WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
S/C/W/337 
13 July 2011  
 
(11-3508) 
Council for Trade in Services   
  
 
INTERNATIONAL MOBILE ROAMING:  
POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR GATS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 
1. This Note has been prepared upon request  of the Council for Trade in Services on 
2 May 2011.  The purpose of the Note is to provide  information on international mobile roaming, to 
serve as background for dedicated discussions in the Council.  It focuses on recent trends and issues 
which may have GATS implications and may be usef ul to Members to address in their discussions.  
References to certain provisions of the GATS, as possi bly relevant to the issues raised, should not be 
considered in any way as an authoritative interpre tation of these provisions by the Secretariat.  The 
Note also refers briefly to studies and work done by other international organizations and experts on 
the subject.  It does not attempt to replicate or summarize such work.2  Copies of the Annex on 
Telecommunication and the Reference Paper on telecommunications regulatory principles are 
attached to this document for ease of reference. 
I. INTRODUCTION 
2. What is international roaming?  Internationa l mobile roaming takes place when a consumer 
travels abroad with a mobile device and uses the home-territory mobile subscription while abroad.  
The roaming is made possible by operator-to-ope rator agreements between the home-territory and 
foreign or host-territory operator that set the co mmercial terms by which their respective customers 
can use mobile services while in one another's territo ry.  The customer is billed for roaming activity 
only by the home-territory operator -- charges known as the retail roaming rates. The operators agree 
to the charges that will apply to reimburse one a nother for the roaming activities undertaken by the 
customer while in one another's markets.  These are referred to as the wholesale roaming rates. 
Roaming typically permits full functionality for the mobile subscriber while abroad. The subscriber 
may place voice telephony calls, access data service s, and use short messages services (sms) while 
abroad. These services can take place within the host territory of the roaming customer, between the 
customer and the home territory, or between the customer and a third country; services for which 
different retail charges often apply. 
3. What is the problem with international roaming rates?  Governments have been concerned for 
a number of years about certain perceived pricing a nomalies in mobile services.  Since the mobile 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. 
2 See, for example, Sutherland, Ewan, Internatio nal Mobile Roaming: An Update, April 2011, at 
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1786446  ,  OECD,  International Mobile Roaming Charging 
in the OECD Area, Dec. 2009, at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/40/44381810.pdf  , OECD, International 
Mobile Roaming Services: Analysis and Policy Recommendations, March 2010, at 
"http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplay documentpdf/?cote=DSTI/I CCP/CISP(2009)12/FINAL&
docLanguage=En ", and ITU, International Mobile Roaming Regulation: An Incentive for Co-operation, 
March 2008, GSR Discussion Paper, at " http://www.itu.int/ITU-
D/treg/Events/Seminars/GSR /GSR08/discussion_papers/in ternational_roaming_web.pdf ". S/C/W/337 
Page 2  
 
  industry was generally considered to be competitiv e, regulators assumed that market forces would 
tend, over time, to ensure that prices respond favourably to competition and were reluctant to 
intervene.  However, certain pockets of appare nt price distortion seemed to remain relatively 
impervious to competition.  International mobile ro aming rates have been a prime example, with retail 
charges for an international roamer  to make a call home costing up to 20 times more than for a local 
mobile user to call the roamer's home territory.
3  Multiples for retail data roaming are even higher, 
with roaming costing as much as US$10 for 1MB, th e same price typically charged for 100MB of 
domestic wireless broadband.4  Some governments have recently become more active in addressing 
the issue of high roaming charges, as an area where market forces possibly are not functioning as they 
should, for the benefit of consumers and business users that travel abroad. 
4. Recent regional and bilateral deve lopments.  In recent years, regional groups have begun to 
consider and conclude guidelines or arrangements to address roaming among their respective member 
governments.  For example, th e European Commission has institu ted Directives on roaming across 
borders among the EU Member States.  In April 2009, the Arab Regulators for Telecommunications (AREGNET) concluded a set of recommendations on in ternational mobile roaming charges and, in 
early 2010, APEC-Tel discussed draft Guidelines on the Provision of Cons umer Information on 
International Mobile Roaming.  These and other initi al efforts have often focused on achieving greater 
transparency in pricing for both voice and data roam ing, to avoid so-called b ill shock, and some have 
aimed at mandating lower wholesale, operator-to-operator rates on voice roaming calls. Meanwhile, governments continue to monitor trends in retail voice and data roaming charges.  There has also 
recently begun to emerge bilateral arrangements between governments on mobile roaming, the details 
of which are not yet available.   
5. As governments seek to develop workable soluti ons to the problem of high roaming charges, 
questions have arisen regarding the relationship of  GATS obligations and disciplines to some of these 
efforts.  It has been argued that international mobile roaming constitutes supply of mobile 
telecommunication services to which GATS rules would be relevant and might need to be examined. 
II. RELATED GATS PROVISIONS 
6. The GATS consists of a common body of framewo rk Articles and Annexes, including one on 
telecommunications, and individual Schedules of Specific Commitments containing each Member's level of commitments on market access and natio nal treatment for selected services and so-called 
additional commitments
5, which in telecommunications often c onsists of the Reference Paper on 
regulatory principles.  Some disciplines appl y only to services for which commitments are 
undertaken, whereas others apply to all sectors rega rdless of whether specific commitments are taken. 
Some of the GATS obligations relevant to tel ecommunications, such as certain provisions of the 
Annex on Telecommunications and possible elements of the Reference Paper,  would apply only with 
respect to Members who have undertaken relevant commitments in their schedules.6  O t h e r  
obligations, such as the framework Articles on transparency and most-favoured-nation (MFN) 
treatment would apply to all Members, even those who have not schedules mobile services 
commitments.  
                                                      
