International telecommunications and trade in services. Policy perspectives

Telecommunications and trade in services have become prominent international policy issues in recent years, because of the enormous trade, industrial and strategic stakes in the international information economy. These two issues are becoming increasingly interrelated, given the pressures for liberalisation of trade in services and competition in international telecommunications. Major industrialised countries such as the USA, Japan and the UK see competition as enhancing domestic and international industrial competitiveness and reinforcing their roles as international telecommunications hub countries. Competition in international telecommunications is rising partly because of the growing competition between fibre optic cables and communications satellites, but also because of the rivalry between countries in two key regions, Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific.