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Ireland Pursues Advanced Wireless Goal
by William New
Ireland offers many advantages for companies entering the European market for third-generation (3G) wireless telecommunications, according to Irish officials in Washington this week to drum up interest in its advanced mobile licenses, which will be distributed later this year.
"We're keen to see more competition in the market," said Jim Connolly of the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR).
The license competition formally began Dec. 18, and a question-and-answer period on applications runs until March 1. The deadline for applications is March 27, with the hope that results will be announced on June 26 and licenses issued in July.
The deadline for the launch of commercial 3G services in Ireland is 2004, which gives sufficient time for a public diffusion of handsets, the officials said. Ireland will offer two types of licenses in parallel competitions, the A license and three variations of the B license. A company may bid for both license types, but it must specify its preference.
The A license will be cheaper but carries more universal-service requirements on coverage to less populated regions, which are less profitable. It also has more aggressive rollouts of service and is more stringent on providing access for mobile virtual-network operators.
Ireland is coming late to 3G by European standards, the result of infighting between the telecom regulator and the Treasury secretary over the fees for licenses, Connolly said. As a result, the officials decided on a low cost for licenses.
In summer 2000, the United Kingdom held an auction for 3G licenses at which the average price per license was nearly $6.9 billion, the highest in Europe, followed by Germany at about $5.4 billion. But since the "bottom fell out of the telecom market," as Connolly put it, prices have gone through the floor.
Ireland plans to charge $102 million for its B licenses, the more expensive of two types it will offer, he said.
Tor Nonnegaard-Pedersen, a consultant from Andersen Management International who accompanied Connolly, highlighted several advantages to investing in Ireland's licensing process, over and above its well-educated, English-speaking population. He said the mobile-phone penetration in Ireland is 75 percent and rising, which is above the European average.
Nonnegaard-Pedersen also said the timing is good for entry into the European telecom market because it is "a pretty bleak picture" right now, making the licensing fees low. But the market is expected to recover, he said.
A specific characteristic of the Irish market is a high use of text messaging, which is known as "short messaging system." It is interpreted as showing a high use of data services, beyond simply voice services, and therefore excels in the global trend toward expected sources of revenue for 3G, such as information, entertainment and financial transactions.
As one of 15 members of the European Union, Ireland must follow several rules. For instance, it must have an independent telecom regulator, which in Ireland is the ODTR. The ODTR's mission is to encourage rapid development of a competitive telecom sector that provides low prices, choice and quality, Connolly said.
Another requirement is for each EU government to designate at least one license in the country for a so-called UMTS network, in order to enable European-wide roaming.
The Conditions For Trade With India
Robert Blackwill, the U.S. ambassador to India, this week issued a series of demands to India's finance minister in a pre-budget memorandum, according to India's Financial Express. Blackwill cited India's tariff and non-tariff barriers, and the lack of a world-class, World Trade Organization-consistent patent law as roadblocks to bilateral trade.
Blackwill also said better protection of intellectual property rights in India would help boost trade between the two countries over time. And he mentioned Microsoft as a success story that counters the negative effect that the collapse of the energy firm Enron has had on bilateral relations.
WTO Head Sees Early Russia Accession
Mike Moore, director general of the World Trade Organization, is optimistic that Russia will join the 144-member trade body sooner than expected, even before the next trade ministerial late in 2003.
"I've been saying that I expect Russia to take her seat as a member by the time of our conference in Mexico, but I think we can do better than that," Moore said in a speech earlier this month. "We have a core group of ministers, including [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Zoellick and [European Union] Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, who have the willpower, the horsepower and the firepower to move this accession along quickly and smoothly."
Moore added that Russian President Vladimir Putin and trade minister Maxim Medvedkov "have extended great commitment and effort to bring Russia into the WTO, and we could see Russia becoming a member well before people expect." He also said he expects progress on the accession of Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Ukraine in 2002.
In the newly accentuated WTO focus on developing countries, Moore said a major symposium is being planned for May that may include a look at the impact of technology and the "digital divide" between tech haves and have-nots.
Russian PM To Talk Economy With Bush
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov will be in Washington and New York from Wednesday to Monday this week, and will meet with President Bush on Monday. They will discuss a broad range of issues, including Russia's economic reforms and the evolution of U.S.-Russian economic ties, according to a White House statement.
In another bilateral meeting on economic issues, European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will meet with China's Minister for Trade and Cooperation, Shi Guangsheng on Thursday. The meeting is the 17th annual meeting of the EU-China Joint Committee, and will focus on economic and trade issues, bilateral agreements and a cooperation program. Lamy is expected to address China's implementation of the commitments it made in joining the World Trade Organization, the European Commission said. He also will push for expansion of liberalization in securities, investment and competition. The two officials will discuss cooperation on information technology, it said.
Econsumer.gov Has Its Day
The FTC will hold a hearing on Feb. 27 to consider how the global Web site econsumer.gov can be used to educate consumers about alternative dispute resolution and other self-regulatory initiatives in cyberspace that might help resolve or prevent complaints.
The meeting also will seek to formulate a strategy to promote the site and give it more visibility with global consumers as a way to air complaints about cross-border online fraud. Consumer protection officials from several countries will attend the event.
In other scheduling news, the World Congress on Information Technology, held every second year since 1978, is slated for Feb. 27 to March 1, in Adelaide, Australia.
Speakers at the event will include former President Clinton and executives from Microsoft, Gartner, Fujitsu, Sybase, Nasdaq, IBM, Infosys and Nokia. Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig and British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt also will speak.
Ontario Seeks Comments On Privacy Bill
The Canadian province of Ontario is taking comments until March 8 on its proposed legislation for the protection of personal data.
The bill, based on Canada's federal privacy standard, is intended to establish rules for individuals to choose when and to what extent their personal information is communicated to others, according to the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services. Ontario's proposal would go further than the federal standard by providing rules for the nonprofit sector and by covering the health sector, the ministry said.
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