Discrimination in International Mobile Roaming Regulation: Implications of WTO Law

Abstract

In August 2012, the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development and the Australian Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy released a Draft Report on Trans-Tasman Roaming. Using these recent developments in the Trans-Tasman market as a case study, this article examines the implications of WTO law for countries seeking to agree on regulatory strategies to address international mobile roaming. In particular, this article explores from the perspective of Australia the WTO-consistency of a potential agreement between Australia and New Zealand to impose legislative price caps at the wholesale level, and corresponding domestic measures to implement such an agreement.

Keywords: WTO, telecommunications, roaming, international law, services

JEL Classification: K33