ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews issues relating to market access that need to be considered during trade negotiations involving telecommunication and data services. Distinguishing the concepts of national treatment, market access, market presence and the right of establishment from one another is difficult because the boundaries have blurred. Trade in services was launched as an issue in the early 1970s. The United States raised the issue during the Tokyo Round negotiations, but little was accomplished. National treatment and market access for foreign services are new concepts under consideration by negotiators. Countries extending national treatment to foreign services would treat domestic and foreign providers of the same service in the same way. Insurance, construction, aviation and shipping were initially at the center of the services discussions. Over time, telecommunications came to the forefront because of the rapid growth of the sector, its ability to make other services tradeable, and its importance for making manufacturing sectors competitive.
