Academic literature on the topic 'WTO Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services'

On February 15, 1997, 69 countries agreed to provide market access to some or all of their basic telecommunications sectors. These 69 countries represent over 90% of the world's basic telecommunications revenues. This achievement came after two unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a multi-lateral agreement on basic telecommunications under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”). It was an achievement warmly welcomed by consumers and suppliers of basic telecommunications services.

Using econometric methods, this analysis develops quantity impacts of impediments to trade in voice telephone services, focusing on the perspective of negotiated agreements. These impacts, estimated on the basis of market, demographic, and policy variables, establish a baseline from which the achievements of future trade rounds, including the Doha Round, could be compared. In a departure from previous literature in this area, this article draws on documents appended or pertaining to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to identify barriers to trade in voice telephone services, and to estimate quantity impacts on this basis. The article finds that market access and national treatment commitments scheduled by WTO members under the GATS, when complemented by commitments to pro-competitive regulatory disciplines, may be formulated into meaningful policy variables. These policy variables are found to be statistically significant in explaining market penetration in voice telephone services, as are variables for income and private sector ownership.

More political scientists should engage in the debates surrounding regulation of communications networks, the infrastructure on which telecom, media, and Internet services ride. In 1990 there were 14 communications regulators worldwide, by 2007 there were 148. To fulfill World Trade Organization Agreement on Basic Telecommunications commitments, many countries aim to create regulatory agencies that are “independent.” What characterizes independence? Regulators are embedded in a political context that includes three main constituencies : other government institutions, industry, and consumers. Independent regulators are able to take action autonomously from other government institutions and industry while serving as advocates for consumers. In a survey of 18 countries, several traits emerge; a leader who cannot be dismissed arbitrarily, regulatory authority clearly distinct from policymaking, independent funding, minimal staff exchange between regulator and regulated firm, and dedicated support for consumers. It is usually easier for a regulator to be independent if operators are privatized. In a study of 4 countries, independent regulators follow decision-making procedures that give the public notice about proposed rule changes, opportunities to provide comments, and final decisions with explanation. Also, independent regulators have gift, conflict of interest, and post-employment rules, which set ethical standards and expectations for staff.

Today's world is far different from what it used to be few decades ago. As knowledge becomes more important, so does higher education. In World Trade Organisation (WTO), the objective of General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) was to establish a multilateral framework for services similar to trade in goods involving reduction in tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. GATS covered all the four modes of supply, i.e. cross-border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence and presence of natural persons. Out of the twelve basic and miscellaneous service sectors identified under GATS schedules, educational services constitute an important sector. The major challenge of all education is to develop an efficient and pro-active quality oriented education system, which fine-tunes itself regularly to meet the changing demand of WTO. Thus India must realise the impending threats of trade in education and try to convert these into opportunities. With many more countries waiting to tap this lucrative sector, India has to take the lead on behalf of the developing countries by using WTO as the forum and a worldclass education sector as the weapon to demand its due share of the colossal education market.

Electronic commerce may be a great equalizer that helps to reduce, or even to eliminate, distance-related barriers to trade, but it can also exacerbate a so-called ‘digital dividend’ vis-à-vis countries with technological and infrastructural deficiencies, especially developing countries. In the following we concentrate on trade distortion caused by taxation of e-trade in intangible goods. We believe this will have a particular ramification for the developing world. General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provisions may be relevant to many concerns with respect to the regulations of e-commerce, such as online privacy protection, illegal or illicit content, cyber crime and fraud, en-forcement of contracts, consumer protection, and taxation. In this paper, we will focus our debate mainly on the issues of taxation of e-trade with respect to the two basic principles of the WTO, that is. the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and the National Treatment (NT) principles.

AbstractThis article suggests that existing negotiation theory, which is dominated by the two paradigms of 'bargaining' and 'problem-solving', does not capture some important characteristics of international negotiations. It is argued that 'genuine debate' encapsulated by Habermas's concept of 'communicative action', which has largely been ignored in the negotiation literature, furthers and complements our understanding regarding negotiators' rationale for action and the dynamics of international negotiations. The paper specifies five conditions conducive to genuine debate: (1) a strongly shared lifeworld among negotiators; (2) uncertainty and lack of knowledge; (3) technical or cognitively complex issues; (4) the presence of persuasive individuals; and (5) low levels of politicization. My hypotheses are probed through a case study of EU negotiations concerning the WTO basic telecommunications agreement. My findings imply that genuine debate may occur most likely in pre-negotiations and at the diplomatic level of negotiations. I also conclude that agreements arrived at through genuine debate tend to be more enduring than those reached by bargaining and problem-solving, and that communicative negotiators are vulnerable to those merely pretending to participate in genuine debate. My analysis also tentatively indicates what kind of arguments may be persuasive in genuine debate.

