Universal service fund is helpful to promote the process of national informatization.
Reporter: What do you think is the significance of introducing universal service fund after telecom restructuring? What's the impact on China telecom operators? What's the impact on China's informatization construction?
Chen Kai: For China Telecom, which is currently carrying out universal telecom service, the establishment of universal service fund will provide it with opportunities and conditions for fair competition. Operators who have not yet undertaken universal services must undertake corresponding obligations after the establishment of the fund. Therefore, the establishment of universal service fund will make the obligation of operators to provide universal services clear and have laws to follow.
Telecommunication industry is the foundation and important part of national economy. It permeates almost all industries and shoulders the heavy responsibility of agriculture, industrialization and service informationization. At the same time, it is an important part of informatization itself and plays a decisive role in informatization. Therefore, its development directly affects the level and process of national informatization. And how the development of telecommunications is related to balanced development to a great extent.
Various studies have proved that the development of China's telecommunications industry is unbalanced, mainly between the east and the central and western regions. In order to prevent the gap between different regions from widening, it is wise to establish a universal service fund, which will improve the current unbalanced development of the telecommunications industry and promote information construction.
Zhao Huaiyong: The main starting point of introducing universal service fund is to ensure the realization of universal service of telecommunications under the market economy, to ensure the coordinated development of telecommunications networks in the central and western regions and rural areas, and to promote the overall development of China Telecom. In the past, China relied on cross subsidies from major telecom operators between the eastern and western regions and between urban and rural areas to support the telecom development in the western and rural areas. After China's entry into the WTO, China will not allow unreasonable cross-subsidies within telecom enterprises. Moreover, after the opening of the market, the tariffs of various telecommunications services are close to the cost, and enterprises can no longer implement cross-subsidies between services. On the other hand, after China's entry into WTO, foreign telecom enterprises will inevitably concentrate on investing in high-yield eastern and urban areas first, and the intensification of competition will make telecom enterprises concentrate on investing in high-yield eastern and urban areas first, while the telecom demand in backward areas will be ignored. These practical problems will affect the investment in network construction in backward areas, the implementation of universal service in China and the overall development of China Telecom. Therefore, it is urgent to establish a new universal service cost compensation mechanism. Through the establishment of "universal service fund", the operators who provide universal services to backward areas will be compensated, and the telecom demand in backward areas will be realized, that is, the implementation of universal services will be guaranteed and the coordinated development of China telecom industry will be promoted.
The development level of telecom universal service reflects the informatization level of a country. Only by doing a good job in universal telecommunications services can we eliminate the inequality between the rich and the poor and regional differences in communications, provide the most basic telecommunications services for the vast majority of residents, thus providing a "software" and "hardware" foundation for national informatization construction and promoting the coordinated development and overall promotion of informatization work.
It is very important to establish a reasonable salary method.
Reporter: How to raise funds can we really ensure that every operating company participating in the competition can get equal opportunities and avoid the neglect of services in remote areas?
Chen Kai: As far as the current situation in China is concerned, the market is still in an irregular and imperfect state because there is no universal service-related law. If we simply set up a universal service fund and charge it according to a certain proportion of each operator's income, there may be some problems because the operation transparency of domestic telecom operators is poor. Whether they can obtain real income data and collect the required universal service fund on this basis is the key. It is possible to attach relevant universal service terms when issuing licenses, but the imperfection of the law cannot guarantee, supervise and control the universal implementation of enterprises. It seems too complicated to raise funds from the national budget. The development level of each company is different, so it is difficult to grasp the scale of tax reduction and exemption. In other words, the particularity of telecom development in China determines that the financing mode of universal service cannot be copied from other countries, but the characteristics of China should be fully considered. In view of the above analysis, China's universal service fund raising should integrate the advantages of the above methods. First, we should establish a universal service fund and form a system; Secondly, the selection of collection methods should be based on the principle of fairness, rationality and reliability, so as to prevent operators from using legal gaps to evade their universal service obligations; Finally, the universal service fund is issued through public bidding. If no one bids, the government will designate operators to provide universal services. The choice of ways to provide universal services to different operators can be flexible and not necessarily limited to one way.
