Miskolc Journal of International Law

Miskolc Journal of International Law
Chun Hung Lin:
Miskolc Journal of International

Law Development...
Global Telecommunication
MISKOLCI NEMZETKZI JOGI KZLEMNYEK
VOLUME 3. (2006) NO. 1. PP. 1-16.
Chun Hung LIN1:

Global Telecommunication Development and Its Influences on
International Community: An International Lawyers Perspective
I.
Introduction
What is telecommunication? The evidence shows that communication is one of

human beings instincts and should be equally protected. By communicating with each other,
humans feelings, demands, and opinions can be observed and known. In this way, mankind
understands each other and actively exchanges information. After the Revolution of
Information, telecommunications mechanisms are now an elemental force, used in almost
every aspect of daily lives. Without these mechanisms, the information age would not even
exist. Today, telecommunications followed by with new technologies, are developing and
increasing speedily and becoming one of the requisite components in our daily life. Through
the definition of telecommunication and its history, this article will review the global
telecommunication development. The article concerns the relationship between human rights
and telecommunications. The article will question why is international telecommunication
cooperation necessary? Why is there still a huge gap between industrialized and developing
countries in access to basic telecommunications? Why is a stable and forceful international
telecommunication system necessary in international community? The article will examine the
position of different international organizations in the international community and how it
evolved in telecommunication cooperation among countries. The article will also discuss
regional telecommunication cooperation and see if it matters with different telecommunication
technologies and service develop among the Asia-Pacific region, the European Union, and the
Americas?
Second, the article will focus the position of Radio Regulations in international
telecommunication cooperation. It will scrutinize the review of Radio Regulations and
highlight the characteristics of the radio frequency spectrum as an example to support and
showcase the importance of international negotiations and cooperation in sharing
telecommunication resources and new technologies. Hereafter, the article will consider the
relationship between international business issues and telecommunications. What kind of
1
Assistant Professor of Law, Feng Chia University Graduate Institute of Financial and Economic Law, Taichung Taiwan;
S.J.D., LL.M., Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco USA; LL.B. National Chengchi University College
of Law, Taipei Taiwan; Member of Arizona Bar
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Chun Hung Lin:

Global Telecommunication Development...
international organization does support the commercial negotiations and trade agreements
concerning telecommunications? What kind of influences did it or will it have on global
telecommunication development and markets? Why foreign investment plays a critical role in
global telecommunication development and does it have a close connection with the universal
access? Does foreign direct investment bring any impact to the international
telecommunication community? Finally, this article will make a conclusion based on the basic
points of the right to telecommunicate and universal access to further examine global
telecommunication development.
II. Definition of Telecommunication

What is Telecommunication? In Greek, "Tele" means distant and "graphic."
Telecommunications refers to long-distance communication. According to the Annex of the
Constitution of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Telecommunication
means any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or
intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems.2 The
Signals, which can be visual, audible, or electrical, can be made by a variety of means,
including lighted torches, smoke, flags, lamps, drums, guns, telegraph, telephone, and radio. In
earlier times, smoke signals, drums, light beacons, and various forms of signals were used for
communication. Nowadays, telecommunication is carried out with the aid of electronic
equipment such as the radio, telegraph, telephone, and television. Thus
Telecommunications can simply imply the transmission and reception of signals by any
electromagnetic means which is defined by the Annex on Telecommunication of the General
Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).3 Electrical
signals can be transmitted very quickly over great distances and are known as
Telecommunication now. The information that is transmitted can be in the form of voice,
symbols, pictures, or data, or a combination of these. The physical equipment for a
telecommunications system includes a transmitter, one or more receivers, and a channel or
means of communication such as the air, water, wire, cable, satellite, or some combination of
these. Telecommunication means can be used to control railroad trains and vehicular traffic on
roads and highways and to communicate with ships, airplanes, and other vehicles. Through
telecommunication, people also can get necessary information and knowledge to improve their
living conditions, medicine, education, as well as business transactions. As to the 1996
Telecommunication Act of the United Sates, Telecommunication means the transmission,
between or among points specified by the user, of information of the users choosing, without
change in the form or content of the information as sent and received.4 Obviously, the
Telecommunication Act of USA exerts a wider method to describe telecommunications.
1012, Annex on Definition of Certain Terms Used in this Constitution, the Convention and the Administrative
Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union; the Constitution of the International Telecommunication
Union; Kyoto, 1994.
3
Art. 3 (a), Annex on Telecommunication of the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS).
4
Sec. 3. (48), Definitions, Telecommunication Act of the USA, 1996.
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III. History of Global Telecommunications Development

Telecommunication development can be tracked back thousands of years ago and
always is closely connected with human history. One of the most famous events of
"Telecommunications" was the Marathon Run in Old Greece. In September 490 BC, a bitter
battle was going on at the coast of the Aegean Sea, near the town of Marathon. A small well
armed Greek army fought against a numerically stronger army of Persians, but nevertheless
the Greeks gained victory. The leader of the Greek army sent a courier with the message of
victory back to Athens. After the messenger had completed the more than 40 kilometers long
run and reached the streets of Athens, he collapsed with the words: "Be glad! We are the
winners!" and died. This is a very original way to transmit news in early human records.5 In
forest areas, the drum was developed into one mean of telecommunications and called as the
Jungle Telegraph. In Africa, New Guinea and the tropical America, natives used drum
telegraphy to communicate with each other from far away for centuries.6 When scientific
expeditions came into the jungles and explored the primeval forest, there were accompanied by
a never-ending roar of signal drums. Hence, the message of their coming and their intention
was carried through the woods always a step in advance. In ancient China, people used another
music instrument Tamtam or Gong made from a large, free hanging, and circular plate of
metal as telecommunication appliance.7 The keystroking of this plate created a far-reaching
audible tone. In the Northern American Continent, Indians were using smoke signals to
exchange information. Those are earlier methods to transmit news and information.
A more systemic communication method started in Old Rome. The old Romans
worked with a smoke telegraph net, which had a total length of about 4,500 kilometers.8 The
telegraph net consisted of towers within visible range of each other. Hundreds of such towers
for military signaling were needed to be able to reign over such a fast expanding empire. In
addition, the ancient Greek and Roman empires organized another well-developed telegraph
system, fire signals.9 The fire signals were given from mountains to mountains or from towers
to towers. The receiving and transmitting stations were built of two separated walls, which
were placed on hills and each one had battlements between where torches were put.
Depending on how many torches were burning between the battlements on the right and the
left wall, the message could be read. In the Far East, ancient Chinese also used fire signals for
military purpose to communicate along with the frontiers of the Empire during the Han
Dynasty.10 Different from smoke signals, fire signals were also visible at night. This kind of
pre-electric telegraphy required alphabetic signaling. By 300 BC, the Greek invented the
method of signaling consisting of 24 Greek letter alphabets. Moreover, navies and ships had
used maritime flags and semaphore for centuries.
5
Ancient Greece and Rome III, NY: Scribner, 1998, p25.