The development of China's telecommunications services sector has been remarkable. For less than thirty years, the country has turned the rudimentary telecommunications infrastructure into the world largest network with state-of-art technology. Yet, there is still room for growth, creating a strong initiative for foreign investors to enter the market.

China, a nation inhabited by one fifth of the world's population and often referred to as "the sleeping giant", is undergoing significant transition. China, subject to domestic changes in its quest for a new balance between traditions, socialist notions and market economy, defines its new role in a changing world that drives towards the globalization of trade in goods and services faces.
This study examines the Chinese position regarding two aspects significant for both China's domestic process of transition and China's international role: telecommunications and banking services. The first chapter examines the general international framework of the GATS with respect to telecommunications and financial services. This includes, inter alia, a study of the legal framework, comprising in particular the WTO Financial Services Agreement and the Basic Telecommunications Agreement. Chapter Two provides an overview of the Chinese telecommunications and banking sectors. This Chapter focuses on the historical and cultural background influencing the process of domestic deregulation and internationalization of these sectors. Chapter Three features an assessment of the Sino-US WTO Agreement on the telecommunications and banking sectors. In the course of this study, a number of concerns and probable consequences can be identified for both sectors examined.
Will "the sleeping giant" move on towards complete market liberalization, or is that prospect merely a castle in the air? This study explores how the China's legal framework governing these two key sectors might unfold.

In 2016, panel and Appellate Body reports were adopted in seven disputes. The majority of the disputes concerned general obligations under two basic WTO agreements: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994 (GATT 1994) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Therefore, the 2016 reports provide valuable analytical resources on basic GATT and GATS concepts, and the respective general exceptions clauses. The other disputes concerned anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures. Two disputes involving Latin American states related to measures imposed in order to combat money laundering and tax evasion, and raised the question of whether GATT tariff obligations apply to “illicit trade”. Two other disputes related to the use of green energy, including the promotion of solar cells and modules, and anti-dumping duties on imports of biodiesel.

Gender equality and information and communication technology are important in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in policy, planning, and practice. The 2000 Millennium Declaration of the United Nations (UN) formed an international agreement among member states to work toward the reduction of poverty and its effects by 2015 through eight Millennium Development Goals: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and the empowerment of women 4. Reduce child and maternal mortality 5. Improve maternal health care 6. Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop global partnership for development Progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women is one goal that is important to achieving the others. Poverty, hunger, illiteracy, environmental threats, HIV and AIDS, and other health threats disproportionately affect the lives of women and their dependent children. Gender-sensitive ICT applications to education, health care, and local economies have helped communities progress toward the MDGs. ICT applications facilitate rural health-care workers’ access to medical expertise through phones and the Internet. Teachers expand learning resources through the Internet and satellite services, providing a greater knowledge base for learners. Small entrepreneurs with ICT access and training move their local business into world markets. ICT diffusion into world communication systems has been pervasive. Even some of the poorest economies in Africa show the fastest cell-phone growth, though Internet access and landline numbers are still low (International Telecommunications Union [ITU], 2003b). ICT access or a lack of it impacts participation, voice, and decision making in local, regional, and international communities. ICTs impact the systems that move or inhibit MDG progress. UN secretary general Kofi Annan explained the role of the MDGs in global affairs: Millennium Development Goals are too important to fail. For the international political system, they are the fulcrum on which development policy is based. For the billion-plus people living in extreme poverty, they represent the means to a productive life. For everyone on Earth, they are a linchpin to the quest for a more secure and peaceful world. (UN, 2005, p. 28) Annan also stressed the critical need for partnerships to facilitate technology training to enable information exchange and analysis (UN, 2005). ICT facilitates sharing lessons of success and failure, and progress evaluation of work in all the MDG target areas. Targets and indicators measuring progress were selected for all the MDGs. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are critical to the achievement of each other goal. Inadequate access to the basic human needs of clean water, food, education, health services, and environmental sustainability and the support of global partnership impacts great numbers of women. Therefore, the targets and indicators for Goal 3 address females in education, employment, and political participation. Progress toward the Goal 3 target to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015, will be measured by the following indicators. • Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education • Ratio of literate females to males who are 15- to 24-year-olds • Share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector • Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (World Bank, 2003) Education is positively related to improved maternal and infant health, economic empowerment, and political participation (United Nations Development Program [UNDP], 2004; World Bank, 2003). Education systems in developing countries are beginning to offer or seek ways to provide ICT training as a basic skill and knowledge base. Proactive policy for gender equality in ICT access has not always accompanied the unprecedented ICT growth trend. Many civil-society representatives to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) argue for ICT access to be considered a basic human right (Girard & Ó Soichrú, 2004; UN, 1948). ICT capability is considered a basic skill for education curriculum at tertiary, secondary, and even primary levels in developed regions. In developing regions, ICT access and capability are more limited but are still tightly woven into economic communication systems. ICTs minimize time and geography barriers. Two thirds of the world’s poor and illiterate are women (World Bank, 2003). Infant and maternal health are in chronic crisis for poor women. Where poverty is highest, HIV and AIDS are the largest and fastest growing health threat. Ninety-five percent of people living with HIV and AIDS are in developing countries, partly because of poor dissemination of information and medical treatment. Women are more vulnerable to infection than men. Culturally reinforced sexual practices have led to higher rates of HIV infection for women. Gender equality and the empowerment of women, starting with education, can help fight the spread of HIV, AIDS, and other major diseases. ICT can enhance health education through schools (World Bank). Some ICT developers, practitioners, and distributors have identified ways to incorporate gender inclusiveness into their policies and practice for problem-solving ICT applications toward each MDG target area. Yet ICT research, development, education, training, applications, and businesses remain male-dominated fields, with only the lesser skilled and salaried ICT labor force approaching gender equality. Successful integration of gender equality and ICT development policy has contributed to MDG progress through several projects in the developing regions. Notable examples are the South-African-based SchoolNet Africa and Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank Village Pay Phone. Both projects benefit from international public-private partnerships. These and similar models suggest the value and importance of linking gender equality and empowerment with global partnership for development, particularly in ICT. This article reports on developing efforts to coordinate the achievement of the MDGs with policy, plans, and practice for gender equality beyond the universal educational target, and with the expansion of ICT access and participation for women and men. The article examines the background and trends of MDG 3, to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, with particular consideration of MDG 8, to develop global partnership for development, in ICT access and participation.

