U.S. telecom companies face barriers competing in China, Germany,...

companies face impediments accessing the telecom market due to high capitalization requirements and limits on joint venture partnerships, the report said. U.S. companies face difficulty accessing the Telstra network in Australia, elements of Deutsche Telekom’s network in Germany, and leased lines in Singapore, it said. There are problems interconnecting with CTE in El Salvador and Telgua in Guatemala, and delays licensing basic telecom service in Oman, said the report. It also raised concerns about Jamaica’s universal service program and Mexico telecom equipment testing requirements. Non-country-specific concerns include regulatory frameworks that hinder telecom competition, elevated mobile termination rates, continued barriers to VoIP use and conformity assessment requirements related to telecom and information technology equipment. The USTR said it’s seen some progress on concerns from previous reviews. For example, Columbia “drastically reduced its high licensing fee for long distance service,” while India killed its Access Deficit Charge, a fee that increased costs to U.S. carriers sending telecom traffic to India, it said. German competitive carrier association VATM is “glad” the USTR picked up the Deutsche Telekom issue, said Axel Spies, the Washington, D.C., representative for VATM. But USTR should also look into “vexing” issues concerning DT’s use of bundled offers and long-term contracts, and a German policy known as “regulatory holidays,” which exempt incumbents from regulation if they invest in infrastructure such as glass fiber networks, he said. A case on regulatory holidays is ongoing in the European Court of Justice, he said.