Margaret Mead: Growing Up in New Guinea; William Morrow; NY, 1930, p43.
7
Neville H. Fletcher: Nonlinear dynamics and chaos in musical instruments Complexity International, Volume 1, 1994.
The tamtam is almost completely flat, with a shallow central dome, a turned over edge, and several rings of hammered
bumps. It is typically nearly a meter in diameter and is made from metal. The tamtam is played by striking it in the center
with a large and softly padded beater.
8
Friedrich Kittler: The History of Communication Media; Canada: Ctheory International Journal, July 30, 1996.
9
Ibid.
10
M. Aurel Stein: Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal Narrative of Explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China,
Macmillan and Company, Limited St. Martin's Street, London, 1912.
6
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Telecommunications mechanism such as telegraph, telephone, radio, TV, satellite,

even internet, each was developed for dozen of years and paved the way for the final invention
by thousands of people and steps. Those tools also utilized electricity as a drive force. For
harnessing electricity, the ancient Chinese initially discovered and used the lodestone, a natural
magnet, and knowledge of it traveled westward. Afterward, Roger Bacon suggested the use of
electricity for communication as early as 1267.11 An English named Stephen Gray described
the basic principles of telegraphy in 1730, and his partner, Wheeler, suggested that the wire
suspended by a silk thread. The first useful optical telegraph was invented during the period of
the French Revolution. A French named Claude Chappe, a former priest, introduced a
mechanical-optical telegraph that consisted of a column with a moveable crosswise beam.12
This beam also had two moveable arms. With ropes it was possible to show many different
signal pictures, all together 196 with upper and lower case letters, punctuation marks and
numbers. The equipment stood on rooftops or towers and was visible from far away. This sort
of telegraphs called Semaphore System, and its first line sort was run for operation in 1794.13
The telegraph line comprised 15 stations and linked Lille with Paris, a distance of over 240
kilometers. It only took about 4 to 7 minutes to transfer a message from Paris riding across
France. The modern telegraphy was initially invented Samuel Morse.14 He got the idea for the
concept when he returned to America from Italy on board the ship "Sully." He used about six
years to finish this invention and received a patent called the Morse Telegraph in 1838.15 In
May 1844, the first telegraph line was operated from Washington DC to Baltimore.16 Started
by Henry OReilly,17 the telegraphy lines were sooner or later expanded to Philadelphia, New
York, Boston and many other cities and areas around the USA.18
On the other hand, telegraphy became more and more popular in Europe as well.
Meanwhile, some improvements were achieved such as an invention to use one line for
different telegrams at the same time and to send signs in both directions. The Austrian
Physicist Julius Wilhelm Gintl created Duplex telegraphy allowing simultaneous transmission
of signals in opposite directions in 1853.19 Gintl's method was called the method of
11
George P. Oslin: The Story of Telecommunications; Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia, 1992, p2.
Ibid, pp4-7. During the French Revolution, Claude Chappe operated three different semaphore systems and then built a
shutter system with a rectangular frame at each station. Afterward, he and his two brothers received governmental
financial aid and constructed a third system with a tall pole and a long arm across the top in each station.
13
Ibid. Semaphore Systems; Semaphore comes from the Greek. Sema means a sign, and phero is I bear.
14
Samuel F. B. Morse, born in Massachusetts in 1791 was one of the most important investor in telegraph history. From
the Morse Code, Morse key and stylus recorder, he produced telegraph equipment practical and simple enough to attain
general use in the USA.
15
Ibid, pp 13-28.
16
Ibid, pp 14-43. On May 24, 1844, one of the most important days in the American history, the first telegraph line
invented by Samuel Morse was tested successfully. He sat in the High Court of Justice in Washington and sent the first
message out to the Baltimore & Ohio railway station in Baltimore where many illustrious people were waiting. The
content was a quotation of the bible and said: "What hath God wrought". The message reached Alfred Lewis Vail, the
collaborator of Samuel Morse, in Baltimore, who sent it back at once.
17
Henry OReilly, born in Ireland in 1806, started the expansions of Morse Telegraph lines in the USA. On June 13,
1845, he obtained a contract from his friend and the authority to raise capital for the construction of the Morse line from
Philadelphia to which cities he may select. Beginning that day, OReilly contracted and built telegraph lines not only
within east coast but also progress to the South and West of USA. American called him as The Greatest Of The Pioneer
Line Builder.
18
See supra note Oslin, pp 37-56, also see Dexter Perkins: Rochester History; Rochester Public Library, Jan. 1945.
19
Russell Naughton: 2500 Years of Communications History; Adventures in cybersound, 2000.
12
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compensation. He got the golden Medal of Honor at the exhibition of industry in Paris in
1855. During the year of 1836, two Englishmen, William Fothergill Cooke and Charles
Wheatstone formed a partnership in research for the needle telegraph.20 In June 1837, they
were granted a patent on an instrument using six wires, connected to five galvanometer needles
arranged in a row across the face of a grid that displayed 20 letters of the alphabet. Each letter
was sent in the form of currents flowing down two wires, causing the appropriate needles to
swing against stops and point to the right letter. One month later, the first experimental line
with the new telegraph was started and connected between the stations Euston Square and
Camden Town over a distance of 2.4 kilometres. In 1838 Cooke and Wheatstone improve and
patented their new two-needle telegraph that used fewer wires and was cheaper to use. In
1845, another improvement was proposed, the one-needle telegraph. The needle stroke
against small metal pipes that emitted sounds in different pitches.21 That "two tone melody"
represented a code of the telegram. This kind of telegraph was used for nearly 80 years in
England.22
Since 1842, the telegraph cable was initially laid cross the Hudson River and New York