3 OECD, International Mobile Roaming Charging in the OECD Area, 
DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2009)8/FINAL, Dec. 2009, p. 5 and  pp. 64-65. 
4 OECD, International Mobile Data Roaming, DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2010)12/FINAL 30 May 2011 and 
"Mobile Broadband: Pricing and Services",  DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2008)6/FINAL, June 2009 . 
5 Market access is defined in GATS Article XVI, Na tional treatment is defined in Article XVII, and 
additional commitments are prov ided for in Article XVIII. 
6 The GATS Annex on Telecommunications is appli cable to all WTO Members, while the Reference 
Paper is relevant to those Members that have incl uded it in their Schedules as additional commitment.  S/C/W/337 
 Page 3 
 
 
  7. Scope of the GATS.  The GATS applies to "measures by Members"7 affecting trade in 
services taken at all levels of government. The GATS would not, therefore, apply directly to 
commercial activities of suppliers, such as roam ing arrangements concl uded among operators.  
However, certain provisions hold Members responsib le for ensuring that suppliers conduct themselves 
in a certain manner.  Such obligations incl ude GATS Article VIII on monopoly and exclusive 
suppliers, the Annex on Telecommuni cations and the commitments on regulatory principles of the 
Reference Paper   As a result, these obligations, albe it on Members, nevertheless have relevance to the  
actions or activities of operators.   
8. What modes of supply relate to roaming?  The GATS defines trade in services as trade 
conducted through four modes of supply:  mode 1, cross border supply; mode 2, consumption abroad; 
mode 3, commercial presence, and mode 4, th e presence of natural persons supplying services.8 
International mobile roaming would appear to repr esent a combination of the consumption abroad and 
cross-border supply of mobile services.9  When a mobile services consumer enters in the territory of 
another Member, the services of both the consum er's host-territory operator and home-territory 
operator are provided as the result of commercial ar rangements between the two operators. By virtue 
of these arrangements, the home-territory operator secures access to the host operator's network and 
services for use by its customer while abroad. Th e home-territory operator charges retail roaming 
rates to the consumer and the host operator char ges wholesale rates to the home-territory operator. 
Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the cons umer and the operators in terms of modes of 
supply.   
                                                      
7 "Measure" is broadly defined in Article XXVIII(a)  as "any measure by a Member, whether in the form 
of a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, or any other form". 
"Measures by Members affecting tr ade in services" are defined in  Article XXVIII(c)(ii) to include 
measures in respect of "the access to and use of, in c onnection with the supply of a service, services which are 
required by those Members to be offered to the public generally." 
8 "Supply of a service" is broadly defined in Article XXVIII(b)  as including "the production, 
distribution, marketing, sale and delivery of a service". 
9 Cross border supply is defined in Article I:2(a) as  the supply of a service "from the territory of one 
Member into the territory of any other Member ".   Consumption abroad is defined in Article I:2(b) as the supply 
of a service "in the territory of one Member to the service consumer of any other Member ". S/C/W/337 
Page 4  
 
