RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/W/299 
10 June 2009 
 (09-2806) 
Council for Trade in Services  
  
 
TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES 
 
Background Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
1. This Note has been prepared at the request of  the Council for Trade in Services, with a view 
to stimulating discussions in the Council on the telecommunication sector.  It provides background 
information and updates a previous Note on trad e in telecommunication services (S/C/W/74, dated 
8 December 1998).  This Note focuses on  developments and  issues considered to be most relevant to 
the GATS.   It is not intended to provide a comprehensive account of the sector.  The Secretariat 
would point out that many of the observations contai ned in the previous Note remain pertinent today 
and that this Note will not, for the most part, repeat  all of those same points.  Instead, it will highlight 
new data and emerging features in the areas of  commercial and technological developments and 
regulatory matters. Following the introd uction, Part II deals with the definition of the sector, Part III 
with its economic importance, Part IV provides an analysis of GATS commitments, and Part V 
outlines the trade and regulatory environment. 
I. INTRODUCTION 
2. It is fair to say that telecommunications h as not only undergone a revolution in the past 
decade, but that it has also revolutionized communicating and the way the global economy functions.  The first wave of change, the transition from monopol y to competitive market structures, marked by 
the WTO negotiations on basic telecommunications (1994-1997), became the driving force of 
subsequent developments.  Today, only about 30 per cent of governments worldwide retain a 
monopoly on fixed telephony and only 10 per cent ma intain monopoly supply of mobile services or 
Internet.  As a result of increased competition,  telecommunications (fixed or mobile) are now 
available to nearly 70 per cent of the world's populati on, almost triple the level in 2000.  Moreover, 
prices of many services have plummeted.  Since 19 98, telephony prices in industrialized economies 
fell by an average of 50 per cent, and the pri ce drops in liberalized developing and transition 
economies were even more dramatic.  In 2008, for example, ICT tariffs in more than 70 developing 
economies were on par with those charged in industr ialized countries, and the tariffs of about 40 of 
those economies fell in the lowest ranges.
2  The second wave of change was the rise of commercial 
Internet and mobile services.  Globally, in 2007 the total number of Internet users (1.34 billion) 
exceeded for the first time the number of fixed line  subscribers (1.28 billion), and mobile service now 
accounts for 72 per cent of all telephones in use.  A result of the increased teledensity is, as one 
observer notes, that universal service is largely becoming a de facto  state of the market, not a 
regulated condition of operation.  The evidence is cl ear that effective universal service is more likely 
to be achieved through raw competition.3 
                                                      
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 Price baskets composed of fixed, mobile and br oadband services were constructed for a recent ITU 
study, Measuring the Information Society :  The ICT Development Index , © ITU 2009, Geneva. 
3 Blackman, C., "Public interest and the future telecommunications landscape", INFO , Vol. 9 No. 2, 
2007. S/C/W/299 
Page 2  
 
  3. The transformation continues with the introd uction of so-called next generation fixed 
networks (NGN), based to a large extent on Internet protocols (IP ), and broadband, high-capacity 
access, both fixed and mobile.  NGNs have the potent ial to reduce dramatically the underlying cost of 
physical networks while at the same time increasi ng the variety and sophistication of services that can 
be offered.  By 2007, broadband access had reached  over 5 per cent of the world's inhabitants, 
compared with only 1 per cent five years earlier.   Broadband technologies put an extraordinary and 
growing array of information and multimedia produc ts within the reach of ordinary users and 
businesses. 
4. These developments also spur convergence, both technological and commercial, a 
phenomenon that makes telecommunications even mo re essential as a means of delivery than in the 
past.  The revolution has not only linked societies and cultures, extending and diversifying their 
exposure; it has also changed the way firms do business and the way many goods and services are 
traded.  Buying, selling and logistics management  have been streamlined and globalised by 
telecommunications.  Vast strides have been made in the outsourcing of business opportunities to developing countries.
4  These services, that once required co stly satellite links, have been made 
economically more feasible by Internet and asso ciated applications that allow call centres, for 
example, to function as if they were in close pr oximity to the customers and companies served.  
Electronic commerce and other forms of cross-border supply have also been energised by more sophisticated, lower cost communications.  It is a matter of course, today, for businesses everywhere 
to maintain websites, and in many cases allow th e purchase and/or delivery of their products on-line 
and, increasingly, via mobile handsets.  In some cases, contrary to historical trends, developing 
countries are among the first to adopt more widely  the new technologies;  mobile banking is one 
example.  Finally, e-government initiatives have impr oved and streamlined services to citizens and, at 
the same time, enhanced trade facilitation and the in terface with businesses.  In many countries today, 
businesses at home and abroad may verify regulator y information, apply for licenses and conduct a 
variety of registration and certification procedures on-line.   
5. Communications and IT services have become widely seen as an engine for development and 
an indispensable tool for economic growth. Acco rding to a recent report, digital, increasingly 
converged, and broadband platforms have a tr ansformational impact on economic development.
5  
While a gap remains between developed and devel oping countries regarding levels of access, the 
transformation of the telecommunication sector has not entirely left the developing world behind.  
Mobile telephony, in particular, witnessed e xponential growth in de veloping countries, once 
governments issued more mobile licenses and the operators introduced prepaid payment options, 
making the service accessible to low income users.  In Africa, for example, penetration remains low, 
but mobile growth rates remain the highest in th e world at over 30 per cent in 2006/07.  The authors 
of a recently published book on global communications observe that for once, the transformation ...  is not just a tale of the prosperous states doing be tter.  These changes boosted the economic takeoff of 
India and China and other emerging powers, and al so brought a much greater level of digital 
connectivity to the poor than anyone dreamed of in the late 1980s.
6  A recent study on mobile 
telecommunications in Pakistan offers evidence th at a pro-competition policy may be imperative for 
                                                      
4 See also, e.g., presentations on ou tsourcing, computer services an d e-agriculture made at the WTO 
Symposium on the 10th Anniversary of the Negotiations on Basic Telecommunications , 20-21 February 2008. 
5 Locksley, G.,  "The Media and Development: What’s the Story?", World Bank Working Paper No. 
158, 2009, p. 9. 
6 Cowhey, P.F., and Aronson, J.  D., Transforming Global Information and Communications Markets , 
© 2009, MIT Press.  S/C/W/299 
 Page 3 
 