Harbor.23 But these submarine cables lacked a required quality and could not last long. The
discovery of a form of rubber called "gutta-percha" in 1847 led to a suitable insulation and
could let submarine cables keep longer under water.24 The first across-national-boundary
submarine cable telegraphy began with a wealthy English merchant family named Brett, who
financed a cable crossing the English Channel to France in 1850.25 At the same period, several
American and European had an image to use a telegraph cable to cross the Atlantic to connect
both continents. Cyrus Field, a wealthy New York paper merchant, was enthusiastic about
such an idea and decided to lay a submarine cable from the USA to England.26 From 1854 to
1856, he formed the "New York Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company" and the
"Atlantic Telegraph Company" to experiment several trials.27 Due to scientific and engineering
problems, many trials failed. Meanwhile, the British Government appointed a commission to
investigate the whole subject and experiments. Since July 1865, a giant British ship, the Great
Eastern, began to participate in new trials.28 However, all trials to lift up the cable failed, so
new attempts had to start again in 1866. After five months, the new cable had been
manufactured till the first message was transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean. The first
20
Brian Winston: Media Technology and Society, A History: From the Telegraph to the Internet; pp 22-29.
James B. Calvert: The Electromagnetic Telegraph; April 7, 2000.
22
See Needles and Wires "Naturwissenschaft und Technik" Zweiburgen Verlag, Weinheim, Germany.
23
Jack Rohan: Yankee Arms Maker: The Incredible Career of Samuel Colt; NY: Harper Brothers, 1935; also see supra
note Oslin pp157-158. It said Samuel Colt laid a cable in New York Harbor in 1842.
24
Dr. Ernst Werner von Siemens developed a heat machine in 1847 that eliminated leaky seams in insulation as the guttapercha was applied.
25
Jacob Brett and his elder brother, John Brett laid the first cable across the English Channel from Dover to Cap Gris-Nez
in 1850. However, it failed after a few messages were exchanged, but a permanent channel cable was laid by T. R.
Crampton, an English engineer, in Sep. 1851.
26
Cyrus W. Field, born in Massachusetts in 1819 was a wealthy New York paper merchant and warehouseman. His
persistence resulted in the laying of the first successful transatlantic cable.
27
See supra note Oslin, pp161-186.
28
Originally named Leviathan, the Great Eastern, a British cargo ship of 22,500 tons and 700 feet long was the only one
ship in the world large enough to carry the 2,300 miles and 9,000 tons submarine cable at that time.
21
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functional telegraph line between Europe and America was finally finished in 1866 and stood
for a new era in telecommunications.29
The original idea of telephone was from Charles Boursel's, a civil engineer working for
a French telegraph company. He initially published this idea of the electrical transmitting of
sound in 1854 in the magazine "L'Illustration de Paris."30 Later on, in 1876, in Boston
Massachusetts, an American named Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.31 His
system was composed of a microphone and a speaker. Bell filed his patent application just
hours before his competitor, Elisha Gray. Bell's microphone changed sound waves into a
pulsating voltage that is faster and easier to transmit than sound waves. Because Bell believed
in the commercial use of his telephone system, he published his invention after he had
patented it. At the world exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, he demonstrated his telephone
and caused a sensation. Bell's telephone system reached the public's attention, although many
researches in the field of electrical voice transmission had done before. For the commercial
purpose, Bell founded the "Bell Telephone Company. This company delivered and installed
50,000 telephones within the first three years and became the world's largest telephone
company known as "American Telephone and Telegraph Company" (AT&T).32 The
development of the Telephone in industrialized countries became very popular and common at
that time. At the beginning, people had to talk to an operator first and waited a long time until
the operator built up the connection manually on a connecting board. In 1889, Almon B.
Strowger invented a system that allowed individual telephone subscribers to establish their
own telephone connections.33 In 1892, Strowger set up his "Strowger Automatic Telephone
Exchange Company" which was the first telephone exchange without operators to establish
connections.34 Nowadays, telephones have become the basic telecommunication tool in our
daily life.
In 1882, a Croats electrical engineer, Nikola Tesla, developed the alternating current
power system called AC that provides electricity for homes and business buildings.35 He
constructed an AC power system to replace the weak direct-current (DC) generators and
motors that were in use. Tesla moved to the United States in 1884 and registered more than
100 patents. He also invented a high-frequency transformer called it the "Tesla coil" that made
AC power transmission practicable. He experimented with radio waves and designed an
electronic tube, which was used as the detector in a voice radio system.36 The invitations of
Tesla had great influences to future telecommunication development. In 1888, Friedrich Hertz
29
Ibid, pp 173-178. The Anglo-American Telegraph Company raised enough capital and prepared for this try in 1866. On
the other hand, the TC&M Company made 1,600 miles of new cable and the ship, the Great Eastern, started west flanked
by telegraph ships Medway and Albany with the Terrible leading the way. After laying 1,896 miles of cable in 14 days, the
Great Eastern arrived off Trinity Bay, Newfoundland on July 27, 1866.
30
Petar Lesic and Dirk R. Gierhake from Telekom Unterrichtsblaetter, Germany.
31
Thomas E. Bolger: Introduction: The Telephones First Century and beyond, essays on the Occasion of the 100 th
Anniversary of Telephone Communication by Arthur C. Clarke, Michael L. Dertouzos, Morris Halle, Ithiel de Sola Pool,
and Jerome B. Wiesner, published by Thomas Y. Crowell Company and AT&T, 1977, pp 1-8, pp21-36; also see supra
note Oslin, pp 215-221.
32
See Oslin, pp 228-231.
33
Ibid, p 251.
34
Ibid, p 440.
35
Ibid, p 283.
36
See Compton's Encyclopedia by Petar Lesic and Dirk Gierhake.
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discovered the electromagnetic wave. He opened new ways of transmitting information. In