  Figure 1.  International mobile roaming and relevant modes of supply 
 
Key: Territory of A  
Territory of B  
 
9. Transparency obligations of GATS Articles and the Annex on Telecommunications.  GATS 
transparency provisions may be relevant to certain aspects of  international mobile roaming.  GATS 
Article III requires Members to publish measures of ge neral application affecting trade in services and 
relevant international agreements.10  Therefore, government laws, regul ations or agreements relevant 
to mobile services should be made public.  
10. In addition, transparency provisions of the Annex on Telecommunications oblige Members 
"to ensure that relevant information on co nditions affecting access to and use of public 
telecommunications transport networks and services is publicly available, including:  tariffs and other 
terms and conditions of service; …11"  Therefore, Members are required to ensure that the tariffs 
charged by relevant suppliers of telecommunicati ons for access to and use of their networks or 
services are made public.12  One of the issues identified in rela tion to mobile roaming is lack of 
transparency of tariffs or rates charged, particularly  at the wholesale, operato r-to-operator level. This 
could be viewed as the charge for "access to a nd use of" the host-territory mobile network and 
services by the home-territory operator of the consum er.  Retail roaming charges may also be relevant 
to the extent that individual services suppliers or employees of a service supplier travel abroad and 
use their home-territory mobile subscription.  
                                                      
10 GATS Article III:1 states "Each Member shall publish promptly and, except in emergency situations, 
at the latest by the time of their entry into force, all relevant measures of general application which pertain to or affect the operation of this Agreement.  International agreements pertaining to or affecting trade in services to 
which a Member is a signatory shall also be published." 
11 Annex on Telecommunications, Section 4. 
12 GATS Article III bis on the disclosure of confidential information may provide an exception to the 
transparency obligation in relevant ci rcumstances.  It states, "Nothing in th is Agreement shall require any Member 
to provide confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which would prejudice legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, 
public or private." 
 S/C/W/337 
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  11. Access and use obligations of the Annex on Te lecommunications.  Access and use provisions 
of the Annex on Telecommunications and certain possi bly relevant provisions of the Reference Paper 
(see below) apply to suppliers of public tel ecommunications transport networks and services 
(PTTNS).13   The Annex requires Members to "ensure th at any service supplier of any other Member 
is accorded access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services on 
reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditi ons, for the supply of a service included in its 
Schedule".14  The Annex contains no requirement that  the supplier of PTTNS hold any degree of 
market dominance and the notion of "access to and use of" networks and services is broad.  Moreover, 
the Annex contains no requirement that a Memb er has undertaken commitments on the PTTNS with 
respect to which the disciplines are to be imposed.  However, the benefits of Annex disciplines are 
intended to extend to suppliers of any servi ce included in a Member's Schedule, whether 
telecommunications, banking, accountancy, or any other committed service.   
12. The Annex may relate to both wholesale and re tail arrangements for international mobile 
roaming. Operator-to-operator roaming arrangements could be considered to be the arrangements by 
which mobile operators extend access to and use of  one another's networks and services. Further, 
retail roaming arrangements with the consumer coul d be considered to represent access to and use of 
PTTNS for self-employed service suppliers or represen tatives of service suppliers that engage in 
mobile roaming for the supply of committed servic es while abroad.  If so, the Annex would require 
Members to ensure that the terms and conditions, in cluding rates, with respect to access to and use of 
mobile networks and services are reasonable and non-discriminatory.15  The relationship between the 
Annex, a Member's access and use obligations, and scheduled commitments of the Member is 
illustrated in Table 1, below. 
Table 1.  How commitments relate to access and use provisions of the Annex 
Type of 
international 
mobile roaming arrangement  
Disciplines applied to: 
  
Beneficiaries of the disciplines: 
 
Services/suppliers Scheduled 
commitments 
necessary Services/suppliers Scheduled  
commitments 
necessary 
 
Wholesale 
 Suppliers of 
PTTNS No Suppliers of mobile 
services Yes 
 
Retail   Suppliers of 
PTTNS No Suppliers of any 
other services Yes 
 
13. Reference Paper provisions.  Certain provisions of  the Reference Paper might be relevant to 
international mobile roaming charges. Such provi sions could include those on competitive safeguards 
                                                      
