RCEP AND WTO: A DIGITAL WORLD

The Philippine (PH) telecommunications (telco) history was a legacy of global regimes - from the Spanish colonization of 333 years to the American rule of 48 years and to the Japanese occupation. Along with foreign domination came the transmission of information from wire to radio, optical and to other electromagnetic systems.

In 1878, the Spaniards (according to historians Rafael and Federico Oquindo) sought to establish a communications link between the country and the rest of the world. Cable & Wireless laid down and operated the submarine telegraph cable between Luzon and the British Crown Colony. In 1890, the first telephone system was put into operation.

The American regime from 1898 to 1946 brought in US technology with companies like RCA Communications which, in 1933, introduced the first radiotelephone circuit between the Philippines (PH) and the United States (US) in joint cooperation with PLDT.

In 1965, Congress approved the merger of Globe Wireless and Mackay Radio into Globe Mackay and Radio Corporation (GMRC). Eventually Globe Telecom Inc., formerly GMRC, listed its shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), as the first PH telco to do so.

Globe, now being the largest publicly listed telco at a market cap of over P363B as of 3Q, 2021 has scaled up into a Digital Solutions Group expanding into various digital solutions services in fintech, healthcare, entertainment, adtech, e-commerce, IT and venture capital.

Globe’s commitment to digital transformation and inclusion is reflected in MYNT’s performance providing solutions/financial access for communities such as e-payments, loans, insurance, etc. With Globe’s breakthrough service app - GCash - MYNT has produced market growth with more than 40% Filipinos now having a GCash account and penetrating further the estimated 70M users.

Telecommunications is cross-border by nature and based on this, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries form part of the World Trade Organization (WTO’s) Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on Electronic Commerce. This collaboration is in recognition of a Digital World that is predominantly marked by businesses which are digitalized. WTO’s JSI seeks to come up with a multilateral agreement on the conduct of electronic trade. RCEP’s role is to apply this agreement with its global stakeholders regardless of the telco conditions and mindsets they are in.

Thailand may be conditioned to work closely with the RCEP and the WTO since their industry’s character is largely of the public sector but balanced by a consumption market that is of a strong CAGR tendency for e-commerce. The three fixed-line telephone operators have a deep market penetration with a market value of their communication services in 2021 of 360.8B THB ($10.9B).

Vietnam, a non-signatory to the RCEP-WTO JSI together with the Philippines, is globally competitive, having grown 61% in 2008 to $7.7B and in terms of revenues, 20% at $6.26B despite the onslaught of the pandemic. The key is the government and Ministry of Information and Communication support. Vietnam was granted $820M for its NBN, Thailand - $162M and Singapore $550M. For the Philippines, the allocation was $42.2M.

In the ASEAN, the Singapore model of “Singapore One (One Network for Everyone) is to deliver IT applications and services to every sector of the economy”. IT experts Kraemer and Dedrick said that “countries that invested more in IT as a percentage of the GDP, especially in conjunction with investments in supporting infrastructure, achieved consistently higher growth rates of GDP and productivity”.

In short, countries and governmental organizations must live up to what a Digital World calls for.