1895, the Italian Guglielmo Marconi experimented with wireless telegraphy.37 He was
successful to send his messages across the English Channel from France to England in 1899.
Only two years later, the first transatlantic signals were sent across the Ocean from Europe to
North America. His radio equipment was composed of a transmitting and a receiving part.
The transmitting part was composed of a conductor that was connected to an antenna and to
the ground. The receiver had an antenna and a ground pole the same way the transmitter had
so that the transmitted signal could be received on the receiving side. Later, Marconi founded
"Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company" in London to produce his receiving and transmitting
system and rent it to ship owners under the condition that only his personnel were allowed to
operate these machines.38 So he could keep his monopoly on his transmitting system. The first
voice transmitting system with electromagnetic waves was built in America in 1906.39 Four
years later, the first song was transmitted by electromagnetic waves and it was the voice of the
famous singer Caruso right out of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.40 In April 1920, an
experimental public station was held at Hague, Netherlands, and began to transmit sounds
between England and the European Continent.41 In the following years, several radio stations
started broadcasting their programs in England as well.42 The first radio broadcasting station
started in the USA in 1921 and later built up all over the nation quickly.43 The vacuum tube
was invented in 1910 and allowed voice transmitted over further distances and transmitted
more than one conversation at once on one wire.44 It was very important that the different
units and platoons could communicate. Even ships and aircraft were equipped with
transmitters and receivers when these devices became small enough to fit in an aircraft or boat.
The first Teletype writer was introduced in 1914.45 Teletype writer became very popular
because anything written and transmitted by a Teletype writer is still legally valid. Afterward,
facsimile played an important role in long distant communication during 1920 to 1940 and also
revived the idea of television.46
As one of modern telecommunication tools, television has become an indispensable
requisite to acquire information and of knowledge in humans daily life. A German named Paul
Nipkow initially invented the practical wired image transmission.47 Later on, Georges Rignous
37
Two years before Marconi demonstrated his wireless telegraphy in 1895, Nikola Tesla already showed radio
transmission at the 1983 Worlds Columbain Exposition at Chicago. The US Supreme Court ruled that Teslas radio
patents predated Marconis.
38
See supra note, pp78-83.
39
Stanley Leinwoll: A History of Radio Communication: From Spark to Satellite; NY: Charles Scribners Sons, 1979, pp
34-40. On Christmas Eve, 1906, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden made the first radiotelephone broadcast in history.
40
See supra note Brian, pp 60-64.
41
Ibid, pp 101-104. The station was signed as PCGG operating on 285 kHz.
42
Meanwhile, six of Britains largest manufactures of radio equipment including Marconi Company formed the British
Broadcasting Corporation, Ltd. That was known as BBC.
43
See supra note Stanley, pp 83-96. In 1921, the US government issued licenses to Charles Herrolds Radio Station
KQY and a frequency of 833 kHz.
44
See supra note Oslin, pp 283-286.
45
Ibid, pp 303-307.
46
At the time, facsimile was hailed as the telegraph of tomorrow." See R. J. Murphy: Telecommunications Networks: A
Technical Introduction; Indiana, Howard W. Sams & Company, 1987, pp 163-164 & 190 for definition and standard.
47
In 1884, Paul Nipkow applied for a German patent for an Elektrisches Teleskop. The heart of his patent was a
revolving apertured disc. The disc had 24 holes in a spiral near the outer rim. This patent had all the elements for a
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and Professor A. Fournier built the first operated television system in 1909.48 Vladimir Kosma
Zworykin applied for a patent on the cathode ray tube as a film or slide scanner in 1929.49 This
invention was the foundation of modern television and originally brought rapid development
of television. At the same year, the electronic television started in Europe when Manfred von
Ardenne successful showed that a cathode-ray tube is not only suitable for the reproduction of
transmitted pictures, but also as a scanner for objects and slides.50 In 1932, an American, Philo
T. Farnsworth, had succeeded in converting a photograph into an electronic image and
scanning in successive lines.51 However, the sensitivity of that picture tube was very low
because only a very small part of the complete luminous flux entered the aperture in the size of
an image point. After couple of months, Vladimir Zworykin developed the Iconoscope that
would imitate the conditions under which the human eye functions.52 This picture tube saved
the light incidence between two scanning cycles and was sensitive enough for direct
transmission of daylight. With that, the way was free for development of modern image
converter tubes. In 1935, the Iconoscope camera was developed so television could be done
without the Nipkow disk. At the same year, the first official and regular television program
service of the world started in Berlin Germany.53 After one year, the BBC initially broadcasted
commercial television programs in England that marked the beginning of modern television
broadcasting.54 In 1939, at the opening of the Worlds Fair in New York, regular television
programs were broadcasted in the United States.55 During the same period, the first color TV
programs were tested in USA as well. In 1952, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
developed the first picture tubes for cameras with semiconductor storage layer. One year later,
color television was finally introduced in the USA in 1953.56 After 1960s, satellite was
connected with television and cable television system had operated with high-speed.57 At the
same year, the Japanese Sony Company developed the first television set that was assembled
with transistors instead of electronic tubes. Finally, High Definition Television (HDTV) is
presented by the NHK Company in Japan in 1978.58
successful visual transmission system. See Anthony Smith: Television: An International History; Oxford University
Press, 1995, p15.
48
Ibid, p 17. This invention of television system had transmitting screen comprised of a bank of selenium cells and relays.
As each relay was connected in turn to the communicator, it sent its signal through a single wire to a receiver. Then a
modulated light was sent through a set of rotating mirrors where the image was reconstituted on a screen.
49
Ibid, pp22-28.
50
Ibid, p20.
51
Ibid, pp23-24 & 29. Philo T. Farnsworth also had patented the cathode ray scanner, the electronic method that became
the basis of modern television tubes in 1930.
52
Ibid, pp26-32.
53
On March 22, 1935, the German Post Office (DRP) opened a television service consisted of 180 lines at 25 frames from
Berlin. However, the picture quality was poor and programming was sporadic. Finally, a disastrous fire stated its failure on
August 19 at the same year. See ibid, pp 29-30.
54
In November 1936, the London Television Service was opened. Two traditional competitors, Baird Television Ltd. and
Marconi-EMI were successful at this time. The programming included game shows, musical numbers, drama, and
exhibitions, and boxing, etc.
55
Norm Goldstein: The History of Television; Associated Press, 1991, pp 53-56.
56
See supra note Smith, pp 33-34, and 38-39.
57
See supra note Goldstein, Into the Future, pp 254-270.
58
Ibid, pp 34, 304-308. HDTV was also known as Hi-Vision in Japan.
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Space telecommunications satellites were rapidly developed in the United States from
the year of 1960.59 The first earth-satellite called ECHO I which reflected radio signals
started to operate in August 1960.60 Later on, the American communications and television
broadcast satellite TELSTAR I was operated in July 1962.61 "TELSTAR I" was the first
satellite to send television images and telephone calls across the Atlantic Ocean but the
received signals were weak.62 At the end of the same year, an intercontinental television and
telephone satellite, RELAY I was launched as well.63 After one year, a stationary satellite for
transcontinental television and telephone transmissions called SYNCOM 2 started from July
1963.64 Since 1965, EARLY BIRD 1 had operated as the first commercial international
communication satellite and handled transatlantic telephone and television signals.65 It also was
the first step toward a global satellite system. In addition to satellites, the IBM Company
introduced "Tele-Processing" to assistant computers work over telephone line in 1961. After
the computers could be connected over telephone net, electronic data processing reached a
new dimension and information can flow in nationally even worldwide dimensions. Under
teleprocessing, computers work with peripheral equipment that consists of input and output
unit. The peripheral equipment is connected to the arithmetic unit using interfaces. Data are
transmitted serial or parallel. Interfaces can be prepared so that they feed a data flow via the
telephone net using an adapter. So it is possible to interconnect computers, respectively to
create a big data net. In 1964, telemedicine over satellite radio was successfully connected
together in the University Hospital of Nebraska, the Psychiatric Institute of Omaha and the
Norfolk hospital in the USA.66 The satellite connected the hospitals in tone and picture.
In 1966, an American Scientist Charles Kao firstly used light conductor fiber to
transmit phone calls. Kao noticed that the fibers work in total reflection and transmit a wide
frequency spectrum and a lot of calls can be transmitted simultaneously. After two years, a
German electronic firm Grundig introduced a small band picture transfer process, which can
transfer a TV picture by telephone and print as a photographic recording within a minute.67
The process is used in photo-telegraphy by press agencies, police search and weather reports.
However, the transferred pictures were black and white. In 1969, the Advanced Research
Projects Agency (ARPA) of the US Department of Defense commissioned the development of
a computer net, which helped to communicate in case of a nuclear attack or relieve the
59
Kevin C. Ruffner: Corona: Americas First Satellite Program; Washington DC: History Staff, Center for the Study of
intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 1995.
60
Echo I is the first passive communications satellite launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) on August 12, 1960. It is a ten-story-high aluminum coated balloon and soared 1,000 miles on a Delta rocket and
expanded to full size when solid-state material in the balloon changed to gas.
61
Telstar I was developed and launched by AT&T with a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 10, 1962. It
was the first nongovernmental satellite and carried the first live television scenes across the Atlantic Ocean.
62
The main reason of its failure was because it was not a geostationary satellite, and it was revolved around the earth in 2.5
hours and television programs could not be sent out for longer than 30 to 45 minutes.
63
Relay I was launched by NASA, which was an experimental satellite on December 13, 1962 but it became a silent a
year later on December 21. The NASA replaced it with Relay 2 that provided communications and carried world news
scenes covering Europe, East Asia and South America.
64
Syncom 2 is the first communications satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit over Brazil in July 26, 1963.
65
Early Bird 1 was placed in synchronous geostationary orbit over the Atlantic Ocean and linked the United States and
Europe on June 28, 1965. However, it only could operate with five earth stations.
66
Michiel Hegener: Telecommunications in Africa- via Internet in particular.
67
Eli Noam: Telecommunications in Europe; Oxford University Press, 1992, p173.
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cooperation between the different research departments.68 The ARPA-NET first connected
universities, the military and armament industries. Soon, methods were built into the system
for file transfer and for electronic mail (E-Mail).69 At the beginning, the net kept in function
when one or more lines were destroyed and the system automatically switched to another line
that was intact between two places. When there came more networks, scientists searched for
methods to connect the several systems together so that they could communicate without
limits.70 Thus the Internet was born. Since 1970, the Electronic Time Division Multiplex
(TDM) telephone exchange had used in the official telephone net worldwide.71 The TDM is
developed for a better utilization of the telephone channel. The principle of TDM is to
transmit several telephone calls over one cable. The Xerox Company put the first telecopy,
which the received signals are transmitted by telephone into the market.72 Compared with the
older telephotography, the flat bed system scans the model line for line, projects it on a diode
ledge and there it is electronically scanned. The IBM Company also developed Terminals for
data-compound-net which are data viewing stations connected to a electronic data processing
(EDP) control room by long-distance lines.73 Terminals principally consist of a monitor and a
keyboard. It permitted some geographically separated users to access a central computer
system. They are widely used by airports, railway stations, to show the timetables and prices,
etc.
In 1972, the first cable TV connections where built in USA.74 At the beginning,
television broadcasts were transmitted only by radio but now the Americans transform it into
cable TV networks. These cable TV nets have considerable advantages compared with radio.
The reception quality is better than radio, because atmospheric disturbances, aerial problems,
wave echoes on mountains and high-rise buildings do not matter at all. The program for TV
viewers is considerably larger, because it can bring several parallel programs within one cable
net. Later on, an American company named Hewlett-Packard put the first programmable
pocket calculator into the market in 1974.75 The functions of the calculator were logic
operation, limited program branches and other mathematical and scientific functions. From
1970s, the development of modern telecommunication progressed rapidly and widely even
than before. Due to the telecommunication revolutionary, the remotest part of the earth also
can be reached via the communications networks nowadays. After the development of the first
videotape recorder (VTR) in the mid 1960s, which made it possible to register motions on
magnetic tapes, Japanese electronic manufacturers improved the VTR system and put into
home market in 1975.76 On the other hand, due to the creation of computers, the most modern
telecommunication tools such as Internet, e-mail, telefax, and online also developed speedily
68
Christos J. P. Moschovitis, Hilary Poole, Tami Schuyler, and Theresa M. Senft: History of the Internet: Achronology,
1843 to the Present; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc, pp 33-62.
69
Ibid, pp 73-74. Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer at Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), introduced the @ symbol
and the users server in electronic mail address.
70
Ibid, pp2-4 & 205-232.
71
See supra note Murphy, pp 73-75 & 101.
72
See supra note Oslin, p383.
73
Ibid, p 366
74
See supra note Smith, pp278-283.
75
See supra note Winston pp 233-240.
76
See supra note Smith, pp 307-308.
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like lightning. From 1980, the storage capacity of the microchips increased.77 The chips are
able to register up to 6,400 bits. These highly integrated chips are used in computers as well.
In addition, the first pocket computers are placed into the market.
The introduction of broadband technology and in particular of the broadband
transmission results in many new forms of telecommunication.78 Whereas the classical
Teletype writers and broadcasting networks used the KHz-widths, the new means of
transmission uses the MHz bandwidths. Based on those new technologies, a long-distance
telephone conference is possible to realize. Telecommunications between single computers
also can be connected through a specific expansion of the telephone, Teletype and data nets.
Codified messages can be transmitted either as electronic teletypes in form of Teletype
conferences or via monitor using videotext and screen text. In times of moved picture
communications videoconferences via fixed TV connections are possible. With the
introduction of the multi-channel sound, a new era of sound broadcasting begins from the
1980s. New products including CD-players, Floppy Disks and compact disks read by the laser
system were also placed on the market. In 1983, the Personal Computer was born and rapidly
stormed the office world.79 Software programs were also published expression of surprise.
During the period of the late 1980s, the satellite telecommunications began the other
developmental peak. The artificial comet was initially produced by the means of a satellite in
mid 1980s. Since 1985, movable transportations such as ships, aircrafts, missiles and so on
could navigate by means of navigation satellites. The US Navy also used a navigation system
connect with satellites to investigate maritime presumptions. In addition, the survey of the
earth surface could be mapped through space satellites as well.
From the late 1980s, one of the most important telecommunication developments was
the Internet.80 It began as a military project and was then developed by a few scientists into the
requisite communication tools nowadays. The Internet now can transmit messages, programs,
data, pictures, sounds, and even human voices. After discovered the Internet in the late 1990s,
the number of hosts have increased dramatically. Today nearly in every country including
governments, colleges, and companies are connected to the Internet and can communicate
with the rest of world quickly. For the commercial purpose, many people have their own
homepage and thousands of "virtual" businesses offers services via the net. On the other hand,
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is an extension of the public telephone network,
designed to carry digitized voice calls, or data, from one subscriber to another.81 Its main
advantages over the conventional telephone network are better voice quality, higher data
speeds, lower error rate, faster call setup times and greater flexibility. In the 1950s, there were
two main types of public networks including the telephone and the telex networks in most
countries. In the 1970s, all major telephone networks were replaced with new digital systems,
using cables, which could carry 30 such channels interleaved. By the new development of
77
See supra note Moschovitis, p 29 & pp 43-45.