 
  mobile development in developing countries and, al so, that an independent regulator is critical in 
promoting technological innovation.7 
6. Possible effects of the economic downturn which began in 2008 are at present difficult to pin 
down, since related data may only be starting to emerge.  In some cases, telecom revenues are beginning to see slight reductions.  In other cases,  such as mobile services in developing countries, 
growth is being maintained but at reduced rates.  In itial indications appear to illustrate that the sector 
is more resilient than many others.  Communications  experts predict that telecommunications and IT 
technologies will also play a role in cushioning other economic sectors from the full thrust of the downturn.
8  For example, by resorting to more intensive use of communications technologies firms 
are able to effect cost savings and further increase efficiency at a time when such strategies are more 
critical than ever.   
II. DEFINITION OF THE SECTOR 
7. Telecommunications is broadly defined in the GATS Annex on Telecommunications (the 
Annex) as "the transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means."   The GATS 
Services Sectoral Classification List9 breaks down telecommunications into 14 sub-sectors (a. - n.) 
and an "other" category (paragraph o.) (see Append ix Figure A2.  This classification scheme is 
supplemented and further refined by the Notes on Scheduling Basic Telecoms Commitments  that 
emerged from the WTO negotiations on basic telecommunications.10  Services commonly known as 
"basic" telecommunications are formally referred to in the Annex as "public telecommunications 
transport networks and services" (PTTNS) and ar e defined therein (see Appendix Figure A3.  The 
term PTTNS was drawn upon by Ministers to de fine the scope of the post-Uruguay Round 
negotiations on telecommunications.11  On the basis of the Annex definition of PTTNS, sub-sectors a. 
through g. of the GATS classification list, as well as  a variety of "other" services that provide real-
time transmission of customer supplied information are generally considered to be basic telecommunication services.  Services not falling within the Annex definition of PTTNS, such as 
subsectors h. through n. and any "other" services, not supplied on a real-time basis or which transform 
the form or content of customer's informati on, are generally referred to as “value-added” 
telecommunication services.
12  
8. In liberalized markets, a distinction betw een basic and value-added services may have 
considerably less importance than in the past.  No netheless, in some regimes distinguishing between 
the two types of services remains relevant to the implementation of certain public or universal service 
objectives, licensing requirements or regulatory obliga tions.  In addition, the distinction is largely 
irrelevant for the purpose of the Doha Devel opment Agenda, in which the entire gamut of 
                                                      
 7 Ping, Gao and Rafiq, Adnan, "The transformation of the mobile telecommunications industry in 
Pakistan: A developing country perspective", Telecommunications Policy , Vol. 33, No. 5-6, (June-July 2009).  
 8 See, e.g., Confronting the Crisis: Its Impact on the ICT Industry , ITU, February 2009 and conference 
proceedings of the ITU's Strategic Dialogue on ICTs , 21 April 2009. 
9 MTN.GNS/W/120, 10 July 1991. 
10 Note by the Chairman, Group on Basic Telecommunications, S/GBT/W/2/Rev.1, 16 January 1997.   
11 Ministerial Decision on Negotiations on Basic Telecommunications, Marrakech Ministerial, 
April 1994 .  Ministers dropped, however, the reference to "public" so that negotiations could encompass both 
public and non-public basic services (i.e. those not subject to public service obligations).   
12 It is in this sense that references to basic and value-added services will be used in this Note.  It is 
recognized, however , that this breakdown does not necessarily reflect and does not need to correspond to any 
particular government's national classification of services as basic or value added.  For example, it is not 
uncommon for mobile telephony, paging, or data transmission (which supply customers' information on a real-time basis) to be designated as value-added services in national regimes.  Often, the designations were used to 
indicate which services were under monopoly purview (i.e . basic) and those which were not (i.e. value-added) 
within national regulations. S/C/W/299 
Page 4  
 
  telecommunication services is under negotiation.  W ithin the GATS however, the distinction between 
basic and value-added telecommunications remains relevant to the application of the Annex on 
Telecommunications and the Reference Paper.  In th ese texts, the term PTTNS is employed to define 
the scope of services and services suppliers to whic h governments are obliged to apply certain of the 
disciplines.   
9. Over the last decade, the distinction not only between basic and value-added services, but also 
between telecommunications and other GATS sectors and subsectors, has become blurred with the 
adoption of full liberalization of services and the introduction of new transmission technologies.  Both 
of these factors have enabled suppliers to integrat e different telecommunications services, as well as a 
variety of computer and audiovisual services and te chnologies into seamless offerings to customers.  
A degree of uncertainty in classification and sche duling may sometimes result, therefore, from the 
convergence of broadcast, telecommunications, and computer technologies.  For example, as it has 
become common commercial practice for a great many  computer and related services to be supplied 
on-line, a distinction between value-added tel ecommunications and such services is increasingly 
difficult to draw.   
10. Rapid transformations in the sector mean not only that the existing GATS classification of 
telecommunications services may be inadequate, but al so that any other list that might be devised 
could become quickly obsolete.  In this environm ent, the use of the Chai rman's Note on scheduling 
commitments,
13 elaborated during the negotiations on basic telecommunications, continues to be of 
assistance in defining the nature and scope of tel ecom services committed (see  Appendix figure 1D).  
The categories of service suggested by the Chairman 's Note lend flexibility to the GATS classification 
scheme.  The categories draw upon four types of dis tinctions: a) geographic - local, domestic long 
distance, and international;  b)  means of technology - wire-based  and wireless (or radio-based);  
c) means of delivery - facilities-base d or on a resale basis (i.e. non-facil ities based);  and d) clientele - 
for public use, for non-public use (e.g. services sold within ni che markets or to closed user groups).  For 
partially liberalized regimes, the clarity of commitmen ts is enhanced by the use of the categories.  For 
commitments on fully liberalized regimes or services,  it is only by reference to the Note that the 
absence  of category indications can be clearly unders tood to mean that the commitment encompasses 
all of the indicated categories of service, since, in  the schedule itself, critical information on the scope 
of commitments is often implicit.  Bearing this in mind, some governments have included text drawn 
from the Chairman's note in the h eader of the sector/subsector column of their schedules.  Others, 
such as governments that acceded to WTO over the p ast decade, cite the Chairman's Note in the 
header to the telecom section of the schedule.   
11. The Chairman's Note is perhaps less useful  in dealing with issues of convergence across 
sectors, which it does not address.  In this regard , definitional problems remain.  An interesting 
anomaly is, for example, that the "on-line informa tion and/or data processing" subsector in the GATS 
classification list is assigned the same CPC classification code as the data processing services 
subsector listed in the GATS classification for computer services.  In general, however, a key 
distinction to bear in mind is that between use and suppl y, wherein telecommunications may be used 
as a "means of delivery" for many other services.  Suppliers of such services as computer services, audiovisual services and other communications-ena bled services, classified elsewhere in the GATS 
list, are common examples of users of telecommunications networks and services.  Alternatively, if a 
supplier of services other than telecommunications we re, at the same time, to own or operate its own 
networks, a prospect made possible by telecom liber alization, then the supplier would presumably be 
supplying both telecommunications as well as the ove rlying services.  In such a case, more than one 
sector in a schedule would be relevant to the supplier's GATS benefits and entitlements. 
                                                     
 
13 S/GBT/W/2/Rev.1, 16 January 1997.  S/C/W/299 
 Page 5 
 
 
  III. ECONOMIC AND TRADE PROFILE 
12. Global revenue for telecommunications servic es stood at US$1.4 trillion in 2005, the most 
recent year for which comprehensive data is available.14  This figure comprises US$579 billion in 
mobile services.  As a result of tariff reductions, international services now account for a smaller proportion of total telecommunica tions revenue than in the past.  Measured in minutes, however, 
international traffic more than doubled in a d ecade, from 81 billion in 1997 to 183 billion in 2006.
15    
13. As shown in Table 1, main lines (fixed subscrib ers) totalled nearly 1.3 million in 2007, while 
cellular service accounted for nearly 3.5 million sub scribers. Growth rates in fixed service have been 
sustained in Africa and Asia, at 6.1 per cent and 7. 8 per cent average annual ra tes, respectively, over 
2002-2007.  However, fixed line growth remained stagnant in much of the rest of the world.  
Dramatic uptake in cellular service is evident in an average global subscriber growth rate of nearly 
24 per cent per year between 2002-2007.  Total glob al teledensity (fixed te lephone lines plus mobile 
cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants) reached cl ose to 70 per cent in 2007.  Only the African 
continent, with a teledensity of about 31 per cent,  falls below the rates that were at one time only 
achieved by industrialized economies.  Figure 1 show s global penetration rates for different types of 
telecommunications services over the 1998 and 2007 period.  
Table 1.  World telecommunications ne twork development: Fixed and cellular 
 