13 Annex on Telecommunications, Sections 3(a) and 3(b) define PTTNS as follows: 
"'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", and   
"'Public telecommunications transport network' means the public telecommunications infrastructure 
which permits telecommunications between a nd among defined network termination points." 
14 Annex on Telecommunications, Section 5(a). 
15 The panel in U.S.-Mexico dispute on telecommunications services found that beneficiaries of the 
Annex obligations may include suppliers of scheduled  telecommunications services and that "terms and 
conditions" may include rates.    S/C/W/337 
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  and interconnection guarantees.  However, these provisions generally relate to situations of 
dominance or abuse of market power by supplie rs of telecommunications. The Reference Paper 
defines a "major supplier" as one "which has the ability  to materially affect the terms of participation 
(having regard to price and supply) in the releva nt market for basic telecommunications services as a 
result of:  (a) control over essential facilities;  or (b) use of its position in the market."
16  Moreover, if 
applicable, the provisions of the Reference Paper w ould appear to relate to wholesale international 
roaming, rather than to retail international roami ng arrangements.  This is because the scope of the 
Reference Paper, as well as the text of the provisions, appears to indicate that both the entities to which the disciplines apply and the beneficiarie s of those disciplines are suppliers of basic 
telecommunications, rather than end-users.     
14. The competitive safeguards provisions of the Reference Paper oblige Members who have 
attached it to their Schedules to "maintain appr opriate" measures "for the purpose of preventing 
suppliers who, alone or together, are a major supp lier from engaging in or c ontinuing anti-competitive 
practices."
17  Some examples of anticompetitive prac tices are provided in the Reference Paper18, but 
the notion of what may constitute anticompetitive practices by suppliers is otherwise left open-
ended.19   Although the mobile industry is generally considered comp etitive, mobile operators may 
have positions of dominance in some countries.  It is  also possible that operators that may not possess 
a dominant position, overall, might have the ability to affect price or supply with regard to particular 
facilities, services or relevant market segments.   
15. Interconnection provisions of the Reference Pa per apply to the "linking with suppliers 
providing public telecommunications transport networks or services in order to allow the users of one 
supplier to communicate with users of another s upplier and to access services provided by another 
supplier, where specific co mmitments are undertaken."20 Members that adhere to the Reference Paper 
are obliged to ensure that interconnection is provided21: 
"under non-discriminatory terms, conditio ns (including technical standards and 
specifications) and rates and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like 
services or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other 
affiliates;"  "in a timely fashion, on terms, conditions (inc luding technical standards and specifications) 
and cost-oriented rates that are transparent, r easonable, having regard to economic feasibility, 
and sufficiently unbundled so that the supp lier need not pay for network components or 
facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided;"   
 
16. It is not clear whether or not or in what circ umstances international mobile roaming would be 
a form of interconnection or "linking" between the home-territory and host-territory operators. 
Commercially and technically, the specifics of how particular roaming arrangements are set up may 
vary and have been subject to change over time as more sophisticated technologies have become 
available.   
                                                      
16 Reference Paper template, "Definitions" section.   
17 Reference Paper template, Section 1.1. 
18 Reference Paper template, Section 1.2. 
19 In examining Reference Paper Section 1.2, the panel in U.S.-Mexico dispute on telecommunications 
services concluded that the examples of anticompetitive practices li sted therein did not constitute a complete list of 
such practices, but rather illustra tive examples of such practices. . 
20 Reference Paper template, Section 2.1. 
21 Reference Paper template, Sections 2.2(a) and (b).  S/C/W/337 
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  17. Most-Favoured-Nation treatment and non-discrim ination.  The obligation to extend Most-
Favoured-Nation treatment (MFN) means, in essen ce, that Members should not discriminate among 
the services and services suppliers of  other Members.  The obligation of GATS Article II applies to all 
Members with respect to all services and service s uppliers, whether or not scheduled commitments 
exist and relates to measures taken "by Members". It states,  
"With respect to any measure covered by th is Agreement, each Member shall accord 
immediately and unconditionally to services and service suppliers of any other Member treatment no less favourable than that it accords to like services and service suppliers of any 
other country."
22 
 
18. It may be relevant to consider, however , how GATS provisions on economic integration 
(Article V) may relate to possible regional or bila teral solutions.  These provisions specify that the 
GATS "does not prevent any of its Members from be ing a party to or entering into an agreement 
liberalizing trade in services between or among the pa rties to such an agreement, provided that such 
an agreement:  (a) has substantial sectoral coverage23, and (b) provides for th e absence or elimination 
of substantially all discrimination, in the sense of Article XVII, between or among the parties, in the 
sectors covered…. ".  As a result, it may be possible that Article V may provide cover for MFN departures as a result of bilateral or regional arrangements to regula te roaming concluded within the 
context of a broader economic in tegration agreement.  However, there may also be questions 
regarding the compatibility with MFN of a free-st anding, government-to-government agreement on 
roaming that would grant favourable treatment, e. g. lowing roaming charges, not available to 
suppliers of other Members. Such an agreement might  not satisfy the requirements of Article V in that 
they would address only one service/sector and only certain modes of supply.     
19.  It may also be noted that the extension of non-discrimination, in the form of a Member's 
responsibility over behaviour of s uppliers can be found in non-discrim ination provisions, noted above, 
of the Annex on Telecommunications
24 and Reference Paper.  It can also be found in GATS 
provisions on monopolies and exclusive service s uppliers.  The relevant provision states,  
"Each Member shall ensure that any monopoly supplier of a service in its territory does not, 
in the supply of the monopoly service in the rele vant market, act in a manner inconsistent 
with that Member's obligations unde r Article II and specific commitments."25 
 20. Commitments in Schedules.  GATS Schedul es of Specific commitments contain each 
Member's undertakings on market access and nati onal treatment, by sector and modes of supply, and 
any additional commitments, if any, e.g. th e Reference Paper on regulatory principles for 
telecommunications. At present, 109  WTO Member governments have commitments on one or more 
telecommunications service.  Ninety-eight Memb er governments have commitments on mobile 
services.  Most of the commitments on mobile services cover both voice and data services. Eighty-
seven Member governments have included the Refere nce Paper, in whole or in part, in their 
Schedules.   
                                                      