Robert K. Heldman: Information Telecommunications: Networks, Products, and Services; McGraw-Hill Inc., 1994,
pp 119-120.
79
See Oslin at pp366-370.
80
John Naughton: A Brief History of the Future: From Radio Days to Internet Years in A Lifetime, Woodstock, NY:
Overlook Press, 2000.
81
See supra note Heldman, pp 9-17 & 29-38.
78
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ISDN, the speeds and qualities of networks including telephone, telefax, Internet were
improved and switched to fit to future necessary.
IV. Changes of International Telecommunication Regime

From the moment of childbirth, newborn babies already can express their feeling by
crying, shaking hands, and moving bodies. Obviously, communication is one of human beings
instincts and should be equally protected. By communicating with each other, humans
feelings, demands, and opinions can be observed and known. In this way, mankind understands
each other and actively exchanges information. In the present time, telecommunication
mechanisms are an elemental force, used in almost every aspect of daily lives. Without these
mechanisms, the information age would not even exist. Today, telecommunications followed
by with new technologies, are developing and increasing speedily and becoming one of the
requisite components in our daily life. New communication tools such as cellular phones, telefacsimiles, and the Internet have changed human lifestyle. Furthermore, historically, the
right to communicate is one of the fundamental human rights. Reviewing the 1789 French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen82, and the First Amendment of US
Constitution Law in 179183, it is obvious that people strive for this inalienable right. Not only
from the historic legal documents but also from several international agreements including
Universal Declaration of Human Rights84, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights85, as well as Convention on the International Right of Correction86, we can glean the
importance of the right to communicate in humans history. Since the right to communicate is
82
In August 1789, the French people overthrew the old Empire and pronounced the well-known revolutionary manifesto
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Article 11 of the Declaration stated, The free communication of
ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print
with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
83
US Congress passed the Constitution Amendments, known as Bill of Rights in September 1789 and entered in force in
1791. The US Constitution First Amendment states Congress shall make no law respectingor abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
84
On Dec. 10, 1948 the General Assembly of UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of
the Declaration states Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.
85
Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart
information and idea of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through
any other media of his choice.
The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with its special duties and responsibilities. It
may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights of reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.
86
Article 11 of Convention on the International of Correction states Recognizing that the professional responsibility of
correspondents and information and information agencies requires them to report facts without discrimination and in their
proper context and thereby to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, to further international
understanding and cooperation and to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, Considering also
that, as a matter of professional ethics, all correspondents and information agencies should, in the case of news dispatches
transmitted or published by them and which have been to be false or distorted, follow the customary practice of
transmitting through the same channels, or publishing corrections of such dispatches,
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fundamental, it follows that telecommunication is also fundamental. Because todays

