CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC—Telecommunications leaders from five Eastern Caribbean countries will meet here on Wednesday to discuss strategies for improving the sector in the sub-region.
The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) board of directors will meet over the next two days to discuss the status of ECTEL’s implementation of its 2022-23 work plan and receive an update on the financial report for the year ending September 30, 2023.
The meeting, which Philip Dalsou of St. Lucia will chair, will also receive updates on the Electronic Communications Bill (EC Bill) and the Integrated Spectrum Management and Monitoring System Vehicles Procurement.
The decisions of the 45th meeting of ECTEL’s Council of Ministers held in Dominica in January will also be discussed.
Earlier this week, ECTEL announced that it is surveying to ascertain information about access to, use, and affordability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and broadband products and services in five Eastern Caribbean countries.
ECTEL said that the survey in its five Contracting States, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts-Nevis, forms part of the World Bank-funded Caribbean Digital Transformation Project.
ECTEL said that the survey findings would increase access to digital services, technologies, and skills,s by governments, businesses, and individuals. Additionally, the results are expected to provide the basis for further targeted interventions to promote more inclusive access to ICT and close the digital divide.
Since May 4, 2000, ECTEL has been the regulatory body advising the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs) on electronic communications matters in its five Contracting States.