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The
workshop agenda
Thursday,
January 18, 2001
14:00
- 14:30 Introductory Session
Paolo
Guerrieri, IAI and University "La Sapienza",
Rome, Italy
Hans-Eckart Scharrer, HWWA, Germany
Session
I: Liberalisation
and Market Strategies in Telecommunications
14:30
- 16:15
Liberalisation in Telecommunications
Andreas Knorr, University of Bremen
Corporate
Strategies in the Telecommunication Sector in an
Environment of Continuing Liberalization
Christine Borrman, HWWA, Hamburg
Discussant: Dieter Elixmann, Scientific
Research Institute for Communication Services (WIK),
Bad Honnef
16:15
- 16:30 Coffee break
Session
II:: Regional
Case Studies
16:30
- 18:30
Deregulating
and Liberalising TLCs: an US View
Peter Cowhey and John E. Richards, , Institute
on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of
California
Deregulating
and Liberalising TLCs: a European View
Peter Holmes and Alasdair Youg, SEI, Sussex
University and European University Institute, Florence
Evening:
Conference dinner
Friday,
January 19, 2001
9:00
-10:00 Session II (continued)
Liberalizing
Basic Telecommunications: The Asian Experience
Aaditya Mattoo, Carsten Fink and Randeep Rathindran,
The World Bank, Washington
Discussant: Jürgen Müller, Berlin School
of Economics
Session
III: Competition and Investment
10:00
- 11:00
Non-Tariff Barriers and Telecommunications Sector
Sherry Stephenson, Deputy Director of the
Trade Unit, Organization of American State
Discussant: Jan Krancke,Kiel Institute
of World Economics
11:00
- 11:15 Coffee break
11:15
- 13:00
Standards
and International Telecommunication Regime
Raymund Werle, Max Planck Institute for
the Study of Societies, Cologne
Discussant: Joern Kruse, University of
the Armed Forces Hamburg
Investment
Policies and Telecommunications Regimes
Zdenek Drabek, Senior Adviser, Economic
Research and Analysis Division, WTO, Geneva
13:00
- 14:15 Lunch
14:15
- 16:00
Competition Policies and Telecommunication Regime
Georg Koopmann, HWWA
Discussant: Justus Haucap, University of
the Armed Forces Hamburg
Telecommunication Regime and Developing Countries
Carlos Braga and Bernard Hoekman,
The World Bank, Washington
Presentation and Discussant: Carsten Fink,
The World Bank, Washington
16:00
- 16:15 Coffee Break
16:15
- 17:15 Conclusions: Telecommunications
and Global Governance
Paolo
Guerrieri, IAI and University "La Sapienza",
Rome
Hans-Eckart Scharrer, HWWA, Germany
Evening:
Conference dinner
The
background of the project
In the current trend towards globalization
that is associated with a deepening of international
integration, countries deal with very complex issues
related to virtually all non-border policies and practices,
such as competition policies, foreign direct investment
(FDI) policies, labour standards and regulations,
and the interaction among these issues. Complex problems
emerge in this area because of differing domestic
regulations, institutions, and government policies.
Conflicts resulting therefrom may lead to inefficiencies
and/or misallocations of resources that reduce global
and national welfare. The potential benefits of eliminating
distortions are, therefore, considerable.
New forms of global governance are needed to reconcile
a multitude of divergent national practices. Problems
of "global governance" at international
level are particularly thorny and certain solutions
do not exist. International Cooperation mechanisms
are needed, ranging from consultation, co-ordination
and harmonisation to the confederation of different
practices and regulatory systems. While it is true
that under certain circumstances nations may achieve
positive benefits in terms of internalising international
spillovers by creating international organisations
with some powers of governance and coercion, it is
also true that decentralised national decision-making
can better accommodate diversity in national preferences
and economic conditions. Therefore, the scope for
global approaches needs to be discussed.
In this perspective service sectors represent a very
good case-study. Traditionally many service industries
have been highly regulated and at the same time been
shielded from international - and often even domestic
- competition. But in the past years the service sector
(financial, telcommunications, etc.) has been affected
by an intensive internationalization process. The
integration of national services markets into the
international economy offers not only economic gains
and opportunities, but it may also give rise to tension
and conflict.
In the service sector international negotiations
have to do with promoting free access to national
markets together with removing traditional trade barriers.
Access is impeded, to varying degrees, by a number
of structural factors deriving from different regulatory
systems, institutional setups, forms of proprietary
control, coalitions of interests, etc., tied to the
domestic policies of a country. So the crux of the
problem involves making domestic policy choices, structures
and regulations compatible with the objective of the
progressive removal of the obstacles impeding full
internationalization of these activities.
Telecommunications services, a key service sector,
gives evidence of all these challenges at hand. Since
the early Eighties TLC has been experiencing radical
changes due to new technological developments, advancing
globalization, and the liberalization of domestic
markets. After a complex phase of worldwide negotiations
lasting several years a number of countries signed
a multilateral Telecommunications Agreement under
the auspices of the WTO. In essence, it mandates the
liberalization of the worldwide TLC market in the
period between 1998 and 2013. The structure and contents
of the Agreement are very complex and were made even
more complex by the peculiar nature of the commitments
and rules the countries subscribed to and are bound
to respect. The WTO agreement clearly marks the beginning
of an international restructuring process of the TLC
sector, rather than the end of negotiations.
In the light of the scenario defined above, the four
main aims of the present research project can be summarized
as follows:
Analysis of the liberalization and internationalization
processes underway in the TLC in terms of both sectorial
evolution and the relationships between the major
areas and countries. The main hypothesis that liberalization
of the TLC sector has characteristics in terms of
global governance issues with more general validity
than for the sector concerned and offer a reference
frame that can be applied to other service sectors.
Evaluation of the contents, modalities and implementation
of the liberalization processes in the three major
geo-economic areas, in particular, in North America,
Europe and Pacific Asia. Key questions are the degree
of convergence regarding principles and market operating
mechanisms as well as the persistence of differences
in the production structures and in the regulatory
systems of the three areas. The respective roles of
regional integration agreements and the multilateral
rules will be analysed as key issues in the definition
of new regimes of global governance in TLC.
Analysis of trade, investment and competition policies
in TLC in the new global context, as all of them and,
above all, their interaction are crucial elements
in guaranteeing effective market access for the TLC
and many other service sectors. The key questions
are what form these policies should take internationally
and whether regional agreements might serve as stepping
stones toward further global arrangements. In this
regard the TLC case offers models for addressing these
issues that could be generalised in many other sectors
.
Finally, a reflexion of the new options for various
devices of global governance using the results of
the Research Project and outlining policy initiatives
that are both desirable and feasible as well as applicable
to TLC and other services sectors.
Scientific Director:
Professor Paolo Guerrieri, Professor
of International Economics, IAI and University of
Rome
Contacts and Coordination:
Dr Isabella Falautano,
Research Fellow, Institute of International Affairs
(IAI)
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