa rd, store and retrieve.] 
 
This ensures a legally certain and comprehe nsive coverage of all telecom services.  
 
In the case of most Members which acceded to  the WTO after 1997, additional commitments apply to all services, thus there is no  need to list any service in the 
fourth column.  
__________