Unilateral liberalisation and WTO GATS commitments: the telecommunications sector in selected countries

Abstract

This paper examines how unilateral liberalisation of the telecommunications sector affected WTO Member countries' commitments in the GATS of the WTO. It is argued from observations and interviews that unilateral liberalisation provides a basis for making WTO commitments. The differing objectives of WTO Members, their attitudes towards reform (strong reformer or lukewarm supporter of reforms), and country-specific sensitivities appear to be factors responsible for the observed differences between unilateral reforms and GATS commitments in the telecommunications sector. Copyright © 2010 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2010 Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd..