The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform
Every country serious about introducing competition finds that the transition from monopoly to competition is both economically rewarding and laden with policy dilemmas. As a new century begins, we have an essentially new market for telecommunicati...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/05/1121208/wto-agreement-telecommunications-policy-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19661 |
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okr-10986-19661 |
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oai_dc |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
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World Bank |
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English en_US |
| topic |
AGENTS AGRICULTURE ARBITRAGE BARRIERS TO ENTRY BENCHMARKS BUSINESS MODELS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS DATA SERVICES ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EFFECTS ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INFORMATION ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRONIC COMMERCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES EXTERNALITY FORECASTS FREE TRADE GROWTH RATE INEFFICIENCY INFORMATION INDUSTRY INFORMATION SERVICES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS LICENSING MACROECONOMIC POLICY MACROECONOMIC REFORM MARKET POWER MONOPOLIES MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORKING SERVICES OPEN MARKETS OPPORTUNITY COSTS PHONE SERVICES PRODUCERS PROTOCOLS REGULATORY PRINCIPLES REGULATORY REFORM REGULATORY SYSTEMS ROUTERS STAGFLATION STREAMS SUNK COSTS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIONS TELECOM SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKETS TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM TELECOMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEDENSITY TELEPHONE COMPANIES TELEPHONE SERVICES TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADEOFFS TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSITION ECONOMIES UNIVERSAL ACCESS UNIVERSAL SERVICE UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATIONS UNIVERSAL SERVICE POLICIES URUGUAY ROUND VIDEO CONFERENCING WELFARE GAINS WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION |
| spellingShingle |
AGENTS AGRICULTURE ARBITRAGE BARRIERS TO ENTRY BENCHMARKS BUSINESS MODELS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS DATA SERVICES ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EFFECTS ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INFORMATION ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRONIC COMMERCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES EXTERNALITY FORECASTS FREE TRADE GROWTH RATE INEFFICIENCY INFORMATION INDUSTRY INFORMATION SERVICES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS LICENSING MACROECONOMIC POLICY MACROECONOMIC REFORM MARKET POWER MONOPOLIES MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORKING SERVICES OPEN MARKETS OPPORTUNITY COSTS PHONE SERVICES PRODUCERS PROTOCOLS REGULATORY PRINCIPLES REGULATORY REFORM REGULATORY SYSTEMS ROUTERS STAGFLATION STREAMS SUNK COSTS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIONS TELECOM SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKETS TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM TELECOMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEDENSITY TELEPHONE COMPANIES TELEPHONE SERVICES TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADEOFFS TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSITION ECONOMIES UNIVERSAL ACCESS UNIVERSAL SERVICE UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATIONS UNIVERSAL SERVICE POLICIES URUGUAY ROUND VIDEO CONFERENCING WELFARE GAINS WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION Cowhey, Peter Klimenko, Mikhail M. The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2601 |
| description |
Every country serious about introducing
competition finds that the transition from monopoly to
competition is both economically rewarding and laden with
policy dilemmas. As a new century begins, we have an
essentially new market for telecommunications. Digital
technology forced a re-examination of the opportunity costs
of protecting traditional telecommunications equipment and
service suppliers. An inefficient market for
telecommunications threatened competitiveness in the
computer, software, and information industry markets.
Meanwhile, after dislocations created by global stagflation
through the early 1980s, developing countries became
interested in privatization of state enterprises as a tool
of economic reform--and state telephone companies were
especially promising targets for privatization. Those
countries began exploring options for allowing selective
competition, as phone companies in major industrial
countries began looking to foreign markets for new business
opportunities. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement
on Basic Telecommunications Services created a new regime
for the world market. Now we must pay close attention to
regulatory fundamentals: 1) Low barriers to entry in the
market for communications services. 2) Effective
re-balancing of rates for services during the market
transition. 3) Effective Strong interconnection policies. 4)
The creation of independent regulatory authorities with the
resources and power necessary to foster competition and
safeguard consumer welfare. The authors assess how
developing and transition economies have fared in profiting
from changes in the telecommunications market. They also
examine the policy challenges that remain, paying special
attention to the global market and regulatory milieu
fostered by the 1997 WTO Agreement. They ask what this
latest transformation has taught us about wise management of
this vital part of the world economy's infrastructure.