  
Main lines 
1997 
(m)  
Main lines 
2007 
(m)  
CAGR 
2002-2007 
%  
Cellular 
subscriptions 
1997  
(m)  
Cellular 
subscriptions 
2007  
(m)  
CAGR 
2002-2007 
%  
2007 Total 
(ML + CS)/
100 inhab. 
Africa 15 31 6.1 2 275 49.0 31.05
Americas 246 279 -1.4 72 667 21.1 103.80
Asia 235 624 7.8 74 1,514 27.8 53.74
Europe 285 327 0.2 61 897 17.0 151.62
Oceania 12 12 -1.0 5 27 11.8 114.38
WORLD 793 1,272 3.2 214 3,380 23.8 69.45
Source : ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 
 
 
14. Regarding capital expenditure and investment, tre nds are also positive.  ITU data show capital 
expenditure in the sector for 2006 at US$204 billion  (a figure that, according to ITU, may not fully 
encompass expenditures by new entrants.).  OECD figures for 2005 show telecommunications 
investment (a broader measure than capital e xpenditure) at US$157 billion, with incumbents 
accounting for 73 per cent of the total.16  The OECD result remains lower than the peak during the 
dotcom bubble in 2000, but represents growth over the 2003 and 2004 investment levels.  According 
to an UNCTAD report, the share of foreign inv estors in total telecommunications investment 
commitments over 1996-2006 exceeded 40 per cent in all developing and transition country regions 
                                                      
14 ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. 
15 ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. 
16 The report, The Influence of Market Developments a nd Policies on Telecommunications Investment , 
DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2007)6/FINAL, OECD, 2009, also ack nowledges the difficulty in fully accounting for 
investment effected by new entrant companies. S/C/W/299 
Page 6  
 
  except Asia.  This proportion was higher than in any other infrastructure sector examined by the 
report.
17 
 
Figure 1 Global growth in teledensity, by types of services, 1998-2008 
 
Source :  ITU, Measuring the Information Society , 2009 and the ITU World Telecommunication/ 
              ICT Indicators Database 
 
 15. Growth and higher teledensity in telecommuni cations is projected to have significant 
multiplier effects on the economies concerned.  Accord ing to a recent study of the impact of mobile 
services on several economies, a resulting increase in  GDP due to raised productivity ranged from 
0.8 per cent in Thailand to 2.1 per cent in Banglad esh, where mobile telephony was often a substitute 
for fixed, and a large proportion of subscribers u sed their mobile phone for business purposes.  The 
actual contribution to GDP was thought to be higher,  since the figures do not take into account les 
tangible effects such as the dissemination of educatio nal and health information, and the availability 
of mobile remittance services.  The study also found the employment impact to be significant.  It 
estimated that the total of direct, indirect and multiplier effects on employments ranged from 36,000 jobs (full-time equivalent) in Serbia to as  many as 244,000 jobs in Pakistan in 2007.
18  Other studies 
based on emerging data have generally confirmed a li nk of the sector to growth  and income  related 
benefits.19 
16. The cost of telecommunications has also plummeted as competition has taken hold.  
International call prices, accordi ng to Telegeography, have declined  every year since it first begun 
publishing its flagship report in 1988.  Over 15 year s, world average prices for an international call 
fell more than 80 per cent, and declined an additiona l 7 per cent in 2007.  In spite of lower prices, 
subsequent to revenue declines recorded betw een 2002-2004, international call revenues have 
resumed upward movement since 200 6, totalling US$78 billion in 2007.20  Domestic tariffs have also 
                                                      
17 World Investment Report, Part II: Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge.  
UNCTAD, 2008, pp. 19-20. 
18 Deloitte & Touche, Economic Impact of Mobile Communications on Serbia, Ukraine, Malaysia, 
Thailand, Bangladesh and Pakistan,  Report prepared for Telenor ASA, January 2008.   
19 See, e.g. Bhavnani, A.; R. Won-Wai Chiu; S. Janakiram; and P. Silarszky, The Role of Mobile 
Phones in Sustainable Rural Poverty Reduction, The World Bank, GICT Department, June 2008; Urquhart, C, 
S. Liyanage, and M. Mo Kahl, "ICTs and poverty reduction: a social capital and knowledge perspective," 
Journal of Information Technology  (2008) 23, pp. 208- 213; and Keck, A. an d C. Djiofack-Zebaze, 
"Telecommunications Services in Africa: The Impact of Multilateral Commitments and Unilateral Reform on 
Sector Performance and Economic Growth", WTO Staff Working Paper, November 2006. 
20 Telegeography Report , © 2008 Primetrica, Inc.    S/C/W/299 
 Page 7 
 
 
  contributed to the trend in affordability.  In Mauritiu s, for example, the cost of a three minute call to 
Longdon fell by 84 per cent and a call to China by 89 per cent between 2001 and 2008.21 In Pakistan,  
monthly mobile phone tariffs plu mmeted from 253 per cent of monthly per capita income in 2000 to 3 
per cent of monthly per capita income in 2006, and the mobile sector has been considered to be a 
factor in driving economic growth.22  In 2009, ITU launched am ICT Price Basket, which combines 
fixed, mobile and broadband tariffs into one meas ure and compares it across countries. The ICT Price 
Basket will be published annually and will for the fi rst time allow comparisons over time for a wide 
range of developed and developing economies. In the OECD, which has been examining baskets of 
prices for some time, a trend observed in OECD economies is a shift away from paying for voice to 
paying for data, which can also be used to tran sport voice.  Such pricing practices involve, for 
example, flat-rate packages for domestic and internat ional voice calls to fixed lines.  Flat-rate pricing 
is also the dominant structure for broadband access in the OECD economies.23  
17. The trend toward cross-sector convergence is ev ident in the continued growth of markets in 
which operators provide multiple-pla y offers (e.g. including television,  Internet, voice and data).  As 
operators in the previously distinct markets have  begun to compete, cable television providers, for 
example, now commonly offer Internet access and voice.  Similarly, mobile companies complement 
their subscriptions with data and video offerings, as do traditional operators over their own networks.  
Consumers benefit from the lowering of walls between these markets as they gain a growing number of providers among which to choose.   However, the removal of tech nological barriers and commercial 
restraints between sometimes very differently regu lated sectors such as audiovisual and computer 
services, can require governments to re-examine a number of issues.   
18. Recently, a steady increase in offerings of mob ile broadband service is taking hold.  By 2007, 
the number of mobile broadband subscribers reache d 266 million, a growth rate of 90 per cent over 
2006.
24  A strong competitive environment and ne wly emerging technologies are making this 
possible.  Such technologies include offerings such as WIFI, 2.5/3 generation mobile service and emerging 3.5/4 generation technologies (capable of  carrying ever higher bandwidth), WiMAX and 
other new forms of high-speed packet access.   
19. Markets for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) have continued to grow.  An advantage of 
VoIP telephony is that it reinforces the downw ard price trends that governments opening their 
markets seek to obtain.  Increased regulatory ope ning to various forms of VoIP has allowed it to 
compete head-on with traditional telephone lines in many developed and some  developing countries.  
Both in France
25 and Japan26, about one-third of all fixed lines were VoIP lines at the end of 2007.  
(See also Appendix Figures A5 and A6.)  According to some market analysts, the number of VoIP 
subscribers globally reached 80 million in 2008.27  Another recent trend is that business users 
represent an increasing share of the subscribers. 
                                                      
