Research On The Legal Issues Of Telecommunication Interconnection Protocol

There are six stages of China telecommunication industry: establishment of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications,establishment of Unicom,establishment of Ministry of Information Industry,establishment of China Mobile,and establishment of three new operators.The purpose of industry restructuring for 69 years is to break monopoly and stimulate competition.During reform of telecommunications industry,telecom network interconnection is challenging.During competition of telecommunication market,in order to avoid telecommunications monopoly due to networking infrastructure owned by superior enterprises,China implements asymmetric control policies to supervise Internet Protocol so as to protect rights of small operators and realize fair competition.However,there are still many legal problems to be solved in such aspects as the form of contract formation,the performance of contract behavior,performance,supervision,dispute resolution and so on.And there are theoretical and practical disputes.Therefore,it is of great practical significance and theoretical value to study the legal issues of telecommunication industry interconnection protocol,which is helpful to promote the protection of the interests of small telecom operators in China and to promote the healthy and orderly development of telecommunications industry.Telecommunication industry interconnection is a relatively strong technical concept,and studying its legal issues is not easy.This paper takes the telecom industry interconnection protocol legal issues as the breakthrough point to study the telecommunications industry interconnection.Telecommunication interconnection protocol is the basis of all interconnection,is the carrier of the relationship between rights and obligations among the parties(telecom business operators),and is a special contract signed for the realization of interconnection of telecommunication networks.Due to the strong technical and industrial characteristics of telecommunication industry interconnection protocols,the principle of contract freedom is restricted in the conclusion of the agreement,and the leading operators basically have no option not to sign interconnection agreements.At the same time,most countries require interconnection agreements to be approved by regulators before they can enter into force.The conclusion of the interconnection agreement is based on the standard format text and is subject to the three basic principles: the principle of key facilities,the principle of public disclosure and the principle of content declaration.In addition,the regulatory issues and dispute resolution problems in the process of the conclusion and implementation of the interconnection agreement are very complicated.For example,there are many disputes in the functions of the regulatory body,the certainty of the regulatory principles and the manner of supervision,but dispute settlement involves jurisdiction,application of law and burden of proof.This paper selects the telecommunication industry interconnection protocol as the starting point to study the legal problems in the telecommunication industry interconnection and analyzes the basic system of the telecommunication industry interconnection agreement from the aspects of protocol formation,legal relationship,supervision and dispute resolution.It also analyzes the legal problems existing in the conclusion,implementation,supervision and dispute settlement of interconnection agreements,and puts forward some suggestions to improve the legal system of interconnection agreements in China.