technological world, unless face to face, or through the written word, telecommunication is the
primary method that people apply to exercise fundamental right to communicate. The right to
communicate relates to the fundamental freedoms of freedom of information and free speech.
The expression of these rights is the most essential right for human dignity. With the creation
of new technologies, it is believed that readily available access to telecommunication is
critically important for human beings. However, due to the differences of economic
development and resources distribution, there is still a big gap between industrialized and
developing countries in access to basic telecommunications. Billions of people still lack
essential telecommunications access such as basic telephone lines. It is believed that everyone
has the equal right to telecommunicate, to use public services, and to enjoy the beneficial new
technologies. Therefore, it is the global goal to assist people living in remote and rural areas to
gain basic telecommunications access in order to connect with the outer world. For this
purpose, a stable and forceful international telecommunication system is necessary to promote
and achieve the goal.
Why is international telecommunication cooperation necessary? First, due to national
security and economic benefits, local governments historically controlled telecommunication
industries. Thus, many people could not easily telecommunicate with each other across
countries and boundaries without governmental regulations. Second, each country also has
different standards regarding the model and use of electricity, telephone, telefax, transistor,
and network, etc. Ships, aircrafts, missiles, and related transportation instruments once across
national borders enter other countries jurisdictions, and thus will face different legal systems
and regulations. Therefore, any incident can quickly become an international issue with a
criminal dimension when a commercial dispute occurs. Most important, if an unforeseeable
maritime or aeronautical distress or mishap occurs, an across-territories safety and assistance
system is necessary to guide its resolution. These potential events all require international
telecommunication cooperation including multi-national telecommunication organizations to
negotiate and universal telecommunication agreements to regulate the myriad related issues. In
addition, several telecommunication technologies use related limited natural resources such as
radio waves or satellite locations. Radio is an indispensable tool for telecommunication use and
covers numerous economic and industrial sectors such as television, sound broadcasting,
mobile telephones, and internet, etc. The enormous impacts of radio use on our lives have
become large and rapid. However, the incorrect use of radio could cause various harmful
interferences and thus nullify the benefits. To avoid such interference, the use of radio should
be well arranged and regulated. Because the radio frequency spectrum is a limited natural
resource and its use does not respect national borders, it is essential that all countries in the
world participate in international negotiations and cooperation to resolve this global issue.
Therefore, based on the aforementioned reasons, international telecommunication
cooperation is urgent and requisite not only for international community but for the whole of
humanity.
Founded in 1865, the former and current International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) has dealt with numerous international telecommunication matters for over one
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century.87 Poised as the most important international telecommunication organization in the