21 Information and Communication Technology Authority, Government of Mauritius, Country Report 
to Crasa , April 2009.  
22 A monthly charge is compiled based on a basket of peak and off-peak and on-net, off-net and fixed 
calls.  The basket is divided by Gross National Income per capita. See:  World Information Society Report 2007: 
Beyond WSIS , ITU/UNCTAD, June 2007, pp 72-73. 
23 OECD, Communications Outlook , 2007. 
24 ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. 
25 iLocus, 5 August 2008, at: www.ilocus.com/2008/08/64_voip_subscribers_in_france.html   
26 Ovum, VoIP becoming mainstream in Korea and Japan, 21 January 2008, at: 
www.ovum.com/go/content/c,377,73689 . 
27 Infonetics Research, through VoIP News , 1 March 2008, at:  
www.voip-news.co.uk/2008/03/01/80-million-worldwide-voip-subscribers-in-2007/ . S/C/W/299 
Page 8  
 
  IV. GATS COMMITMENTS 
20. As of  May 2009, a total of 108 governments, or more than two-thirds of all WTO Members 
have committed on telecommunications services in their GATS schedules.  This means that telecommunications is the GATS sector  with the th ird highest number of commitments after business 
and professional services and financial services.  As  regards scheduling of the Reference Paper on 
regulatory principles for telecommunications (the only service thus far with negotiated additional 
commitments), the number of Member governments who have attached it with few, if any, 
modifications now stands at 82.
28  About seven additional governments have made commitments to 
some, but not all, of the Reference Paper provisi ons, or have appended their own versions.  Every 
government that has acceded to the WTO since th e basic telecommunications  negotiations has also 
taken on these disciplines.  In the Doha Developm ent Agenda negotiations, some governments have 
made offers that would commit for the first time telecommunications services and that include the 
disciplines in the Reference Paper.   
21. More governments have typically committe d on basic telecommunications services 
(subsectors a-g) than on value added services (subsectors h-n).  Figure 2 illustrates that 100 
governments committed on voice telephone services (subsector a) and 94-95 committed on data 
transmission services (subsectors b and c). Mobile  services, often but not always committed under 
"other" services, are committed with respect to mob ile cellular by 97 governments and mobile satellite 
services by 89 governments.  Although many of the commitments were originally scheduled to be phased in on specified future dates, all but virtua lly a handful of the phase-ins have now transpired. 
The value-added service with the highest number of  commitments is "on-line information and data 
base retrieval" (subsector k) in which 86 go vernments commit; e-mail and voice mail have 
commitments by 85 and 81 governments, respectiv ely. A total of 18 of the committing governments 
did not list any value-added services, and another fi ve Members only committed on one or two.  This 
does not arise because value-added services are less open  to competition.  Rather, it is a legacy of the 
WTO negotiations dedicated to basic services.  Th e Doha Development Agenda negotiations might  
possibly help contribute to rectifying this anomaly.   
 
                                                      
28 The figure counts EC Member states individually.  S/C/W/299 
 Page 9 
 
 
  Figure 2.  Number of commitments in  telecommunications, by subsector 
100
94
95
88
76
89
90
85
81
86
77
64
74
60
8997a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.1.
o.2.SubsectorsNumber of governments 
 
Subsectors Key:  
a. Voice Telephone Services,  
b. Packet-Switched Data Transmission Services,  c. Circuit-Switched Data Transmission Services,  
d. Telex Services,  
e. Telegraph Services,  f. Facsimile Services,  
g. Private Leased Circuit Services,  
h. Electronic Mail,  i. Voice Mail,  
j. On-line Information and Data Base Retrieval,  
k. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI),  
l. Enhanced/Value-Added Facsimile Services,  
m. Code and Protocol Conversion,  n. On-line Information and/or data processing,  
o.1. Other – Mobile Cellular 
o.2. Other – Mobile Satellite  
 
 
22. In terms of breadth of coverage of telecom ser vices in commitments, the record is mixed.  
The services sectoral classification list contains a to tal of 15 subsectors into which commitments can 
be organized.  Table 2 shows that 35 government s have committed on all subsectors and another 
30 Members commit on 13 or more.  Nearly three-f ourths of governments wi th commitments list at 
least half of the telecom subsectors, while those listing four or less sub-sectors represent less than 
4 per cent.   
23. Due to the use of the Chairman's Note categor ies to describe the activ ities committed, within 
each subsector listed some governments may also have  limited the scope of the commitment only to 
sub-categories such as public service or to facilities-based supply.  All industrialized country governments have, for example, committed to allo w non-facilities based supply (or resale) of basic 
voice or data services, while such commitments by developing countries vary.  While a number of 
developing economy governments have limited their commitments on voice services to facilities based supply, others have elected to take a phased-in commitment to voice resale services.   S/C/W/299 
Page 10  
 
  Table 2.  Coverage of Subsectors by Commitments 
Number of Sub-
sectors committed 1 - 4 5 - 8 9 - 12 13 - 14 15 
 
Number of Governments  5 23 15 30 35 
 
% of  governments with commitments 26 41 32 
 
 
24. Dealing with the limitations listed in commitments on telecommunications services has been 
flagged as a priority in the Doha Agenda negotia tions.  In Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration (December 2005), Ministers made a refe rence to the "sectoral and modal objectives as 
identified by Members".  The objectives relating to  telecommunications services called for improving 
the coverage of modes and subsectors, in a tec hnology-neutral manner.  They also stressed the 
reduction or elimination of limitations currently  listed in schedules, such as exclusive rights, 
economic needs tests, restrictions on the t ype of legal entity and on foreign equity;29  The subsequent 
plurilateral request on telecommunications also c ited limitations such as routing and commercial 
presence requirements, limits on the number of supp liers, type of legal entity and economic needs 
tests (mode 3) as candidates for removal.  
V. TRADE AND REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT  
25. The global environment in which telecommunication services are traded today is 
predominantly a competitive one characterized by more open cross-border trade and foreign direct 
investment.  Cross-border trade now can increasi ngly encompass not only the traditional cross-border 
supply of services via termination but also the uptake of new customers within foreign markets far 
from where the supplier is physically located.  Th is new aspect of cross-border trade will become 
increasingly feasible in the future as global broadb and penetration rises to significant levels.  At 
present, nevertheless, trade in telecommunications by means of commercial presence predominates.  
Whether measured by BOP or international call re venues, it would appear that cross border services 
account for only 5-10 per cent of total telecommunication revenues.30  However, despite a dramatic 
opening of markets over the past decade, incumbent operators (i.e. the former  monopolies) still retain 
a dominant position in most economies.  For this reason, the maintenance of regulatory safeguards 
such as those dealt with by the Annex on Telecomm unications and the Reference Paper has continued 
to be an important feature of telecom reforms.  This section provides a summary of some of the 
significant issues in market structure and regulatory issues. 
A. COMPETITION AND MARKET STRUCTURE  
26. Markets steadily continue to open to compe tition.  While only 40 countries had authorized 
competition in the provision of basic telecommuni cation services in 1997, a decade later the number 
had risen to about 110 countries.  According to data on OECD economies,  price decreases and 
improved services have been most noticeable in markets characterised by intense competition.31  
                                                      
