The Telecommunications Industry Association has congratulated U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and his negotiating team for concluding Central American Free Trade Agreement discussions with Costa Rica.
The agreement marks a significant step for Costa Rica in the reform of its state-owned telecommunications sector.
Costa Rica has agreed to market access liberalization in three key areas - Internet services, private data networks and wireless services. Costa Rica will implement its commitments in the first two areas by January 1, 2006, also the date by which the country agreed to implement a comprehensive package of regulatory principles for these two areas. It will take an additional year - January 1, 2007 - for the country to open its wireless market to competition.
"Given the circumstances in Costa Rica and the reluctance we faced just several months ago to any telecommunications liberalization, we have come a long way," says TIA President Matthew Flanigan. "Once the Costa Ricans begin reforming their telecommunications sector in the next year, we hope that the country will accelerate the process of opening up all telecommunications services to competition."
Costa Rica also committed to establishing rules to govern this sector, including having an independent regulatory body with enforcement powers, ensuring access to and use of the existing public telecommunications network on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis and instituting greater transparency within the sector. Costa Rica further committed to allowing service providers the flexibility of selecting the technology of their choice in providing their services, a critical requirement of the TIA. Taken together, all of these reforms will help foster the development of a modern telecommunications sector and pave the way for greater liberalization in the future.
The TIA applauded Zoellick, assistant USTR Regina Vargo, Telecom and E-Commerce Trade Policy Director Ken Schagrin and the rest of the negotiating team for an outstanding job representing the interests of the U.S. telecommunications sector.
The TIA is based in Arlington, VA. For more information, visit www.tiaonline.org.
