RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
30April 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1767)
Original: English Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
Draft Offer onBasic Telecommunications
Revision
Thefollowing communication iscirculated attherequest oftheEuropean Communities
andtheirMember States toMembers oftheNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications.
_______________S/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page2SCHEDULE OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
2.C Telecommunications
services
AllsectorsThehorizontal reservations contained in
documents GATS/SC/31, GATS/SC/7,
GATS/SC/33 andGATS/SC/82 apply.
FIN: thegeneral horizontal requirements for
legal entities inGATS/SC/33 shall notapply to
thetelecommunications sector except as:
- halfofthefounders, halfofthemembers
oftheboard ofdirectors andthemanaging
director must have permanent residence in
theEuropean Economic Area. Ifthe
founder isalegal person, itmust have
residence intheEEA.Thehorizontal reservations contained in
documents GATS/SC/31, GATS/SC/7,
GATS/SC/33 andGATS/SC/82 apply.
FIN: thegeneral horizontal requirements for
legal entities inGATS/SC/33 shall notapply to
thetelecommunications sector. Requirements
concerning theÅland islands shall continue to
apply.TheEuropean
Communities andtheir
Member States undertake
additional commitments
ascontained inthe
attachment, allparts of
which areequally
binding.
1)3)AllMember States: theprovision ofall
radio-based services issubject totheavailability
offrequency1)None
1)None except for:
P:International services canbesupplied onlyby
companies established inPortugal
GR:Access through S.A. withpersonalized
shares only, thecompany must beestablished in
Greece andbeexclusively engaged inthesupply
oftelecommunications services
2)None 2)None
3)None except for: 3)None
B:Non-EC direct orindirect participation in
companies offering services forwhich alicence
isrequired maynotexceed 49% interms of
either capital share orvoting rightsS/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page3Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Allsectors (cont'd) B:Thenumber oflicences fortheoffer of
services subjected totheir issuance maybe
limited inorder toguarantee universal service,
butnotinadiscriminatory, protectionist or
unnecessarily restrictive way
GR:Access through S.A. withpersonalised
shares only, andthecompany must be
exclusively engaged inthesupply of
telecommunications services
P:Thedirect orindirect participation ofnatural
persons, whoarenon-nationals ofECMember
States ornon-EC companies orfirms inthe
capital ofcompanies supplying basic
telecommunications services cannot exceed 25%
E:Direct orindirect participation ofnon-EC
natural orjuridical persons inthecapital of
firms holding alicence tooperate facilities-
based, radio-based andsatellite network services
islimited to25%
F:Non-EC participation incompanies establish-
ingandoperating radio-based infrastructure for
theprovision oftelecommunications services to
thegeneral public islimited to20%. Non-EC
nationals maynothold, directly orindirectly,
more than20% ofthevoting rights insuch
companies
4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
sectionS/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page4Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Domestic andinternational
a. Voice telephony 1)None except for: 1)None
b. Packet-switched data
transmission servicesIRL: None except forpublic voice telephony and
facilities-based services where none asof1Jan-
uary 2000
c. Circuit-switched data
transmission servicesE,GR,P:None except forpublic voice tele-
phony andfacilities-based services where none
asof1January 2003
f. Facsimile services 2)None 2)None
g. Leased circuit services 3)None except for: 3)None
Wire-based
Radio-basedIRL: None except forpublic voice telephony and
facilities-based services where none asof1Jan-
uary 2000
Facilities-based
Resale-basedE,GR,P:None except forpublic voice tele-
phony andfacilities-based services where none
asof1January 2003
Forpublic use
Fornon-public use4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
sectionS/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page5Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
d. Telex services 1)None except for: 1)None
e. Telegraph services IRL: None asof1January 2000
E,GR,P: None asof1January 2003
2)None
3)None except for: 2)None
IRL: None asof1January 2000 3)None
E,GR,P: None asof1January 2003
4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
sectionS/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page6Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
o. Satellite network services
(ground segment
infrastructure provision)1)None except for:
B:None except forinternational services:
unbound1)None
2)None 2)None
3)None except for: 3)None
B:None except forinternational services:
unbound
4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section
o. other -Satellite
communications services1)None except for: 1)None
IRL: None except forpublic voice telephony
where none asof1January 2000
E,GR,P:None except forpublic voice tele-
phony where none asof1January 2003
2)None 2)None
3)None except for: 3)None
IRL: None except forpublic voice telephony
where none asof1January 2000
E,GR,P:None except forpublic voice tele-
phony where none asof1January 2003
4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
sectionS/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page7Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsub-sector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
o. Mobile andpersonal
communications services
andsystems
resale-based
facilities-based1)None except for:
GR,IRL: None asofIJanuary 2001
E,P:Establishment anduseofownandthird
party infrastructure, none asof1January 2003
2)None
3)None except for:
GR,IRL: None asof1January 2001
E,P:Establishment anduseofownandthird
party infrastructure, none asof1January 2003
4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
section1)None
2)None
3)None
4)Unbound except asindicated inhorizontal
sectionS/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page8
Additional commitment bytheEuropean Communities
andtheirMember States
Scope
Thefollowingaredefinitionsandprinciplesontheregulatoryframeworkforthebasictelecommunications
services underpinning themarket access commitments bytheEuropean Communities andtheirMember
States.