Internet access in developing countries is growing rapidly. Developing countries accounted for one-third of Internet users worldwide by the end of 2003, and the catch up rate is getting faster. Between 2000 and 2003, developing countries increased their share of the Internet population of the world by nearly 50%. This has led some commentators, such as World Bank to claim that initiatives to close the digital divide are no longer relevant (Atkins, 2005). However, most residents of these countries still have no access to the Internet. For example, Internet access in Africa is less than two percent in a population of more than 900 million; the lowest rate of access in the world (Dunphy, 2000, UNCTAD 2004). E-commerce, e-government, and mobile commerce provide significant opportunities for developing countries, but their adoption will be slowed by technological, cultural, economic, political, and legal problems (Davis, 1999; Enns & Huff, 1999). Differences in e-readiness and related barriers to e-commerce will sustain substantial differences between regions of the world, between countries within regions, between urban and rural areas within countries, and between the genders and age groups. Different opinions exist as to what benefits the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can offer developing countries. Do they provide developing countries with the opportunity to “leapfrog” ahead, skipping over certain stages of infrastructure development? Or do ICTs simply widen the gulf between the developed and the developing world even further (Economist, 2005)? The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) views ICTs as enabling technologies that can improve the quality of life for citizens of developing countries. Whereas Bill Gates view is that ICTs can provide little benefit to developing countries until more basic needs like clean water, health, and education have been met. In spite of this lack of agreement the reality is that if a basic communications infrastructure is available, options do exist to utilize e-commerce in developing countries. This article explores the potential opportunities that these technologies offer, and considers the barriers to uptake. E-commerce involves buying and selling goods and services within an electronic marketplace, and also servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and conducting electronic transactions within an organization (Turban, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2004). E-commerce can take place between one business and another (Business-to-business), and between a business and its customers (business-to-consumer). E-government is the application of e-commerce technologies to the public sector. Developments in e-government have opened up the potential for governments worldwide to improve the services they offer to their citizens. A move towards e-government offers particular advantages to developing countries that may have difficulties interacting with their citizens through more traditional communication channels. E-government consists of two separate areas. First, it is concerned with changing internal government operations, inasmuch as information technology is used to support cooperation among government agencies (government-to-government). Second, it is used to support external government operations, in particular the interactions between citizens and companies, and the public sector, on a self-service basis (government-to-citizen) (Howle, 2003). Mobile commerce offers the potential to bypass inadequate landline telecommunications infrastructure. Growth in the number of mobile telephone users worldwide has expanded from 50 million in 1998 to over 1.3 billion by 2004 (Turban et al., 2004). Wireless technologies have taken off even in relatively low-income areas of the world, where prepaid cards allow access without having to pass a creditworthiness check. At the end of 2003, Africa had more than 50 million mobile device users, whilst the number of fixed line telephone subscribers stood at only 25.1 million (ITU, 2004). Similar trends have been observed in Latin America and Asia, where handheld devices enable users to overcome the difficulties caused by low fixed line penetrations.