29 Report by the Services Chairman to the Trade Negotiations Committee, TN/S/23, 
28 November 2005.  The objectives , as well as the plurilateral request, also called for commitment to all 
provisions of the Reference Paper; and the elimination of MFN exemptions.   
30 Neither BOP statistics nor international call reve nues are comprehensive measures of actual cross 
border supply of telecommunications services, which are in all services difficult to measure.  As such, they 
should only be considered indicative.   
31 OECD, Communications Outlook , 2007.  S/C/W/299 
 Page 11 
 
 
  Mobile services and Internet services continue to  be the most competitive markets, although fixed-line 
services are now becoming increasingly competitive.  A trend toward increased liberalization of 
international facilities is also evident in developing economies, especially Africa.  Countries that have 
liberalized international gateways have seen  prices fall and quality of service improved.  
Liberalization includes licensing or authorization of multiple players for the provision of international 
gateway services, and opening up cable  landing stations to competition.32  
27. Data from the ITU's regulatory database (Figure 3)  illustrate that only about 30 per cent of 
governments worldwide retained a monopoly over fixe d network services in 2008.  This fact likely 
explains the somewhat higher figures for monopoly control over wireless local loop services (which are an extension of fixed networks) and leased lines that are typically obtained from such monopolies.  
By contrast, around 90 per cent of governments allowed competition in mobile services (2G and 3G) 
and Internet access services, a factor that is consid ered to be largely responsible for the phenomenal 
growth in uptake of these services.  The ITU database also shows VSAT services (a service not 
usually broken out in GATS commitments due to the technology neutral approach to scheduling) as 
having been opened to competition by nearly 90 per cent of governments. 
Figure 3.  Status of competition in  selected services markets – 2008 
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
Basic
servicesLeased
linesWireless
local loopMobile 
(2G)Mobile 
(3G)Internet
servicesDSL V SA TMonopoly Competition
 
Source : ITU World Telecommunication Regulatory Database 
Note: The column for "basic services" in this chart refers to fixed telephony services.   
 
28. A marked preference of governments to ease themselves out of the business of supplying 
telecommunications continues.  According to ITU figures, by mid-2008, 125 governments had a 
privately-owned, or partially privatized, fixed-line incumbent operator.33  Europe and the Americas 
have the highest percentage of private ownership at  78 and 74 per cent, respectively, followed by 
Africa and Asia-Pacific (58 per cent).  Although a majo rity of countries in the Arab States still have 
state owned incumbents (52 per cent), a number of  countries in the region have embarked on the 
privatization path. 
                                                      
32 ITU, Trends in Telecommunications Reform , 2008. 
33 Ibid. S/C/W/299 
Page 12  
 
  B. B
ARRIERS TO TRADE  
29. WTO Members have identified a number of trade restrictions they would like to see removed 
in the sector in the context of the Doha Developmen t Agenda negotiations (see Section IV, above).  In 
the GATS context, the restrictions Members cite ar e, for obvious reasons, those within the scope of 
GATS provisions and the related schedules of commitments.  Existing schedules of commitments, 
however, often list restrictions on the number of supp liers or the level of foreign equity that have 
since been eliminated or relaxed.  In prac tice therefore, actual restrictions on trade in 
telecommunications have become much less common, and GATS schedules, particularly ones that did not include a phase-out of restrictions, often no longer reflect actual regimes.  Private sector stakeholders tend to remind policy makers that ther e is still work to be done.  Corporate participants 
in the WTO telecommunications symposium in 2008  mentioned a number of issues and measures.
34  
One executive cited discriminatory practices by infrast ructure providers, particularly at the wholesale 
level, and noted that existing non-discrimination re quirements needed to be better enforced.  Another 
executive agreed that removal of foreign equity  limits was desirable, but also noted that 
implementation of commitments and regulatory discip lines needed to be thorough and timely, and that 
the removal of remaining protection of national in cumbents was important, suggesting that those who 
faced competition improve their performance more ra pidly.  An intimate link between trade barriers 
and regulation, it is fair to say, is the primar y reason why regulatory frameworks have been an 
important focus of telecommunications negotiations  in the WTO.  These negotiating efforts represent 
an explicit recognition by Members that regulations can have negative implications for market access 
commitments, if best practice, competition-friendl y regulation is not observed in a sector as heavily 
regulated and transitional as telecommunications.   
C. REGULATORY ISSUES  
30. The Reference Paper on regulatory principles in telecommunications has helped shape the 
regulatory environment in this sector over the p ast decade.  It has served as a blueprint for sector 
reform in WTO Members and in countries wishi ng to accede.  Even WTO Member governments who 
have not yet committed to its provisions have adopted similar principles, either by directly borrowing 
from it, or by adopting best practice.   
1. Independent regulators 
31. By 2008, the number of governments with a na tional entity to regulate telecommunications 
stood at 152, more than three times the number of governments with such a body in 1995.  Since the 
1990s regional economic communities have been in creasingly involved in the development of model 
telecom policies and regulations.  Through semi-inde pendent regional regulators’ associations, these 
communities aim to harmonize telecommunications policy and regulation across member states in hopes of stimulating cross-border investments and market development.
35 
 
                                                      
34 See, e.g. Panel E:  Corporate Perspective on De velopments in Telecommunications Markets, of the 
WTO Symposium on the 10th Anniversary of the Negotiations on Basic Telecommunications , 20-
21 February 2008. 
35 See, for example, van Gorp, Annemijn and Maitland, Carleen,  " Comparative research on regional 
regulators’ associations:  A theory-driven path for progress ", Telecommunications Po licy, Vol. 33, No. 1-2, 
(February-March 2009).  S/C/W/299 
 Page 13 
 
 
  Figure 4.  Number of governments with a telecommunications regulatory body 
43137152
106
1995 2000 2004 2008# of regulatory bodi e
 
Source : ITU World Telecommunication Regulatory Database 
 
32. The challenges to regulators are manifold as the transition to competition, new technologies 
and the convergence of different services and indu stries with traditional telecommunications take 
hold.  Often, regulators find themselves in relativel y uncharted territory, particularly for developing 
economies where regulatory solutions employed in  industrialized country governments may be 
difficult to adapt or less well suited to their circum stances.  In some cases, however, new regulators 
with a relatively blank slate can now pick and choose from a wide variety of best practice options that 
others have developed, or even avoid adopting outdated regulatory practices from the start.  In some 
cases, developing countries have arrived at new re gulatory solutions to support competitive markets 
better adapted to their national circumstances, a trend that, at its best, could be regarded as 
“entrepreneurial regulation ”.  In fact, innovative thinking on the part of regulators will be even more 
important over the next few years as the communica tions landscape continues to transform itself.  
However, the demands of more sophisticated lega l, economic, accounting a nd other analytic skills 
required by regulators of competitive markets and new technologies means that assistance in regulatory capacity building is a priority.  Alread y, it has become an element of multilateral and 
bilateral technical assistance programs.  In addition, many national regulators have increasingly 
grouped themselves into regional associations to share skills and best practice experiences, as well as 
to develop examples of mo del laws and regulations.
36  
2. New and emerging regulatory issues 
33. It is beyond the remit of this No te to treat the issues described below at the level of detail or 
complexity that they may deserve.  Bear in mind, however, that considerable thinking, discussion and 
regulatory efforts on the issues flagged here are underway at the national, regional and multilateral 
levels.  As such, a plethora of information is availa ble to Members who may wish  to explore further the 
potential implications of such issues for trad e in telecommunications services and the GATS. 
                                                      