They focus on the economics of managing the transition to
competition, the design of proper regulatory policies and
processes, and the embedding of domestic telecommunications
in the world market. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Cowhey, Peter Klimenko, Mikhail M. |
| author_facet |
Cowhey, Peter Klimenko, Mikhail M. |
| author_sort |
Cowhey, Peter |
| title |
The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform |
| title_short |
The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform |
| title_full |
The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform |
| title_fullStr |
The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform |
| title_sort |
wto agreement and telecommunications policy reform |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/05/1121208/wto-agreement-telecommunications-policy-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19661 |
| _version_ |
1764440199201292288 |
| spelling |
okr-10986-196612021-04-23T14:03:43Z The WTO Agreement and Telecommunications Policy Reform Cowhey, Peter Klimenko, Mikhail M. AGENTS AGRICULTURE ARBITRAGE BARRIERS TO ENTRY BENCHMARKS BUSINESS MODELS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS DATA SERVICES ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EFFECTS ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INFORMATION ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRONIC COMMERCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES EXTERNALITY FORECASTS FREE TRADE GROWTH RATE INEFFICIENCY INFORMATION INDUSTRY INFORMATION SERVICES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS LICENSING MACROECONOMIC POLICY MACROECONOMIC REFORM MARKET POWER MONOPOLIES MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORKING SERVICES OPEN MARKETS OPPORTUNITY COSTS PHONE SERVICES PRODUCERS PROTOCOLS REGULATORY PRINCIPLES REGULATORY REFORM REGULATORY SYSTEMS ROUTERS STAGFLATION STREAMS SUNK COSTS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIONS TELECOM SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKETS TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM TELECOMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEDENSITY TELEPHONE COMPANIES TELEPHONE SERVICES TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADEOFFS TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSITION ECONOMIES UNIVERSAL ACCESS UNIVERSAL SERVICE UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATIONS UNIVERSAL SERVICE POLICIES URUGUAY ROUND VIDEO CONFERENCING WELFARE GAINS WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION Every country serious about introducing competition finds that the transition from monopoly to competition is both economically rewarding and laden with policy dilemmas. As a new century begins, we have an essentially new market for telecommunications. Digital technology forced a re-examination of the opportunity costs of protecting traditional telecommunications equipment and service suppliers. An inefficient market for telecommunications threatened competitiveness in the computer, software, and information industry markets. Meanwhile, after dislocations created by global stagflation through the early 1980s, developing countries became interested in privatization of state enterprises as a tool of economic reform--and state telephone companies were especially promising targets for privatization. Those countries began exploring options for allowing selective competition, as phone companies in major industrial countries began looking to foreign markets for new business opportunities. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services created a new regime for the world market. Now we must pay close attention to regulatory fundamentals: 1) Low barriers to entry in the market for communications services. 2) Effective re-balancing of rates for services during the market transition. 3) Effective Strong interconnection policies. 4) The creation of independent regulatory authorities with the resources and power necessary to foster competition and safeguard consumer welfare. The authors assess how developing and transition economies have fared in profiting from changes in the telecommunications market. They also examine the policy challenges that remain, paying special attention to the global market and regulatory milieu fostered by the 1997 WTO Agreement. They ask what this latest transformation has taught us about wise management of this vital part of the world economy's infrastructure. They focus on the economics of managing the transition to competition, the design of proper regulatory policies and processes, and the embedding of domestic telecommunications in the world market. 2014-08-26T14:48:04Z 2014-08-26T14:48:04Z 2001-05 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/05/1121208/wto-agreement-telecommunications-policy-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19661 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2601 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research |