Definitions
Users mean service consumers andservice suppliers.
Essential facilities mean facilities ofapublic telecommunications transport network andservice that
(a) areexclusively orpredominantly provided byasingle orlimited number of
suppliers; and
(b) cannot feasibly beeconomically ortechnically substituted inorder toprovide aservice.
Amajor supplier isasupplier which hastheability tomaterially affect theterms ofparticipation (having
regard toprice andsupply) intherelevant market forbasic telecommunications services asaresult
of:
(a) control overessential facilities; or
(b) useofitsposition inthemarket.
1. Competitive safeguards
1.1 Prevention ofanti-competitive practices intelecommunications
Appropriatemeasuresshallbemaintainedforthepurposeofpreventingsupplierswho,aloneortogether,
areamajor supplier from engaging inorcontinuing anti-competitive practices.
1.2 Safeguards
Theanti-competitive practices referred toabove shallinclude inparticular:
(a) engaging inanti-competitive cross-subsidization;
(b) using information obtained from competitors withanti-competitive results; and
(c) notmaking available toother services suppliers onatimely basistechnical information
about essential facilities andcommercially relevant information which arenecessary
forthem toprovide services.
2. Interconnection
2.1 Thissection applies tolinking withsuppliers providing public telecommunications transport
networks orservices inorder toallow theusers ofonesupplier tocommunicate withusers ofanother
supplier andtoaccess services provided byanother supplier.S/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page9
2.2 Interconnection tobeensured
Within thelimits ofpermitted market access, interconnection withamajor supplier willbe
ensured atanytechnically feasible point inthenetwork. Such interconnection isprovided1:
(a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and
specifications) andratesandofaquality nolessfavourable thanthatprovided forits
ownlikeservices orforlikeservices ofnon-affiliated service suppliers orforits
subsidiaries orother affiliates2;
(b) inatimely fashion, onterms, conditions (including technical standards and
specifications) andcost-oriented ratesthataretransparent, reasonable, having regard
toeconomic feasibility, andsufficiently unbundled sothatthesupplier neednotpay
fornetwork components orfacilities thatitdoesnotrequire fortheservice tobe
provided; and
(c) upon request, atpoints inaddition tothenetwork termination points offered tothe
majority ofusers, subject tocharges thatreflect thecostofconstruction ofnecessary
additional facilities.
2.3 Public availability oftheprocedures forinterconnection negotiations
Theproceduresapplicableforinterconnectiontoamajorsupplierwillbemadepubliclyavailable.
2.4 Transparency ofinterconnection arrangements
Itisensured thatamajor supplier willmake publicly available either itsinterconnection
agreements orareference interconnection offer.
2.5 Interconnection: dispute settlement
Aservice supplier requesting interconnection withamajor supplier willhaverecourse, either:
(a) atanytimeor
(b) afterareasonable period oftimewhich hasbeenmade publicly known
toanindependent domestic body, which maybearegulatory bodyasreferred toinparagraph 5below,
toresolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions andrates forinterconnection within a
reasonable period oftime, totheextent thatthese havenotbeenestablished previously.
1Suppliers ofservices ornetworks notgenerally available tothepublic, suchasclosed usergroups, have
guaranteedrightstoconnectwiththepublictelecommunicationstransportnetworkorservicesonterms,conditions
andrates which arenon-discriminatory, transparent andcost-oriented. Such terms, conditions andrates may,
however,varyfromtheterms,conditionsandratesapplicabletointerconnectionbetweenpublictelecommunications
networks orservices.
2Different terms, conditions andrates maybesetintheCommunity foroperators indifferent market
segments, onthebasisofnon-discriminatory andtransparent national licensing provisions, where suchdifferences
canbeobjectively justified because these services arenotconsidered 'likeservices '.S/NGBT/W/12/Add.10/Rev.1
Page10
3. Universal service
AnyMemberhastherighttodefinethekindofuniversalserviceobligationitwishestomaintain.
Such obligations willnotberegarded asanti-competitive perse,provided theyareadministered in
atransparent, non-discriminatory andcompetitively neutral manner andarenotmore burdensome than
necessary forthekindofuniversal service defined bytheMember.
4. Public availability oflicensing criteria
Where alicence isrequired, thefollowing willbemade publicly available:
(a) allthelicensing criteria andtheperiod oftimenormally required toreach adecision
concerning anapplication foralicence and
(b) theterms andconditions ofindividual licences.
Thereasons forthedenial ofalicence willbemade known totheapplicant upon request.
5. Independent regulators
Theregulatory body isseparate from, andnotaccountable to,anysupplier ofbasic
telecommunications services. Thedecisions ofandtheprocedures usedbyregulators shallbeimpartial
withrespect toallmarket participants.
6. Allocation anduseofscarce resources
Anyprocedures fortheallocation anduseofscarce resources, including frequencies, numbers
andrightsofway,willbecarriedoutinanobjective,timely,transparentandnon-discriminatorymanner.
Thecurrent stateofallocated frequency bands willbemade publicly available, butdetailed identification
offrequencies allocated forspecific government usesisnotrequired.