36 A variety of such efforts and regional groupings exist.  One example, involving ECOWAS, WATRA 
(the West African Telecommunications Regulator's Association) and a project jointly undertaken by ITU and 
the European Communities can be found at http://www.itu.int/I TU-D/treg/projects/itu-ec/index.html .  S/C/W/299 
Page 14  
 
  34. Interconnection.—  Certainly, regulation of traditiona l interconnection involving links to 
incumbent fixed networks remains critically important  to competitive markets.  However, new issues 
are arising as technologies change and other operat ors take on larger roles.  In some markets, 
operators of fixed telecommunications are transforming their facilities into IP-based, so-called next-generation networks (NGNs).  This prospect is a ttracting renewed regulatory debate.  Some observers 
argue that interconnection regime s developed neither for the inte rnet nor for traditional telephony 
networks might be suitable in most NGN contexts.  A recent study suggests that in NGNs – as well as 
in other networks – there is no single interconne ction charging model that maximizes economic 
efficiency in all circumstances.
37  Questions about mobile interconnection rates have also surfaced, 
with experts questioning why presumably competitive markets have not appeared to be sufficient to 
bring competitive forces to bear upon the mobile interconnection pricing.  The GATS disciplines, 
particularly Reference Paper commitments, may he lp address some such issues, in cases where 
dominance is present or emerges, but in multiplayer markets without clear patterns of dominance regulators are at times unsure of which tools woul d best ensure fair and market-driven pricing 
practices. 
35. Mobile Roaming.— While linked in part to the issue of mobile interconnection, mobile roaming 
is also an issue in itself, relate d to the continuing phenomenon of the exceedingly high prices charged by 
mobile companies to customers who travel abroad wi th their phones.  As with mobile interconnection, 
regulators have been questioning why a presumably co mpetitive market is able to sustain such high 
price levels.  Most regulatory tools for dealing with  market imperfections, if this phenomenon can be 
considered as such, rely on control or dominance.  However, some regulators sense that the problem is 
more closely associated with lack of transparency and inadequate power of consumers.  Given that 
consumers seldom have little choice other than to  pay high roaming charges, regardless of which 
company they use, observers have also considered th e notion that operators may be engaging in tacit or 
implicit collusion and possible ways of dealing with it.
38 
36. Spectrum Management.— Compared with other sector reforms, spectrum policies have been 
slow to  change, perhaps due to the complexity of the area .  More recently, however, there are signs of a 
rethinking of practices so as to better adapt technica l, allocation and assignment decisions to competitive 
environments.39  Spectrum auctioning is already common in many markets and, in a few cases, 
experiments in spectrum trading have b een initiated or are being contemplated.40 However, the 
challenges are considerable.  As one observer notes, proposals advanced in this context require the adoption of quite radical changes without a sound empi rical basis.  In the ab sence of such evidence it 
is difficult for policy makers to take more informed positions.
41  Nevertheless, the increasing demand 
on spectrum resources, as mobile technologies become  a predominant form of delivery and satellite 
services become more affordable, will require innovative and compe tition-friendly solutions. 
37. Universal Service in a new environment.— According to one observer,  as mobile substitution 
occurs, the traditional paradigm of fixed line as th e universal service obligation is no longer valid and 
                                                      
37 Dodd, Moya; Jung, Astrid; Mitchell, Bridger; Pate rson, Paul and Reynolds, Paul, "Bill-and-keep and 
the economics of interconnection in next-generation networks", Telecommunications Policy , Volume 33, Issues 
5-6, June-July 2009. 
38 See, for example, Rey, Patrick, University of Toulouse " Collective Dominance and the 
Telecommunications Industry ", paper presented at European Commission conference entitled "The Economics 
of Antitrust in the Telecommunications Sector", 16 September 2002, Brussels.   
39 See, for example, Wellenius, B and I. Neto, "M anaging the Radio Spectrum:  Framework for Reform 
in Developing Countries", Policy Research Working Paper No. 4549, World Bank, March 2008. 
40 See, for example, Ibarguen, Giancarlo, "L iberating the Radio Sp ectrum in Guatemala," 
Telecommunications Policy , Vol. 27, pp 543-664.   
41Akalu, Rajen, "Opportunity costs and spectrum reform", INFO,  Volume 9 Issue 6, 2007.  S/C/W/299 
 Page 15 
 
 
  the rules must be changed.42  Already, some governments are supplementing universal service 
obligations with additional criteria, such as extendi ng access to the Internet, in general, or broadband 
services, in particular.  Many experts see this as  the best incentive for ensuring that competition 
flourishes in new technology environments.  Affo rdable access for certain under-served or less well 
off population groups is now seen by  governments as not simply a way to close the so-called digital 
divide, but also to provide support for the livelihood s of such individuals and the sustainability of 
their communities.  Where specific obligations or funding obligations placed on operators appear necessary, governments will need to bear in mind Reference Paper principles such as "transparent, 
non-discriminatory and competitively neutral".  These principles will remain as important for the implementation mechanisms in new environments as they were to universal service schemes linked to 
fixed telephony.   
38. Promotion of Broadband and NGN.— In what has become a race to adopt and spread the use 
of broadband technologies, a number of governments have experienced a frustration with the slow 
rollout by companies and limited uptake by customers.  This may begin to change as more sophisticated  mobile devices now hitting the market fall into the hands of more consumers.  
Broadband technologies can deliver more and  be tter telecommunication services as well as wide 
variety of  other information services.  In this  respect they are central to many e-government 
initiatives, but they also expand the potential for ma ny commercial services to be supplied online, and 
can enhance business communications and logistics.  As a result, in addition to erecting a higher 
goalpost to be met in narrowing the digital divide,  broadband is also thought to be critical to the 
ability of an economy to remain competitive in globa l markets for international trade in goods and 
services.  Many different approaches are being take n or considered.  Some governments, as mentioned 
above, have folded broadband into universal service policies, while others have developed dedicated 
funds to spur its growth and de velopment.  Yet others have ta ken a hands off, market driven 
approach.
43  Some such schemes recently instituted or  under consideration hint more at outright 
subsidy schemes to operators selected to undertak e commercial deployment of broadband offerings.  
If not undertaken with prudence, such policies c ould risk upsetting the competitive balance between 
market players.  For example, incentive schemes which only take fixed operators into account may 
ignore the potential for mobile services to become  a primary means of broadband access for many 
groups of consumers.  Also, schemes which grant incentives only to the incumbent operator to roll out 
broadband services may ultimately put other market participants at a competitive disadvantage, and 
prevent them from contributing to the government's broadband deployment targets.  It may be useful 
to recall that the lingering effects of the "first comer" advantage created by government fiat may be 
difficult to reverse later on, and that subsidies are not well spent where private investors would 
otherwise have entered and served targeted mark ets without such government expenditures.   
39. Local loop unbundling and other regul atory issues raised in PTAs .— A notable feature of 
preferential trade agreements (PTAs) negotiated by  Members is the telecom regulatory obligations 
they often contain.  The objective of such oblig ations is similar to that of the GATS Annex on 
Telecommunications and the Reference Paper, i.e.  ensuring effective market access.  In some cases 
the PTAs borrow directly from the disciplines develo ped in the GATS.  In other cases they add value, 
such as with the inclusion of stronger transparency and licensing provisions, the inclusion of a general interconnect obligation on all telecom suppliers, a nd the expansion of Refere nce Paper benefits to 
value-added services.  More recently, however, some PTAs also include issues not explicitly 
                                                     