22 GATS Article II:1. 
23 This condition is understood in terms of number of sectors, volume of trade affected and modes of 
supply. In order to meet this condition,  agreements should not provide for the a priori  exclusion of any mode of 
supply.  [This is the text of the footnote to Article V.] 
24 Footnote 2 to paragraph 5(a) of the Annex on Telecommunications states "The term 'non-
discriminatory' is understood to refer to most-favoured-nati on and national treatment as defined in the Agreement, 
as well as to reflect sector-specific usage of the term to mean 'terms and conditions no less favourable than those 
accorded to any other user of like public telecommun ications transport networks or services under like 
circumstances'.".   
25 GATS Article VIII:1. S/C/W/337 
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  III. WORK BY OTHER INTERGOVE RNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
21. Intergovernmental organizations such as th e International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 
and the Organization for Economic Co-operation an d Development (OECD) have reviewed problems 
associated with the high cost of international m obile roaming.  Most recently, the OECD Working 
Party on Communications and Infrastructure Servi ces and Policy (WPCISP) considered in its June 
2011 meeting a draft recommendation to the OECD  Council on international mobile roaming.
26  At its 
March 2011 meeting ITU-T Study Group 3, which is  responsible for economic and policy issues, 
studied a draft new ITU-T Recommendation on Chargi ng in International Mobile Roaming Service, 
on the basis of a review of issues conducted over the past two years by a Rapporteur Group on that 
issue.  Work on that draft will continue.27  Neither the ITU nor the OECD drafts are public documents 
at this time, although members of the respective organizations may consult them. Generally, the 
proposed recommendations address such issues as cons umer awareness, transparency, publication of 
rates, as well as options for governments to cons ider, which, although encouraging market based 
solutions where workable, might include wholesal e and/or retail price regulation.  The OECD 
Secretariat, in particular, has been requested by members of the WPCISP and of the Trade 
Committee, who was consulted by WPCISP, to collaborate with the WTO on its recommendations.28   
IV. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS 
22.  It could be argued that WTO Members are re quired by the Annex on Telecommunications to 
ensure that suppliers of committed mobile services (at the wholesale level) or other services (retail 
level) are extended reasonable and non-discrimin atory access to and use of mobile PTTNS.  
Moreover, all Members, regardless of commitments inscribed in schedules, may be required by MFN 
obligations to ensure that their laws regulations  or regional arrangements concerning international 
roaming, if any, do not discriminate, i.e. treat mobile services and service suppliers of some Members 
less favourably that mobile services and service suppliers of other Members.     
23. It is fair to say that due to the bi-directional, joint-supply aspects of international mobile 
roaming, and because certain routes may constitute the bulk of roaming traffic for many Members' 
residents and operators, bilateral or regional arrangements have a pr actical appeal.  Moreover, some 
governments may find non-discriminatory, unilatera l lowering of retail or wholesale roaming rates 
difficult because requiring their own operators to lowe r rates would benefit foreign mobile consumers 
entering their territory, but provide no benefits to their own consumers when traveling abroad.    
24. As a result, initial efforts to address high inte rnational roaming charges can pose a dilemma 
for Members.  On the one hand, lowering rates that are perceived as unreasonable may likely bring 
them into conformity with "reasonable" terms and conditions for access and use required by the 
Annex on Telecommunications. On the other hand , bilateral and regional arrangements among 
governments on international roaming to mutually reduce rates would not normally require operators 
to offer such reductions to third parties.  Su ch arrangements could therefore risk placing the 
governments at odds with the GATS MFN obligation as well as non-discrimination provisions of the 
Annex on Telecommunications.  It is possible that wh ere such rate reductions are obtained within the 
context of an economic integration agreement, Article V of the GATS might provide cover.   
 
