The Steering Group members discussed an early draft of the Principles at Interconnection. Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Thailand, among others, expressed the concern that all operators in an economy should provide interconnection, not only major suppliers. At the end of the discussion, it was resolved that to minimize government regulation of the market, major suppliers are the operators that should have the obligation to interconnect. It was noted that major suppliers, which are operators that either control essential facilities or have market power, maybe incumbents or new entrants, depending on the structure of the market. This project will study individual network elements and interconnect charges.
Delegates are welcome to provide comments on the scope of the project.
After the scope of the project is finalized through electronic communication among Task Group members, then economies will be invited to contribute data from their markets. Depending on the final scope of the project the Task Group may request project funds at the next TEL meeting. The Task Group proposes that the current Interconnection Task Group page of the APEC TEL website be enriched with more information. Further comments are welcome on the Task Group's wish for more opportunities for discussions and information exchange. If necessary, the Task Group may put in a request for project funding at TEL 19.