 
42 Chen, Chun-Mei, Tsai, Hsiang-Chih and Mao, Chi-Kuo, "Income, affordable and threshold effects 
on FMS in the developed and developing economies", Telecommunications Policy,  Vol. 32, No. 9-10, October-
November 2008. 
43 See, for example, Huigen Jos, and Cave, Martin, "Regulation and the promotion of investment in 
next generation networks—A European dilemma ".  Telecommunications Policy , Vol. 32, No. 11, December 
2008.  Among other things, the authors suggest that the ince ntives to invest are weaker  in markets with only one 
fixed network. S/C/W/299 
Page 16  
 
  addressed by the Annex and Reference Paper.  Ex amples of this are local loop unbundling, co-
location, number portability and dialling parity.  In  some cases, such as local loop unbundling, the 
practice had not yet evolved when the Reference Pa per was negotiated.  Frustrated with continued 
infrastructure dominance by incumbent operators, and the high costs and disputes that continued to 
plague interconnection efforts, some government s sought to alleviate the problem by requiring 
dominant operators to sub-lease portions of their ne twork, thus allowing multip le providers to sell 
communication services over the same line.  Where it has been instituted, according to the OECD, 
local loop unbundling has changed the compe titive landscape of the markets concerned.
44  In other 
cases, such as co-location, number portability a nd dialling parity, the issues and potential problems 
were apparent at the time of GATS negotiations, but were not explicitly included in the disciplines.  
The Reference Paper competition safeguard provi sion does not exclude from its coverage any 
particular aspects of anticompetitive behaviour, a nd hence might cover anticompetitive practices with 
respect to these activities.  However, it is not  uncommon for PTAs to include provisions calling 
explicitly for control of major suppliers in these areas.45 
VI. CONCLUSION 
40. The right of new entrants to compete in tel ecommunications markets is only part of the 
picture.  Likewise, the adoption of telecommuni cations reform laws a nd regulations, and the 
scheduling in the WTO of commitments, are only th e beginning of a process.  In many markets, 
gaining significant market share c ontinues to be a challenge for ne w entrants, and their access to the 
last mile often remains prohibitively expensiv e.  Suppliers can still sometimes face lack of 
transparency, unclear or arbitrary licensing criteria and procedures, and legacy measures that, perhaps 
even unwittingly, give the incumbent an upper hand.  Consumers ultimately pay the price when 
competition is suppressed and the economy-wide be nefits of competitive prices and innovative 
services cannot be realized.   
41. WTO Members have long recognized that supporti ve regulation serves as a complement to 
the introduction of competition in telecommunica tions services.  Ensuring competition-friendly 
universal service mechanisms remains important , especially as some governments contemplate 
expanding the scope of such obligations to include Internet and broadband services.  At a time when 
many governments around the world are contemplati ng ways to hasten the expansion of broadband 
services, it may also be useful to bear in mind the advantages of cost-reducing, market-based infrastructure incentives.  Market imperfections or  anticompetitive practices, if they emerge in the 
mobile or broadband industries, may need to  be addressed.  Competition-inducing spectrum 
management policies are also worth exploring, as greater demands are placed on spectrum usage.  
Protection of legacy, fixed operator prerogatives, such as bans on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), maintenance of traditional accounting rates,  and lack of adequate competition in capacity 
leasing can impede efforts to secure modern comm unications services, and inhibit the emergence of 
IT-enabled services.   
42. It is not surprising that interest among both developed and developing countries for new and 
better commitments on telecommunications is a notab le feature of the Doha Development Agenda 
negotiations.  More offers have t hus far been tabled in telecommunications than in any other sector, 
aside from financial services.  The opening of teleco m markets to internationa l trade has been pivotal 
to growth and development in most Members'  economies.  The WTO-led trade initiatives in 
telecommunications have coincided to a remarkable extent with ma jor shifts in national policy and 
have often helped governments avoid pressures to b acktrack on reforms.  The consensus achieved in 
                                                     
 
44 OECD, Communications Outlook , 2007. 
45 Tuthill, Lee and Sherman, L., "Telecommunica tions:  Can trade agreements keep up with 
technology?" in Opening Markets for Trade in Services:  Countri es and Sectors in Bilateral and WTO 
Negotiations , ed.  Marchetti, J.A. and Roy, M., Cambri dge University Press. © WTO:  2008.    S/C/W/299 
 Page 17 
 
 
  the WTO on the broad parameters of regulatory best practice, by means of the GATS Annex on 
Telecommunications and the Reference Paper, has provided a blueprint for success and helped to 
fortify regulatory bodies.  However, enhanced implem entation efforts are equally important.  They are 
key, not only to trading partners whose suppliers wi sh to contribute to telecom growth through market 
access, but also to the ability of the reforming gove rnments to meet national telecommunications and 
economic development targets.  Overall, the de gree of enthusiasm, good faith and best efforts 
Members have demonstrated to live up to GATS commitments and regulatory disciplines in the 
telecommunications sector has been impressive.  However, fine-tuning implementation efforts may pose challenges and require significant fu rther attention in the coming years. 
 
 
_______________ 
 
 S/C/W/299 
Page 18  
 
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_______________ 
  
   S/C/W/299 
 Page 21 
 
 
  APPENDIX  
 
SECTION 1: Definitional sources for telecommunications services  
 
Figure A1.  Telecommunications services in the GATS Services Sectoral Classification List 
(MTN/GNS/W/120) 
 
2. COMMUNICATION SERVICES  
C. Telecommunication services  
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 facs imile services, incl.  7523** 
 store and forward, store and retrieve 
m. code and protocol conversion  n.a.   
n. on-line information and/or data 
 processing (incl.transaction processing)  843** 
o. other 
 
 
Figure A2.  Note by the Chairman, Notes for Sche duling Basic Telecoms Serv ices Commitments, Group 
on Basic Telecommunications (S/GBT/W/2/Rev.1, 16 January 1997) 
 
 
 
Figure A3.  Related Definitions from  the Annex on Te lecommunications 
 1.  Unless otherwise noted in the sector column, any basic telecom service listed in the sector column: 
(a) encompasses local, long distance and interna tional services for public and non-public use; 
(b) may be provided on a facilities-basis or by resale;  and 
(c) may be provided through any means of technology (e.g., cable1, wireless, satellites). 
 
2.  Subsector (g) --private leased circuit services -- i nvolves the ability of service suppliers to sell or lease any 
type of network capacity for the supply of services listed in any other basic telecom service subsector unless otherwise noted in the sector column.  This would in clude capacity via cable, satellite and wireless network. 
 