_______________ 
 
                                                      
26 DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2011)1, 16 May 2011. 
27 TD 24 Rev.2 (WP 2/3) -E. 
28 OECD is not currently an observer to the Council for Trade in Services (CTS) and therefore can only 
attend sessions on the basis of an ad-hoc invitation from the CTS.  S/C/W/337 
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ATTACHMENTS 
  
ANNEX ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
 1. Objectives  
   Recognizing the specificities of the tel ecommunications services sector and, in 
particular, its dual role as a distinct sector of ec onomic activity and as the underlying transport means for 
other economic activities, the Members have agr eed to the following Annex with the objective of 
elaborating upon the provisions of th e Agreement with respect to meas ures affecting access to and use 
of public telecommunications  transport networks and services.  Ac cordingly, this Annex provides notes 
and supplementary provisions to the Agreement. 
 
2. Scope  
  (a)  This Annex shall apply to all measures of a Member that affect access to and use of public telecomm unications transport networks and services.
1 
 
 (b) This Annex shall not apply to meas ures affecting the cable or broadcast 
distribution of radio or television programming.    (c)  Nothing in this A nnex shall be construed: 
 
(i) to require a Member to authorize a service supplier of any other Me mber to establish, 
construct, acquire, lease, operate, or supp ly telecommunications transport networks or 
services, other than as provided for in its Schedule;  or 
 
(ii) to require a Member (or to require a Member to oblige service suppliers under its 
jurisdiction) to establis h, construct, acquire, lease, operate or supply 
telecommunications transport networks or services not offered to the public generally. 
 3. Definitions  
  For the purposes of this Annex: 
 
 (a)  "Telecommunications" means the transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means.   (b)  "Public telecommunications transport service" means any telecommunications transport service required, explicitl y or in effect, by a Member to be offered to the 
public generally.  Such services may include, inter alia , telegraph, telephone , telex, and data 
transmission typically involving the real-time tran smission of customer-suppl ied information between 
two or more points without any end- to-end change in the form or cont ent of the customer 's information. 
 
                                                      
1 This paragraph is understood to mean that each Member shall ensure that the obligations of this Annex 
are applied with respect to suppliers of public telecomm unications transport networks and services by whatever 
measures are necessary. S/C/W/337 
Page 10  
 
   (c)  "Public telecomm unications transport netw ork" means the public 
telecommunications infrastructure which permits telecommunications betw een and among defined 
network termin ation points. 
  (d)  "Intra-corporate communications" means telecommunications 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 purposes, "subsidiar ies", "branches" 
and, where applicable, "affiliates" shall be as defined by each Member.  "Intra-corporate communications" in this Annex excl udes commercial or non-commercial services that are supplied to 
companies that are not related subsidiaries, branches or affiliates, or that are offered to customers or 
potential customers. 
  (e)  Any reference to a paragraph or subparagraph of this Annex includes all 
subdivisions thereof.  
4. Transparency  
   In the application of Article III of the Agreement, each Member shall ensure that 
relevant information on conditions affecting access to and use of p ublic telecommunications transport 
networks and services is publicly available, including :  tariffs and other terms and conditions of service; 
specifications of technical inte rfaces with such networks and services;  information on bodies 
responsible for the preparation an d adoption of standards affecting such access and use;  conditions 
applying to attachment of terminal or other equipm ent;  and notifications, registration or licensing 
requirements, if any.  5. Access to and use of Public Telecommu nications Transport Networks and Services  
 
 (a)  Each Member shall ensure that an y service supplier of any other Member is 
accorded access to and use of public  telecommunications tran sport networks and serv ices on reasonable 
and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, for the supply of a servic e included in its Schedule.  This 
obligation shall be applied, inter alia , through paragraphs (b) through (f).
2 
 
 (b)  Each Member shall ensure that se rvice suppliers of any other Member have 
access to and use of any pub lic telecommunications transport network or service offered within or across 
the border of that  Member, including private leased circuits, and to this end shall ensure, subject to 
paragraphs (e) and (f), that such suppliers are permitted: 
 
(i) to purchase or lease and attach terminal or  other equipment which interfaces with the 
network and which is necessary to supply a supplier's services; 
 
(ii) to interconnect private leased or owned circuits with public telecommunications 
transport networks and services or with ci rcuits leased or owned by another service 
supplier; and 
 
(iii) to use operating protocols of the service suppl ier's choice in the supply of any service, 
other than as necessary to ensure the av ailability of teleco mmunications transport 
networks and services to the public generally. 
 
