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Regulatory Issues Continue To Plague Asian Market

By Staff Writer | January 14, 2004

      HONOLULU–The time has come for the Asia-Pacific region to fully open its doors to the international satellite business. Even though global satellite and network operators have made significant contributions within the Asian marketplace for regional connectivity, they continue to face regulatory obstacles that hinder business growth for multinationals. These were the views expressed here during panel sessions at the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) conference.

      Global satellite operators that provide versatile connections to, from and within the Asia-Pacific region remain frustrated that their supply of regional bandwidth continues to be underutilized. The reason is that multiple levels of political bureaucracy favor domestic service providers instead of their international counterparts.

      “The 1990s were a fantastic time for de-regulation [within the Asian market] stemming from increased competition and WTO directives,” said Bruce Olcott, attorney with Washington, DC-based Squire, Sanders and Dempsey. “Since then, we have witnessed something of a business rollback.”

      For in-depth coverage of PTC, see the Jan. 19 issue of SATELLITE NEWS. For more info on subscribing to PBI Media newsletters, check out our Web site at www.satellitetoday.com.