Unleashing Broadband Development in the Caribbean

Editorial

In pursuit of the United Nations Millennium Development
target to make the benefits of information and
communication technology available to all, Caribbean telecommunications
providers, Government Ministers and
other ICT industry leaders have been working to expand
broadband access to the population. There are also efforts
to increase the adoption rate, that is, the extent to which
the average citizen use the internet to access services
available online and or use the internet as a resource in
creating economic value. With the established correlation
between broadband usage and economic growth, there has
been a lot of focus in this area.
Governments across the region have articulated ICT
development agendas in National Development Plans.
National, regional and multi-lateral agencies have been very
engaged in building awareness through conferences, training
programmes and engaging in specific broadband development
projects. Telecommunications network operators and
services providers are investing in a diverse mix of latest
technology, offering a range of new services and generally
increasing customer value through reducing prices, increasing
bandwidth offer and other creative value propositions.

CANTO 28th AGM & Mini Expo

Accelerating Broadband Experience in the Caribbean

The demand for greater bandwidth and faster internet
connection speeds have led to the development of several
technological approaches to provide broadband access
to all consumers. This rapid growth is fuelled by the
increased demand for distributed business applications,
the proliferation of private networks, e-commerce, and
bandwidth-intensive applications (as well as the continuing
deregulation and privatization of telecommunications
networks throughout the world). These all help fuel the
demand for bandwidth data because the internet and
related networks become more central to business operations.
HYPERLINK “http://www.jhellerstein.com/Evolbroad.
pdf” www.jhellerstein.com/Evolbroad.pdf
The CANTO/IDB Broadband forum, viewed as a critical
step in CANTO’s Connect the Caribbean initiative
towards developing a common action plan for both the
private and public sector, was held in Miami, Florida,
USA on November 7, 2011, and paves the way for the
28th Annual General Meeting and Mini Expo – in St. Maarten.


Number Portability in the Caribbean

By: Julian Wilkins Director Telecoms Public Policy Organisation, Digicel


Number Portability remains something of a contentious
regulatory issue. Some Governments in the Caribbean
are considering introducing Number Portability (NP).
However, recent evidence from a number of independent
consultants has cast doubt on the potential benefits,
particularly for the small markets found in the Caribbean.
Additionally for the countries that are considering NP
there appears not to be any consistency in the way that
NP is being introduced.

Pre-implementation – Cost

Benefit Analysis

Digicel believes that a cost benefit analysis should be
undertaken to determine whether or not NP is in the
public interest. According to Smithers (2010) it befits a
regulator to conduct an analysis and impact assessment
on a country-by-country basis. The rationale behind cost
benefit tests is to avoid the situation where operators are
required to make significant investments in capital and
operational costs where the benefit to the consumer is