                                                      
2 The term "non-discriminatory" is understood to refe r to most-favoured-nation and national treatment as 
defined in the Agreement, as well as to  reflect sector-specific usage of the term to mean "terms and conditions no 
less favourable than those accorded to any other user of like public telecommunications transport networks or 
services under like circumstances".    S/C/W/337 
 Page 11 
 
 
   (c)  Each Member shall ensure that se rvice suppliers of any other Member may 
use public telecommunications trans port networks and services for the movement of information within 
and across borders, including fo r intra-corporate communications of  such service suppliers, and for 
access to information contained in data bases or otherwise stored in machine-readable form in the 
territory of any Member.  Any new or amended measures of a Member significantly affecting such use 
shall be notified and shall be subject to consultation, in accord ance with relevant provisions of the 
Agreement.   (d)  Notwithstanding the preceding paragra ph, a Member may take such measures 
as are necessary to ensure the secu rity and confidentiality of messages,  subject to the requirement that 
such measures are not applied in a manner which woul d constitute a means of ar bitrary or unjustifiable 
discrimination or a disguised re striction on trade in services. 
  (e)  Each Member shall ensure that no condition is imposed on access to and use 
of public telecommunications tr ansport networks a nd services other than as necessary: 
 
(i) to safeguard the public service res ponsibilities of suppliers of public 
telecommunications transport networks and services, in particular their ability to make their networks or services available to the public generally; 
 
(ii) to protect the technical inte grity of public telecommunica tions transport networks or 
services; or 
 
(iii) to ensure that service suppliers of any ot her Member do not supply services unless 
permitted pursuant to commitment s in the Member's Schedule. 
 
 (f)  Provided that they sati sfy the criteria set out in paragraph (e), conditions for 
access to and use of public telecommunications transport ne tworks and services may include: 
 
(ii) restrictions on resale or shared use of such services; 
 
(iii) a requirement to use specifie d technical interface s, including interface protocols, for 
inter-connection with such  networks a nd services; 
 
(iv) requirements, where necessary, for the inte r-operability of such services and to 
encourage the achievement of the goals set out in paragraph 7(a); 
 
(v) type approval of terminal or other equi pment which interfaces with the network and 
technical requirements relating to the attach ment of such equipment to such networks; 
 
(vi) restrictions on inter-connection of private le ased or owned circuits with such networks 
or services or with circui ts leased or owned by a nother service supplier; or 
 
(vii) notification, registration and licensing. 
  (g)  Notwithstanding the preceding para graphs of this section, a developing 
country Member may, consistent with its level of development, place reasonable conditions on access to 
and use of public telecommunications transport netw orks and services necess ary to strengthen its 
domestic telecommunications infrastr ucture and service capacity and to  increase its participation in 
international trade in telecommunica tions services.  Such conditions sh all be specified in the Member's 
Schedule.  S/C/W/337 
Page 12  
 
  6. Technical Cooperation  
  (a)  Members recognize that an efficient, adva nced telecommunications 
infrastructure in countries, particul arly developing countries, is essentia l to the expansion of their trade 
in services.  To this end, Members endorse and en courage the participation, to the fullest extent 
practicable, of developed and de veloping countries and their supplie rs of public telecommunications 
transport networks and services an d other entities in the developmen t programmes of international and 
regional organizations, including the Internationa l Telecommunication Union, the United Nations 
Development Programme, and the Internationa l Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 
 
 (b)  Members shall encourage and support telecommuni cations cooperation 
among developing countries at the internati onal, regional and sub-regional levels. 
  (c)  In cooperation with relevant intern ational organizations,  Members shall make 
available, where prac ticable, to developing countries informati on with respect to telecommunications 
services and developments in telecommunications and information technology to assist in strengthening 
their domestic telecommuni cations services sector. 
  (d)  Members shall give special cons ideration to opportunities for the least-
developed countries to encourage fo reign suppliers of telecommunications services to assist in the 
transfer of technology, training and other ac tivities that support the development of their 
telecommunications infrastructure and expansion of their telecommunica tions services trade. 
 7.  Relation to International Organizations and Agreements  
  (a)  Members recognize the importance of international standards for global 
compatibility and inter-operability  of telecommunication networks and services and undertake to 
promote such standards through the work of relevant  international bodies, including the International 
Telecommunication Union and the Internatio nal Organization for Standardization. 
  (b)  Members recognize the role played by intergovernmental and non-
governmental organizations and agre ements in ensuring th e efficient operation of  domestic and global 
telecommunications services, in particular the Inte rnational Telecommunication Union.  Members shall 
make appropriate arrangements, wh ere relevant, for consultation with  such organizations on matters 
arising from the implemen tation of this Annex. 
  S/C/W/337 
 Page 13 
 
 
  2104 
Negotiating Group on Basic Telecommunications        24 April 1996 
 
 
REFERENCE PAPER[1]  
 
Scope 
 The following are definitions and principles on the regulatory framework for the basic 
telecommunications services.   
 
