The World Trade Organization will meet again today in Geneva in hopes of reaching a compromise on a new date to put the basic telecom services agreement into effect.
WTO members met Jan. 16, but had no success securing a date because 13 countries had yet to ratify the free trade accord. The agreement allows signatories to own 100 percent of a U.S. carrier. Previously, the most an overseas firm could hold in a U.S. carrier was 25 percent.
The Jan. 1 start date was suspended because not all of the 69 signatories to the agreement had implemented it, owing largely to the delay in reaching the accord last year.
The continuing delay could hurt wireless startups that may need foreign capital for system buildout.
According to one published report, countries that have not approved the WTO telecom accord are Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Poland and Romania.
