Singapore pledges to open telecoms sector by 2000
By Riady
SINGAPORE (JP): Singapore, host of the inaugural World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference, promised yesterday to open its telecommunications sector to foreign investors by March 31, 2000.
Singapore Telecommunications Minister Mah Bow Tan announced on the third day of the week-long WTO meeting that Singapore's offer was expected to stimulate the conclusion of negotiations on basic telecommunications.
"To show support for the multilateral trading system and to make a positive contribution to move the basic telecom negotiations forward, Singapore will bind the year 2000 schedule to introduce competition for the basic telecom services as an offer to the Group on Basic Telecommunications," Mah said.
Mah's announcement dismissed a local press report that Singapore Telecom might end its monopoly in basic telecommunication services before the year 2000.
Singapore's new telecommunications offer improved its official offer by two years, Mah said.
Mah said in May his government would end Singapore Telecom's monopoly in basic services on April 1, 2000, seven years ahead of its old deadline.
Mah acknowledged there was no real difference between his statements in May and yesterday.
"The difference is that we bind our offer in a multilateral forum," Mah told a press conference after a plenary session.
Mah explained Singapore would initially license two more telecommunications service providers.
"This will be governed by regulations made known to all prospective bidders next year," Mah said.
The announcement made Singapore one of four countries which came up with better offers to further liberalize telecommunications services. The other countries are South Korea, Canada and Australia.
Talks in Geneva on liberalizing the world telecommunications market under the auspices of the WTO were extended until February 15 after participants failed to forge an agreement by an earlier April 30 deadline because of the United States' dissatisfaction over liberalization commitments made by its trading partners, especially Asian emerging economies.
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Vice President of the European Commission Leon Brittan said the United States and European countries had improved their offers for basic telecommunications negotiations.
Secretary-General of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Jonathan L. Parapak said Indonesia would offer nothing new on telecommunications, saying the country had already opened the sector wide enough.
He said several sub-sectors of Indonesia's telecommunications had been opened widely to foreign investors.
They include mobile telephone services, paging services and basic telecommunications services under joint-operation arrangements with the state-owned domestic telecommunications firm PT Telkom.
Parapak said major international telecommunications firms from the United States, Europe, Australia and Asian countries were operating in Indonesia.
"In this regard, Indonesia's telecommunications market is more competitive than those in the United States and European countries," Parapak said.
The telecommunications sector, still heavily protected in many emerging markets, is estimated to be worth well over US$500 billion a year.
The United States accounts for nearly 50 percent of all telecommunications revenue worldwide. (rid)