Japan chides U.S. about unfavorable telecom rules

Japan on Friday renewed calls for the United States to clarify its licensing criteria and other regulations over telecommunications businesses.

During bilateral deregulation talks in Tokyo, Japan reiterated concerns that a series of U.S. regulatory orders disfavor Japanese and other foreign carriers, hampering their access to the U.S. market, Japanese government officials told reporters.

For instance, Japan pointed out that a foreign carrier's application for a license could be turned down for such vague reasons as "foreign policy" and "trade concerns." Also, the government raised concerns about the discriminatory treatment of the so-called dominant carriers according to nationality.

For example, AT&T holds a 60 percent share of the U.S. market but is not treated as a dominant carrier, which would place it under tougher regulations. However, the key factor for determining whether other telecommunications firms are dominant, foreign ones included, is a share of only 50 percent in such markets as international transport, inter-city, and local access facilities or services, according to the Japanese officials.

The U.S. side was represented by officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce, but not those from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The U.S. officials said they would respond in written form before upcoming vice ministerial-level talks slated for early March.

Friday's working-level talks on telecommunications were held under the framework of the Enhanced Initiative on Deregulation and Competition Policy, which was agreed to by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and U.S. President Bill Clinton last June.