WTO principles and telecommunications in developing nations: challenges and consequences of accession

The accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of developing nations brings into sharp relief the successes and shortcomings of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which attempts to balance the concerns and interests of developed and developing nations alike. This paper reviews some of the key social and economic issues that arise in the field of telecommunications generally and specific issues facing developing countries arising from WTO accession and implementation of WTO principles. Lastly it considers the WTO decision in the US–Mexico dispute.     

Mexico's international telecommunications policy: Origins,the WTO dispute,and future challenges

Mexico is by far Latin America's largest trader and the country with the most free trade agreements. Notwithstanding the success of its trade policy, the liberalization of its telecommunications sector was limited and generated a dispute at the WTO. This article offers an overview of Mexico's trade policy, with special emphasis on its policy regarding trade in telecommunications services and the 2002–2004 Mexico–United States dispute over telecommunications at the WTO. The dispute is the first one over trade in telecommunications services at the WTO and has generated interest among many developed and developing countries.     

International competition policy and telecommunications. Lessons from the EU and prospects for the WTO

The changes in the international telecommunications market are rapidly outgrowing the existing structure of regulation. Moreover the trends in the sector indicate that if the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rule is to be viable some form of international competition policy is needed. This must tackle the difficult problems of market access, joint ventures and anticompetitive behaviour and most importantly prevent the different approaches to these problems leading to trade frictions, especially in the USA. Such rules have proved difficult, but not necessarily impossible, to develop as the stalled talks within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have shown. The paper considers the possible relevance of developments within EU telecommunications regulation where a competition policy-led regime is emerging.     

Designing and implementing the software factory — a case study from telecommunications

The paper reports the actions taken by a large Swedish information technology business to repair defects in the production of system software. Typical problems were late delivery, poor maintainability, lack of documentation. The approach taken to remove the defects consisted in introducing into software production the time- and specification-oriented culture of the factory.
Software writing had usually been delegated to more or less autonomous individuals inside R&D, with the result that expertize was often unrecorded, residing in those individuals' brains, procedures were poorly documented, cross-fertilization with other projects was minimal and lead times were long. The authors identify three reasons for this situation: management ignorance of how the design process operates; professional exclusiveness of design staff; reluctance of managers to exercise supervision over a design engineer's daily tasks.
The solution was to differentiate and rationally define jobs within the design function, set up a flat managerial structure overseeing a group of integrated teams each consisting of a senior system designer plus a junior designer leading four semi-skilled technicians, introduce a well-defined work-flow organization, make use of quality circles, install review procedures, undertake leadership and interpersonal skill training, and take measures to ensure effective communication in all directions.
The new approach has partly been successfully operated for several years. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the positive and negative lessons which have been learnt during the implementation.     

香港拟修订《玩具及儿童产品安全条例》

12月11香港宪报刊登《2009年玩具及．儿童产品安全（修订）条例草案》（简称条例草案）,拟对现行《玩具及儿童产品安全条例》（第424章）（简称条例）进行修订。条例草案旨在修订现行条例列出的标准,使它们与公布的最新生效的标准一致。     

The WTO deal on basic telecommunications : Big bang or little whimper?

It has been widely asserted that the Group on Basic Telecommunications (GBT) agreement reached in February 1997 is a significant step forward for the cause of global telecommunications liberalization. This article brings together two authors on different sides of the needed debate about the potential impact of the GBT deal. Following a brief introduction, William Drake argues that the GBT deal could, depending on its implementation, have a substantial liberalizing effect not only on specific markets, but also on the broader institutional arrangements of the global telecommunications policy environment. In response, Eli Noam argues that the GBT is useful, but that its significance is being greatly exaggerated, that most policy changes were taking place anyway, and that it could in some cases have the negative effect of slowing down the process of global liberalization.     

Assessing the WTO agreements on China's telecommunications regulatory reform and industrial liberalization

By drawing on new institutional economics, this paper contends that the “rules-of-law” specified by the World Trade Organization (WTO), as an exogenous institution for the member states, will theoretically influence its members’ domestic telecommunications regulatory institutions, but that the actual effects will be different and will depend on the institutional endowments of host countries and their institutional stances. Empirically, this paper examines the impact of China's prospective membership status in the WTO on its telecommunications regulatory reform and industrial liberalization and explores the institutional barriers preventing China from fully implementing the WTO Agreements in this sector.     

The case for a more binding WTO agreement on regulatory principles in telecommunication markets

On February 5, 1998, the WTO agreement on basic telecommunications services entered into force. Although the WTO agreement is a step into the right direction its impact might be rather modest. This is because apart from the many exemptions, which are likely to undermine market access and national treatment commitments, the regulatory provisions laid down in the WTO agreement are neither specific nor comprehensive enough to ensure open market access. Because there is in most cases a lack of clear definition as to the terms and conditions of regulatory provisions, there is a great danger that governments might nullify the commitments by abusing the regulatory requirements.     

Models for telecommunications strategy in the LDCs

Telecommunications administrators in the less developed countries are faced with a number of complex strategic policy issues. The author argues that current planning procedures do not provide an adequate aid to decision making. A more sophisticated approach is suggested based on corporate planning models and a prototype model is described in detail. Some sample applications of this model are presented to illustrate the value of the approach to specific problems, including the areas of tariff policy and the growth rate of rural telecommunications.     

Cyprus: A new centre for telecommunications

A rapid expansion of telecommunications facilities on Cyprus in recent years is bringing the island to the fore as a focus for communications in the Middle East region. Its strategic position in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, a communications infrastructure well in advance of that offered by most of the surrounding countries, and fully developed ties with European and Arab countries, are accelerating this already pronounced trend.     

Competition and innovation in telecommunications: An empirical analysis of innovative telecommunications in the public interest

According to current opinion, competition in telecommunications stimulates innovation. However, there are reasons to believe that at least in some circumstances competition might lead to a decrease in product innovation. In this paper a cross-sectional statistical analysis is carried out on data for the OECD countries. A positive correlation is indeed found between competition and innovation. However, the level of economic development is an important mediating variable. The economies of emerging technologies in the local loop lead to the conclusion that especially in the mobile segment competition will stimulate innovation.     

European telecommunications — plan for the future

Within the overall context of the political union of Europe, the author centres on the structural changes that would be required for a European telecommunications system. The suggested structure involves the unification of the management of European telecommunications services, currently the responsibility of independent national organizations.     

Regional aid for telecommunications in Europe: A force for economic development

This article reviews research work on telecommunications and economic development which can be applied to the problems faced in the less favoured regions of Europe. The authors draw on work carried out under the auspices of the Commission of the European Communities into the disadvantages these regions face in telecommunications supply and use, and the benefits which would accrue from investment. The priorities for regional aid and recommended actions for a European programme are also discussed. The authors conclude that the emphasis should be on the provision of advanced business services and the stimulation of demand for those services, in order to encourage economic growth. General network infrastructure digitalization should be left to PTTs to undertake as part of their normal investment programme.     

Economic growth,telecommunications development and productivity growth of the telecommunications sector: Evidence around the world

This paper studies the relationships between economic growth, telecommunications development and productivity growth of the telecommunications sector in different countries and regions of the world. In particular, this study assesses the impact of mobile telecommunications on economic growth and telecommunications productivity. The results indicate that there is a bidirectional relationship between real gross domestic product (GDP) and telecommunications development (as measured by teledensity) for European and high-income countries. However, when the impact of mobile telecommunications development on economic growth is measured separately, the bi-directional relationship is no longer restricted to European and high-income countries. This study also finds that countries in the upper-middle income group have achieved a higher average total factor productivity (TFP) growth than other countries. Countries with competition and privatization in telecommunications have achieved a higher TFP growth than those without competition and privatization. The diffusion of mobile telecommunications services is found to be a significant factor that has improved the TFP growth of the telecommunications sector in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).     

Analysis of cybersecurity competencies: Recommendations for telecommunications policy

The paper aims to analyse and assess cybersecurity competencies and define the recommended solutions to improve the human factor in cybersecurity. The article presents the results of theoretical and empirical research that were carried out in 2019–2021. The research subject constitutes one of the priorities of many countries and international organisations. Cybersecurity is one of the essential foundations for implementing the idea of sustainable development. A cybersecurity analysis using a layered structure was proposed in the theoretical part. Empirical research was conducted using a diagnostic poll method based on a survey. The presentation of the research results includes an analysis of statistical dependencies. The paper presents the research results on cybersecurity competencies in the field of threats to state cyberspace and methods of securing and protecting data. An important element of the research was to identify forms of education that can be used to achieve greater efficiency in increasing cybersecurity competencies. The result of the implementation of the research objectives was the development of recommended solutions facilitating the improvement of the human factor in the field of cybersecurity.     

London calling: A policy for telecommunications after privatization

With the UK government's plan to privatize British Telecom moving forward seemingly without obstacle, Gareth Locksley examines the implications for London. Rather than concentrate on the arguments against privatization, this article considers a post-privatization strategy for the capital based on the need for a universally accessible system for the whole community.     

A conceptual framework for public-private interplay in the telecommunications sector

Public activity in the telecommunications industry has experienced important transformations in the last decade: “reinvolvement” in infrastructure deployment, “innovative” boosting measures, and decentralisation of some decisions. Conceptually, even more important than the measures themselves is the fact that private agents often participate in their realisation and execution. This paper reviews how justifications for public action that would apply to any economic activity area have modelled the public-private relationship in the telecommunications sector. Subsequently, it focuses on the analysis of the new spaces for public-private collaboration that are currently opening up.