Minister Glenn Phillip attends ECTEL meeting in Grenada

St. Kitts and Nevis Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Hon. Glenn Phillip (Photo by Willet’s Photo)

ST. KITTS, MAY 7TH 2010 (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Hon. Glenn Phillip is attending the 21st Meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) in Grenada.

The Meeting coincides with activities in observance of the tenth year of the establishment of the regulatory authority.

Among the main agenda items for the Council Meeting is a report on the new Price Cap Plan for ECTEL Member States.

The new Plan has been submitted to the NTRCs and would guide the regulation of fixed services offered by Cable and Wireless (LIME) in the ECTEL Member States. Some benefits in the new Price Cap Plan includes: the termination on Access Deficit Charges by LIME to interconnecting providers; and the reduction in fixed to mobile rates over a period of three years.

Also on the agenda for the twenty first meeting are matters related to: the regulation of services through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP); and the status of implementation of pilot projects on Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and Universal Service and the Draft Electronic Communications Bill.

The Council of Ministers comprise: Hon. Joseph Gilbert, Chairman- Grenada; Hon. Ambrose George – Dominica; Hon. Glen Phillip – St. Kitts and Nevis; Hon. Guy Joseph – Saint Lucia and Hon. Jerrol Thompson – St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The ECTEL Treaty was signed in 2000 in Grenada. The main purposes of ECTEL include the promotion of open entry, market liberalisation and competition in the telecommunications sector in the sub region, the facilitation of fair pricing and the use of cost-based pricing methods, and the increased penetration of telecommunications services.