First paragraph of draft
Local Meeting comments: Include a fourth level of free circulation, that is, "permission to carry terminals and seek necessary authorization for use in the country". The first paragraph should then read:
"Convinced of the need to reach regional, and preferably global arrangements on issues related to the four levels of free circulation of user terminals defined as follows:
- permission to carry a terminal into a visited country but not to use it;
- permission to carry a terminal into a visited country and seek necessary authorization in the country;
- permission to carry a terminal into a visited country and use it without the need for obtaining authorization in the visited country; and
- technical conditions for placing terminals on the market;
that such arrangement would necessarily ..., or be implemented by reference ..."
The Parties shall develop arrangements on the essential requirements necessary for the type approval of terminals, and the means by which such approvals shall be mutually recognized. That the type approval standards should be based on the relevant ITU Recommendations, and should be impartial with respect to all GMPCS technologies and without reference to performance or quality of service standards.
Local Meeting comments: OK.
The Parties shall develop arrangements on the means by which licences should be granted based on general licences (e.g. class licences or blank approvals). That such arrangements shall be drawn up and include the means by which these general licences shall be mutually recognized.
Local Meeting comments: OK.
The Parties shall develop arrangements on the marking of terminals which permit their recognition and the implementation of the arrangements on mutual recognition of type approval and licensing.
Local Meeting comments: OK.
The Parties shall develop recommendations to their competent authority proposing exemption of approved terminals from customs restrictions when visiting or transiting countries.
Local Meeting comments: Qualify the word "exemption" with "appropriate" or "level of".
The Parties shall periodically review the results and consequences of their cooperation under this Memorandum of Understanding. When appropriate, the Parties will consider the need for improvements in their cooperation and make suitable proposals for modifying and updating arrangements, and the scope of this GMPCS MoU.
Local Meeting comments:
"Periodically" in line 1 of Article 5 may be too vague. It may be helpful to define the "time" of a period.
Determine the mechanisms to be used in modifying and updating, as indicated in Article 5, and who will bear the costs for Review activities in general.
The contents of Article 5 should be placed last, i.e. become Article 6, and vice versa.
The Parties shall develop arrangements for GMPCS operators to provide, on a confidential basis, within a reasonable period of time to any duly authorized national authority which so requests, the best available traffic data concerning traffic originating in routed to its national territory, and to assist it with any measure intended to identify unauthorized traffic flows therein.
Local Meeting comments:
The contents of Article 6 should be placed under Article 5 and vice versa.
Information on traffic data is very important to developing countries, the Caribbean region/TT included. Generally, GMPCS operators, service providers or manufacturers do not come from these countries, and there is concern on potential loss of revenues.
Some regulatory and human resource development concerns raised at the Local Meeting related to:
Development of regulations, service and terminal licensing, frequency
spectrum management, competition, GATS commitments, interconnection,
possibility of PSTN bypass, unauthorized service provision, geo-positioning
technology, unauthorized use of terminals, accounting and billing,
national sovereignty, privacy and security of information, gateways,
affordability of services, development of adequate regulatory
capability, regional approach, assistance from the ITU and other
entities.