Zhao Huaiyong: First, determine the financing channels for universal services. I think the universal service of telecommunications is the common obligation of the government and all telecom operators, and they should all provide financial support for the implementation of universal service. Based on this understanding, the universal service fund can be raised from various channels, such as dividends from state-owned shares, the use fee of number resources, the business income of telecom operators and telecom manufacturers, etc. The key is to determine the source of universal service funds through legislation, so that the undertaker of telecom universal service can regard this as an unshirkable obligation and guarantee it every year. Second, determine the scope and cost of universal service, determine the universal service objectives and programs suitable for China's national conditions, so as to determine the withdrawal ratio of universal service fund, because once the withdrawal amount of universal service fund is stipulated, it will become the permanent or fixed expenditure of telecom operators and telecom manufacturers, which must be carefully considered. Third, determine the universal service provider, usually through public bidding to choose operators to provide universal services, and the company with the lowest bid price will be funded by the fund. In my opinion, it should be provided by lead user first, and then gradually consider that the bidding method is more suitable for China's national conditions. Fourthly, reasonable compensation should be made for the cost of universal service provided by universal service operators. The first thing to be solved here is the verification of universal service, that is, what is universal service. The key problem is that telecom operators are ostensibly under the banner of universal service, and they can't get rich profit returns in these places, which requires our telecom regulatory authorities to make a detailed investigation and fully implement quantitative treatment. For example, the return on investment is below a certain percentage (such as 1? 0.5) For universal service, otherwise the universal service compensation fund will not be provided. Fifth, determine the amount of compensation, that is, how much compensation to operators who provide universal services. In addition to compensation, we can also consider giving tax incentives to operators who provide universal services in backward areas within a certain period of time, and combine compensation with tax incentives to turn universal services into operators' initiative.
All telecom operators have the obligation of universal service.
Reporter: What successful practices abroad are worth learning from?
Chen Kai: At present, there are several ways to collect universal service funds around the world: first, establish universal service funds to collect fees from the annual income of all telecommunications companies in a certain proportion; 2. Raising funds from the state budget and appointing companies to provide universal services; 3. Tax reduction for companies providing universal services; Fourth, attach universal service terms when issuing licenses. These methods are gradually formed in the provision of universal services in various countries, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, and the applicable countries, regions and development conditions are also different. For example, the first method is widely used in developed countries, and the second method is widely used in developing China countries.
Zhao Huaiyong: Due to different national conditions, the contents and methods of its universal service are also different. However, from an international perspective, all countries' telecom laws stipulate that all telecom operators have the obligation of universal service, and all operators should share the responsibility of universal service. As far as the realization mode of universal service is concerned, it is an international common practice to establish a universal service fund as a special fund for universal service to subsidize operators' losses caused by universal service. For example, Australia, France and other countries have clearly defined the legal status of the universal service fund system in the form of legislation, and made clear provisions on the payment and management of universal service funds. On the other hand, governments have played an active role in implementing universal service. Some countries (such as Japan) encourage telecom operators to build telecom infrastructure in backward areas through tax incentives and low-interest or discount loans, while some countries (such as the United States) subsidize low-income users (such as initial installation fees and telephone charges). ).
Fund management is the guarantee to realize universal service of telecommunications.
Reporter: How do you think the fund should be managed?
Chen Kai: To implement the management of the universal service fund, it is important to see whether it is earmarked. Whether the purpose of universal service has been achieved, for example, whether the vulnerable groups among universal users, including the disabled, laid-off workers, lonely elderly and farmers in poor areas, have enjoyed basic telephone service. Study on the changing trend of regional telephone popularization gap after providing universal service fund. A reasonable cost accounting mechanism should be established to study and calculate the distribution of universal service costs. Therefore, a universal service organization should be established to undertake the above work. In addition, government departments should regularly announce the collection of universal service funds, track the fund trends and the fund operation of enterprises providing universal services, increase the transparency of the use of universal service funds, and expand the monitoring scope of the use of universal service funds. Considering the importance of universal service to the overall development of telecommunications, when appropriate and necessary, the government should provide some financial subsidies for universal service, such as issuing licenses, charging frequency and code number resources.
Zhao Huaiyong: The main principle of universal service fund management is that the use of the fund can ensure the realization of universal service in the telecommunications industry. First of all, the management and supervision institutions of the fund are clarified. Secondly, rational planning and independent budget control should be carried out for the use of funds, that is, telecom regulators should have a sustainable development plan for the use of funds. The third is to ensure the preservation and appreciation of the fund, clarify the investment channels of the fund, and adopt diversified investment channels to realize the preservation and appreciation of the fund. The fourth is to supervise the use of funds by universal service providers. In order to achieve long-term effective supervision, it is necessary to check regularly, pay a return visit in time, strictly assess, have long-term plans and measures, cancel the qualification of operators who hold universal service funds but don't "do things" and recover the funds. (