Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:03:10.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Mexico – Measures Affecting Telecommunications Services (WT/DS204/R): A Comment on “El mess in TELMEX”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

By
Damien J. Neven  and
Petros C. Mavroidis
Edited by
Henrik Horn  and
Petros C. Mavroidis
Damien J. Neven
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva and Centre for Economic Policy Research, London
Petros C. Mavroidis
Affiliation:
Columbia Law School, New York and University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Henrik Horn
Affiliation:
Stockholms Universitet
Petros C. Mavroidis
Affiliation:
Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Get access

Summary

Introduction

This chapter reviews the panel report on Mexico – Measures Affecting Telecommunication Services. The Panel considered claims by the United States that Mexico acted inconsistently with its obligations in respect to the liberalization of its market for telecommunication services. It is the first Panel to consider solely the rules agreed upon in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It is also the first Panel to deal with the telecommunication services industry and its complex layers of legislation, in particular the rules agreed to in the Telecommunications Reference Paper (TRP) on pro-competitive regulatory principles. Viewed from this perspective, this report is, because of its potential as a precedent, of particular significance.

This case essentially revolves around the question of under what conditions foreign telecom operators can terminate calls in Mexico. The United States argued that the Mexican regulation of termination charges was not in conformity with the obligations contained in the TRP. It argued in particular that the termination charges were not cost-oriented and that Mexico had set up a cartel of telecom operators.

The following section of this chapter, Section 2, briefly discusses the Mexican regulation in dispute from an economic perspective and presents the legal framework of the dispute, focusing on the relevant provisions of the TRP. Section 3 analyzes whether and how the termination charges can be covered by the TRP. In this section, we first observe that the US operators do not supply cross-border services under mode 1, as the Panel stated in its report.

Type
Chapter
Information
The WTO Case Law of 2003
The American Law Institute Reporters' Studies
 , pp. 188 - 219
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armstrong, M. (2002). The theory of access pricing and interconnection, In The Handbook of Telecommunications Economics, , s, et al., eds. Chapter 8 Vol. I., Elsevier Science: North Holland, pp. 295–384.Google Scholar
Bronckers, M. and Larouche, P. (2005). The GATS Mimeo.
Fox, E. (2002). What is harm to competition? Exclusionary practices and anticompetitive effects, Antitrust Law Journal, 70: 371–413.Google Scholar
Hausman, J. (2002). Mobile Telephone. In Handbook of Telecommunications Economics, Caves, et al., eds. Vol. I, Elsevier Science: North Holland, pp. 563–604.Google Scholar
Hoekman, B., P. Messerlin and Mavroidis, P.C. (1998). Regulation, competition policy and market access negotiations: lessons from the telecommunications sector. In Competition and Trade Policies, Hope, Einar ed. Routledge: New York, pp. 115–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenny, F. (2003). International Cooperation on competition: myth, reality, and perspective, Antitrust Bulletin, 48: 973–1003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laffont, J.-J. (1998). Competition, information and development, Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics, pp. 237–268.Google Scholar
Mardsen, P. (2004). Trade and competition. WTO decides first competition case – with disappointing results, Competition Law Insight, 16(3), pp. 3–9.Google Scholar
Mavroidis, P.C. and Neven, D.J. (2000). The WTO agreement on telecommunications: it's never too late. In The Liberalization of State Monopolies in the European Union and Beyond, Geradin, D, ed. Kluwer: London, pp. 307–318.Google Scholar
Sidak, G. and Singer, H.. (2004). Überregulation without economics: the world trade organization's decision in the US–Mexico arbitration on telecommunication services Mimeo.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×