TELECOM - MINISTER DENIES SINGTEL'S APPEAL ON LOCAL

UNCLAS SINGAPORE 001687

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR FOR AUSTR BWEISEL, JJENSEN, AND JMCHALE
COMMERCE FOR JBAKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECPS EIND EINV ETRD SN
SUBJECT: TELECOM - MINISTER DENIES SINGTEL'S APPEAL ON LOCAL
LEASE CIRCUITS

REFS: A) SINGAPORE 1119 B) SINGAPORE 1205 C) 2005 SINGAPORE 3593


1. (U) Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
Lee Boon Yang on May 23 announced his decision to uphold the
telecom regulator's requirement that dominant carrier SingTel
provide competitors access to its local leased ("last mile")
circuits (LLCs) at cost-based rates using an open-standard
interface. The decision came in response to an appeal that
SingTel made to Minister Lee shortly after the
Infocommunications Development Authority (IDA) issued its
October 19, 2005 decision directing SingTel to offer multiplexed
"tail" LLCs using one of two technical interface options. The
Minister's decision may be viewed at:




2. (SBU) Although the Minister's decision marks a partial
victory for U.S. telecom operators, industry remains skeptical
about its ability to take full advantage of these provisions.
Of particular concern is SingTel's required 30-day lead time for
purchasing "tie-cables," an important component for proper LLC
interconnection to local exchanges. SingTel proposed this and
other new implementing regulations in its amended Reference
Interconnection Offer (RIO) that it submitted to IDA late last
year in response to the October decision. In combination with
the requirement to pre-order tie-cables, the absence of high-
speed multiplexing options in SingTel's RIO creates significant
procurement difficulties for other carriers (ref C).


3. (SBU) Limited to only low-speed options, industry sources
tell us that a telecom operator wanting to support a customer
base of 1,000 end-users, for example, would need to pre-order
between 250 and 1,000 tie-cables for a particular point of
interconnection; this same customer base could be supported with
only a handful of tie-cables if high-speed options were
available. (Note: SingTel itself reportedly uses higher-speed
options, but does not make these available to competitors. End
note.)


4. (SBU) At least one U.S. carrier recently filed a
reconsideration request with IDA asking that it provide a
solution to the tie-cable/low speed multiplexing issue. This
same carrier expects that, if IDA issues a favorable ruling,
SingTel will appeal the decision. (Note: IDA first mandated
wholesale pricing for LLCs in December 2003; SingTel has
repeatedly requested stays or appealed LLC-related decisions in
order to delay fulfilling its obligations. In addition to
requesting stays of decisions from IDA, SingTel can, under
current regulation, make "private" appeals to the Minister,
i.e., ones not made available to other interested parties. End
Note.)

Comment
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5. (SBU) In our meetings with Singapore officials, USTR and
Post have repeatedly urged the GOS to fulfill its telecom
commitments under our bilateral Free Trade Agreement and to
implement a more transparent appeals and rule-making process.
While we are encouraged by the Minister's most recent decision,
we will continue to underscore the need for Singapore to further
liberalize its telecom sector. As we have noted in our
discussions with the GOS, a good place to start would be for
Singapore to allow higher-speed access and interconnection at
tandem exchanges comparable to what is offered SingTel and other
carriers operating in the United States under the Special Access
program.

HERBOLD