RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGBT/W/12/Add.12
15November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3576)
Original: English Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
COMMUNICATION FROM NORWAY
Draft Offer onBasic Telecommunications
The following communication iscirculated attherequest ofNorway tomembers ofthe
Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications.
____________
Norway reserves theright tomodify, reduce orextend thisoffer atanytime prior tothe
conclusion ofthenegotiations onbasic telecommunications, depending ontheprogress ofwork inthe
NGBT, thelevel ofcommitments ofnegotiating partners andthelegislative developments inNorway.
Forthetime being, theprovision ofservices forwhich competition isallowed, must bebased
onleased circuits from Telenor AS,which hasamonopoly onthetelecommunications infrastructure
inNorway. Voice telephony, telex services andtelegraph services arenotsubject tocompetition.
TheGovernment intends under certain conditions topropose totheStorting (theNorwegian
national assembly) thatthesector bederegulated according tothetimetable setoutbytheEU, i.e.
thatinfrastructureandvoicetelephonybederegulatedby1January1998.DeregulationoftheNorwegian
telecommunications sector isconditional upon theapproval bytheStorting.
Asregards thequestion ofadditional commitments onthe"technical andconceptual issues",
which isstillbeing discussed intheNGBT, Norway isprepared tomake additional commitments on
thebasis ofthefollowing principles, given thattheissues raised arenotadequately addressed inthe
GATS text.
- Members shall befreetoregulate telecommunications totakeintoaccount universal
service obligations astheyseefit,provided thatsuch regulation isimpartial, objective
andtransparent.
- Licensing shall bebased onefficient management ofscarce resources, equitable
treatment ofthevarious market players andtransparent criteria.
- Inorder toensure interconnection, operators areobliged tosatisfy reasonable requests
forinterconnection inanon-discriminatory way, allparties shall have theopportunity
torefer amatter tothenational regulatory authority with aview tosettling anydisputes,
and thenational regulatory authority shall have theopportunity toimpose
interconnection.
- Competition safeguards shall beimposed toprevent undertakings from engaging in
collusive behaviour andabusing adominant position.NORWAY -DRAFT OFFERS/NGBT/W/12/Add.12
Page 2
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
Services opened forcompetition in
1998:
a. Voice telephony 1) None asof1January 1998 1) None
d. Telex services 2) None 2) None
e. Telegraph services 3) None asof1January 1998, the
provision ofallservices is
subject totheavailability of
scarce resources, e.g.frequency3) None
o. Other
- Mobile andpersonal
communications services and
systems4) Unbound except asindicated in
horizontal commitments (asof
1January 1998)4) Unbound except asindicated in
horizontal commitments
Services opened forcompetition:
b. Packet-switched data
transmission services1) None 1) None
c. Circuit-switched data
transmission services2) None 2) None
f. Facsimile services 3) None except for: 3) None
g. Leased circuit services - Theprovision ofallservices is
subject totheavailability of
scarce resources, e.g.frequencyModes 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. OtherS/NGBT/W/12/Add.12
Page 3- Data services
- Mobile digital cellular telephony
(GSM)
- Paging
- Satellite communication and
network services (including earth
stations)- Forswitched voice capacity,
resale ofexcess leased circuit
capacity isnotallowed when
there isconnection atboth ends
tothepublic network, where
none asof1January 1998
- ForMobile digital cellular
telephony (GSM), thenumber of
operators/providers islimited to
two, changes inownership must
beaccepted bytheGovernment
andnetworks must bebased on
leased circuits from Telenor AS
except forown base stations and
switches, where none asof
1January 1998
- Forsatellite communication,
provision ofpublic voice
telephony isnotallowed, where
none asof1January 1998
4) Unbound except asindicated in
horizontal commitments4) Unbound except asindicated in
horizontal commitments