CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – Telecommunication ministers from the Eastern Caribbean meet here on Friday to discuss a wide range of issues, including ensuring affordable access, resilient infrastructure, and inclusive digital opportunities for citizens of the sub-region.
ECTEL managing director, David Cox, said that the ministers from Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the host country, St. Lucia, will meet for ECTEL’s 49th Council of Ministers meeting.
He said the meeting provides “an important platform for regional leaders to reaffirm their commitment to harmonised regulation and digital transformation across our Contracting States.
“As technology continues to evolve, our collective focus remains on ensuring affordable access, resilient infrastructure, and inclusive digital opportunities for citizens of ECTEL states. Through collaboration and forward-looking policy decisions, we will continue to strengthen the region’s electronic communications landscape for sustainable growth and innovation,” Cox said.
ECTEL said that the Council is expected to approve its first-ever strategic plan and to consider progress on the passage of the Electronic Communications Bill, which repeals and replaces the Telecommunications Acts with legislation that is broader in scope to encompass electronic communications.
The Bill aims to allow liberalised, nondiscriminatory entry into the electronic communications sector and to enable a robust, fair, transparent, and accountable competitive environment.
ECTEL said the meeting will also receive a status report on the World Bank Caribbean Digital Transformation Project, an OECS-managed initiative to reform the sub-region’s electronic communications sector.
The Council will also receive a summary of the key findings of the recently launched Digital Inclusion Survey, which will provide a detailed analysis of the use of digital tools in ECTEL states.
The functions of the Council, the highest decision-making body of the ECTEL framework, include, among other things, promoting the effective implementation of ECTEL’s Treaty, including effective competition, accessible pricing, and quality of service for citizens of the region.
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