Definitions 
 Users mean service consumers and service suppliers. 
 
Essential facilities mean facilities of a public telecommunications transport network or service that 
 
(a) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers;  
and 
 
(b) cannot feasibly be economically or tec hnically substituted in order to provide a 
service. 
 A major supplier is a supplier which has the ability to  materially affect the terms of participation 
(having regard to price and supply) in the releva nt market for basic telecommunications services as a 
result of: 
 
 (a) control over essential facilities;  or   (b) use of its position in the market.  1. Competitive safeguards 
 1.1 Prevention of anti-competitive practices in telecommunications 
  Appropriate measures shall be maintained for the purpose of preventing suppliers who, alone 
or together, are a major supplier from engaging  in or continuing anti-competitive practices. 
 
1.2 Safeguards 
  The anti-competitive practices referred to above shall include in particular:  
(a) engaging in anti-competitive cross-subsidization;   
 
(b) using information obtained from compet itors with anti-competitive results;  and 
 
                                                      
1 This text represents the standard Reference Paper template elaborated during the negotiations on basic 
telecommunications (1994-1997).  Actual additional commitments by Members on telecommunications 
regulatory disciplines may include all or part of this text, may contain modifications of its provisions, or may 
contain related provisions drafted in language of the Member's choosing.  Most of the 87 Members that have undertaken the Reference Paper have done so with few, if any, modifications. This footnote is added for 
information, and is not contained in job no. 2104 . S/C/W/337 
Page 14  
 
  (c) not making available to other services suppliers on a timely basis technical  
information about essential facilities and comm ercially relevant information which 
are necessary for them to provide services.  
 
2. Interconnection 
 2.1 This section applies to linking with supplie rs providing public telecommunications transport 
networks or services in order to allow the users of  one supplier to communicate with users of another 
supplier and  to access services provided by anot her supplier, where specific commitments are 
undertaken. 
 
2.2 Interconnection to be ensured 
  Interconnection with a major supplier will be en sured at any technically feasible point in the 
network.  Such interconnection is provided. 
 
(a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditi ons (including technical standards and 
specifications) and rates and of a quality no l ess favourable than that provided for its 
own like services or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates; 
 
(b) in a timely fashion, on terms, c onditions (including technical standards and 
specifications) and cost-oriented rates that ar e transparent, reasonable, having regard 
to economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundl ed so that the supplier need not pay 
for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be 
provided;  and 
 
(c) upon request, at points in addition to the network termination points offered to the 
majority of users, subject to charges that reflect the cost of construction of necessary additional facilities. 
  
2.3 Public availability of the pro cedures for interconnection negotiations 
 
 The procedures applicable for interconnecti on to a major supplier will be made publicly 
available.  
 
2.4 Transparency of interconnection arrangements 
  It is ensured that a major supplier will make  publicly available either its interconnection 
agreements or a reference interconnection offer.  
2.5 Interconnection:  dispute settlement 
 
 A service supplier requesting interconnection with  a major supplier will have recourse, either: 
  (a) at any time or 
 
 (b) after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known   S/C/W/337 
 Page 15 
 
 
  to an independent domestic body, which may be a regulatory body as referred to in paragraph 5 
below, to resolve disputes regarding appropriate te rms, conditions and rates for interconnection within 
a reasonable period of time, to the extent th at these have not been established previously. 
 3. Universal service 
  Any Member has the right to define the ki nd of universal service obligation it wishes to 
maintain.  Such obligations will not be regarded as anti-competitive per se , provided they are 
administered in a transparent, non-discriminator y and competitively neutral manner and are not more 
burdensome than necessary for the kind of universal service defined by the Member. 
 
4. Public availability of licensing criteria 
  Where a licence is required, the followi ng will be made publicly available: 
 
(a) all the licensing criteria and the period of  time normally required to reach a decision 
concerning an application for a licence  and 
 
(b) the terms and conditions of  individual licences. 
  The reasons for the denial of a licence will be  made known to the applicant upon request. 
 
5. Independent regulators 
  The regulatory body is separate from, and not accountable to, any supplier of basic telecommunications services. The decisions of and the procedures used by regulators shall be 
impartial with respect to all market participants. 
 6. Allocation and use of scarce resources 
  Any procedures for the allocation and use of s carce resources, including frequencies, numbers 
and rights of way, will be carried out in an obj ective, timely, transparent and non-discriminatory 
manner. The current state of allocated frequency ba nds will be made publicly available, but detailed 
identification of frequencies allocated for specific government uses is not required. 
 
 
__________