3.  In view of points 1 and 2 above, it should not be n ecessary to list cellular or mobile services as a separate 
subsector.  However,  a number of Members have done so, and a number of offers have commitments only in 
these subsectors.  Therefore, in order to avoid extensive changes in schedules, it would seem appropriate for 
Members to maintain separate entries for these subsectors. 
 (a) "Telecommunications" means the transmission a nd reception of signals by any electromagnetic 
means.  (b) "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 transmissi on 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.  (c) "Public telecommunications transport network" means the public telecommunications infrastructure 
which permits telecommunications between a nd among defined network termination points. S/C/W/299 
Page 22  
 
   
Figure A4.  Main text of Note by the Chairman on  Scheduling Basic Telecom Services Commitments   
(S/GBT/W/2/Rev.1)  
 
  
1.  Unless otherwise noted in the sector column, any basic telecom service listed in the sector column: 
 
(a) encompasses local, long distance and interna tional services for public and non-public use; 
 
(b) may be provided on a facilities-basis or by resale;  and 
 
(c) may be provided through any means of technology (e.g., cable1, wireless, satellites). 
 
2.  Subsector (g) --private leased circuit services -- in volves the ability of service suppliers to sell or lease any 
type of network capacity for the supply of services listed in any other basic telecom service subsector unless 
otherwise noted in the sector column.  This would in clude capacity via cable, satellite and wireless network. 
 3.  In view of points 1 and 2 above, it should not be n ecessary to list cellular or mob ile services as a separate 
subsector.  However,  a number of Members have done so, and a number of offers have commitments only in 
these subsectors.  Therefore, in order to avoid extensive changes in schedules, it would seem appropriate for Members to maintain separate entries for these subsectors. 
 
 
1 Including all types of cable.  S/C/W/299 
 Page 23 
 
 
  SECTION  2  
  
 Table A1.  Summary of Specifi c Commitments on Telecommunicati ons Services, by Member, 2009 
 
 a. b. c. .d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. .m. n. o.1. o.2. 
Albania X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Antigua and 
Barbuda X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Argentina X X X X   X X X X X X X X X X X 
Armenia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Australia X X X X   X X X X X X X X   X X 
Austria X X X X X X X X X X X   X X X X 
Bangladesh X X X X X X X               X X 
Barbados X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Belize X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Bolivia X X X X X X X               X X 
Brunei 
Darussalam X   X     X   X   X X X     X  
Bulgaria X X X X X X X     X   X X   X X 
Cambodia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Canada X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Chile X X X X X X X X   X       X X X 
Cape Verde X X X   X X X X X X  X  X X 
China X X X     X X X X X X X X X X X 
Colombia X X X X X   X X X X X X X X X X 
Congo RP X                             
Côte d'Ivoire X X X X X X X               X X 
Croatia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Cuba X X X X X X                   
Czech 
Republic X X X X X X X               X X 
Djibouti X X X X X     X         X   X X 
Dominica X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Dominican 
Republic X X X X X X X               X X 
Ecuador X             X X X X X X X X  
Egypt X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
El Salvador X X X X   X X               X X 
Estonia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
European 
Community 
(12) X X X X X X X X X X X   X   X X 
Finland X X X X X X X X X X X   X   X X 
FYR 
Macedonia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Gambia X X X X   X X X X X X X       
Georgia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Ghana X X X X X X X               X X 
Grenada X X X X   X X X X X X X X X X X 
Guatemala X X X X X X X               X X 
Guyana                   X           
Hong Kong X X X     X X X X X X X X X X X S/C/W/299 
Page 24  
 
   a. b. c. .d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. .m. n. o.1. o.2. 
Hungary X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Iceland X X X X X X X X X X X   X   X X 
India X   X     X X X X X   X   X X  
Indonesia X X X X X     X X         X X X 
Israel X X X X   X X X X X X X     X X 
Jamaica X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Japan X X X X   X X X X X X X X X X X 
Jordan X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Kenya X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Korea RP X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Kyrgyz 
Republic X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Latvia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Lesotho               X   X X X X X   
Liechtenstein               X X X X X X X X  
Lithuania X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Malaysia X X X X X X X X X X   X X   X X 
Mauritius X X X X X X X               X X 
Mexico X X X     X X X X X X X X X X X 
Moldova X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Mongolia               X X X X X X X   
Morocco X X   X     X X X X X X     X X 
Nepal X X X X X     X X     X     X X 
New Zealand X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Nicaragua     X X X X X X X X X X X X X  
Nigeria X             X X X X X X X X  
Norway X X X X X X X X X X X X     X X 
Oman X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Pakistan X X X X X X X     X       X X X 
Panama               X X X X X X X   
Papua New 
Guinea X X X X X X X               X X 
Peru X X X X X X X X X X   X   X X X 
Philippines X X X X X X     X X X       X  
Poland X X X X X X X X X X X X     X X 
Romania X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Saint Kitts & 
Nevis               X X         X   
Saudi Arabia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Senegal X X X X   X X X         X   X X 
Singapore X X X       X X X X X     X X X 
Slovak 
Republic X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Slovenia               X X X   X X     
South Africa X X X X   X X X X X X X X X X X 
Sri Lanka X X X     X                 X X 
Suriname X X X X   X X               X X 
Sweden X X X X X X X X X X X   X   X X 
Switzerland X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Chinese 
Taipei X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Thailand X     X X X X     X       X    S/C/W/299 
 Page 25 
 
 
   a. b. c. .d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. .m. n. o.1. o.2. 
Tonga X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Trinidad and 
Tobago X X X X X   X     X X X X X X X 
Tunisia X X   X                     X X 
Turkey X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Uganda X           X               X X 
Ukraine X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
USA X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Venezuela X X X       X               X X 
Viet Nam X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Zimbabwe   X X     X   X X X X X X X   
Total 
Schedules  88 82 83 76 64 77 78 74 70 75 66 64 63 60 86 79 
Source :  WTO 
Note:  The European Communities commitments, reflected as one schedule in this table, are those of the EC-12. 
 
Key:  
a.  Voice Telephone Services 
b.  Packet-Switched Data  Transmission Services 
c.  Circuit-Switched Data Transmission Services 
d.  Telex Services 
e.  Telegraph Services 
f.  Facsimile Services 
g.  Private Leased Circuit Services 
h.  Electronic Mail 
i.  Voice Mail 
j.  On-line Information and Data Base Retrieval 
k.  Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) 
l.  Enhanced/Value-Added Facsimile Services 
m.  Code and Protocol Conversion 
n.  On-line Information and/or data processing 
o.1.  Other – Mobile Cellular  
o.2.  Other – Mobile Satellite 
 
  
_______________ 
 S/C/W/299 
Page 26  
 
   
       
Figure A5. International VoIP & Sw itched Traffic Growth, 1997-2005 
 
Voice-over-IP (VoIP) traffic includes all cross-border voice calls carried on IP networks but terminated on 
public switched telephone networks. PC-to-PC calls and private network traffic are excluded. Switched 
traffic includes circuit-switched voice and fax traffic carri ed on traditional international facilities as well as 
international simple resale (ISR) facilities. Figures for 2005 are projections. 
Figure A6. International VoIP & Switch ed Traffic Termination Summary, 2004 
 
Charts represent the percentage of total inbound VoIP  and inbound switched traffic by region. Voice-over-IP 
(VoIP) traffic includes all cross-border voice calls carri ed on IP networks but terminated on public switched 
telephone networks; PC-to-PC communications and privat e network traffic are excluded. Switched traffic 
includes circuit-switched voice and fax traffic carried  on traditional international facilities as well as 
international simple resale (ISR) facilities. Asia in cludes traffic to Australia and New Zealand, and Latin 
America includes traffic to the Caribbean. 
Source : TeleGeography research, data excerpted from TeleGeography 2006 © PriMetrica, Inc. 2005. 
__________