world, the ITU has made a great contribution to international telecommunications
cooperation as well as technical arrangements. Because the current telecommunication
development is progressing so rapidly and facing so many technical and legal issues, a
satisfactory global telecommunication system is absolutely necessary and should cover
cooperation from a wide array of issues, including living standards, transportation, technology,
trade, and investment. For these reasons, there are still many international organizations
playing different important roles in global telecommunication cooperation. First, as alluded to
earlier, each country has different standards regarding the model and use of electricity,
telephones, telefaxs, transistors, and networks. Therefore, the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) has been set up to endeavor to attain common telecommunication
standards for the various countries involved.88 Second, ships and aircrafts passing over national
borders need across-territories telecommunication systems to receive reports and assistance
when any unforeseeable, commercial or criminal events occur. The International Maritime
Organization (IMO)89 and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)90 play such a role
in global telecommunication cooperation in the area of transportation. Additionally, following
the creation of the most advanced telecommunication technologies, satellite operational
organizations such as the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(INTELSAT)91 and the International Mobile Satellite Organization (INMARSAT)92 serve as
mediators allowing more and more personnel and industries to gain information immediately
and to communicate with each other faster. In addition, there are many regional
telecommunication organizations that also act to promote international telecommunication
cooperation. Those regional telecommunication organizations include the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation Working Group on Telecommunications (APEC TEL), ASEAN
Telecommunication Regulators' Council (ATRC), European Conference of Postal and
Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), European Radiocommunications Committee
(ERC) and European Radiocommunication Office (ERO), European Committee for
Telecommunications Regulatory Affairs (ECTRA) and European Telecommunications Office
87
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the ITU is an international organization within which governments and the
private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services.
88
The ISO is a non-governmental organization to handle standards issues. Comprised of over 130 countries, the ISO is to
promote the development of standardization in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods
and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.
The ISO's work results in international agreements that are published as International Standards.
89
Located in London, England, the IMO is the United Nations' specialized agency responsible for improving maritime
safety and preventing pollution from ships. One of the most important agreements within the IMO is the London
Convention 1972.
90
Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, the ICAO is one of specialized agencies of the UN. It deals with international
aviation issues including standardization, technical cooperation, regional planning, as well as communications, navigation,
surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM), etc. The heart of the ICAO is the Convention on International Civil
Aviation.
91
The INTELSAT is one of the most important satellite communications organizations to serve governmental, industrial,
and commercial sectors globally. The INTELSAT owns 17 geostationary satellites consisted of superior spacecraft. The
aims of the INTELSAT are helping people communicate worldwide and providing a wide range of satellite services for
telecommunications applications, such as voice, data, Internet, corporate networking and video services.
92
Established in 1979, the aims of the INMARSAT are to serve the maritime industries by developing satellite
communications for ship management and distress and safety applications, INMARSAT currently operates a global
satellite system which is used by independent service providers to offer a range of voice and multimedia communications
for customers on the move or in remote locations.
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(ETO), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and Inter-American

Telecommunication Commission (CITEL).93 It readily apparent that the Asia-Pacific region,
European Union, and Americas enjoy different levels of telecommunication development and
have different levels of telecommunication cooperation.
The other important international organization concerning telecommunication
cooperation is the World Trade Organization (WTO).94 In 1994, 125 countries participated in
the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and signed the Final Act under the
structure of GATT in Marrakesh. This Round created a new trading system, the WTO, to
replace the former GATT. Additionally, the new WTO also promulgated the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to bring services into future negotiations. The
GATS contains the traditional GATT provisions, including specific commitments and specific
annexes including movement of natural persons, financial services, telecommunications, air
transportation services, as well as maritime services. The newly developed WTO is negotiating
and revising the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to expand WTOs
obligations and disciplines into services including movement of natural person, financial
services, telecommunications, air transport services, and maritime services. Meanwhile,
telecommunication posed special difficulties and the WTO took a long time to achieve an
acceptable resolution the GATS annex on Basic Telecommunication. Although each country
has different telecommunication policies and regulations, it is believed a freer global
telecommunication market together with future negotiations within the WTO will attain the
goal of the right to telecommunicate so that human beings can communicate each other
without unnecessary restrictions.
Foreign investment recently has rapidly increased and covers a wide spectrum of
industries. Foreign investment capital generally spurs economic growth and creates better
living standards in the invested countries. From an economic standpoint, international
investment theoretically mutually benefits each side but its related regime and legal protection
are still not yet completed, especially in the realm of telecommunication. Many developing
countries fear that by opening their markets to competition and foreign investment without
any restrictions, they will be losing control of strategic industries. Although foreign investment
in telecommunications brings technological skills, funds and market competition, and will
benefit national telecommunications development, many countries measure policy
requirements to control and guide foreign investment to correspond to their economic and
developmental strategies. Telecommunications have substantial and essential influences on
national security, social stability and economic development, and many other industrial sectors.
Due to its particular character, telecommunication industries are often state-operated and
monopolized in many countries. Thus the balance between economic gains from foreign
investment and national telecommunications sovereignty presents a challenge. Lacking basic
telecommunication infrastructure as well as adequate funds and skills, many developing
countries are keen on attracting foreign investment to develop their telecommunication
93
On June 11, 1993, the General Assembly of Organization of American States (OAS) created the existing Inter-American
Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) to deal with telecommunications issues within the western hemisphere.
94
The WTO is an international organization dealing with the rules of trade between countries. At its heart are the WTO
agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the worlds trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is
to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
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Chun Hung Lin:

equipments. The flow of capital and foreign direct investment from industrialized countries to
developing or less-developed ones can improve insufficient telecommunication environments
in remote areas and fix the telecommunication gaps between them. Both international
cooperation and foreign investment will benefit developing countries telecommunication
development and have the potential to achieve the ideal of universal access.
V. Conclusion
Because telecommunication plays an important role in humans daily life, without it,
the information age would not even exist. However, due to the differences of economic
development and resources distribution, there is still a big gap between industrialized and
developing countries in access to basic telecommunications. From the point of human right, it
is believed everyone and every country has the equal right to communicate, to use public
services, and to enjoy the benefit of new technologies. For example, with a good
telecommunication system, the people living in the remote areas can get necessary information
to improve their medicine, education, and living condition. Therefore, it is the global goal to
assist people living in rural areas to get basic telecommunications to access and connect with
the outer world. For this purpose, a stable and forceful international telecommunication
system is necessary to promote and achieve this goal.
In addition, each country has different standards regarding the model and use of
telephone, telefax and network. Ships, aircrafts, and related movable transportation tools once
across national borders and enter other countries jurisdictions will face different legal suits and
become an international issue if any criminal events or commercial disputes happen. Most
important of all, if unforeseeable maritime or air distress caused, an across-territories assistance
network is necessary to guide this problem. Those all need international telecommunication
cooperation to negotiate and make universal telecommunication agreements to regulate related
issues. Because the radio frequency is a limited natural resource and its use does not respect
national borders, it is necessary that all countries in the world process international
negotiations and cooperation to resolve this global issue. Therefore, based on those reasons,
international telecommunication cooperation is necessary not only for international
community but for the whole human beings.
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