The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Basic Telecommunications came into force in 1998. The Agreement includes obligations relating to interconnection. WTO Members, or countries seeking to joint the WTO, must comply with these rules. If a Member country fails to comply with its WTO obligations, other Members may take a dispute to the WTO.
The obligations of Agreement on Basic Telecommunications are summarized in a “Reference Paper”. As of November 2006, nearly 90 governments had committed to some or all of these obligations. (Countries’ commitments and exemptions are listed here.)
Key WTO obligations for interconnection are as follows:
- Interconnection with “Major Suppliers” must be assured:
- At any technically feasible point in the network,
- In a timely fashion,
- On non-discriminatory and transparent terms (including quality and rates),
- Sufficiently unbundled to avoid charges for unnecessary components,
- At non-traditional interconnection points if the requestor pays charges.
Procedures for interconnection to major suppliers must be made public. Agreements or the model interconnection offer of major suppliers must be made public.This topic is also discussed in the "Legal and Institutional Aspects of Regulation" module at this link.
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Asymmetric Interconnection Regulation