Leonardo Blair, Enterprise Reporter
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad:
COLIN CAMPBELL, chairman of the Spectrum Management Authority, and Jean Dixon, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology, could not sit still in Trinidad yesterday after the head of that country's domestic telephone service provider, Carlos Espinal, suggested that Caribbean governments cut profits from the sale of bands on the frequency spectrum. Spectrum covers the range of frequencies over which telecomunication companies can provide service.
Espinal, who was speaking at the 13th executive council meeting of the Caribbean Telecommuni-cations Union being held at the Hilton Hotel in Trinidad, suggested that the high price of spectrum is not progressive, and called for lower pricing and increased market driven access to the resource.
MONOPOLIES AND DUOPOLIES
"Let's not make it (spectrum price) so high that only people with deep pockets can afford it. When we do this we encourage monopolies and duopolies. I see in Trinidad and Tobago a lot of brilliant people with great ideas but they can't compete in these expensive auctions," argued Espinal.
"Rather than allowing foreign countries to come in and exploit it, why not allow nationals to put the capital together and exploit it. Cut the restrictive policies and encourage risk," he added.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
But the ideas of Espinal, who currently heads the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT), the domestic monopoly provider of public switched local and international telecommunications services in Trinidad and Tobago, were quickly tackled by Campbell and Dixon who asked how would governments compensate for the loss of revenue.
"Simple, with more players in the market you can tax the successful ones. Those who fail should leave the market," said Espinal. "As an operator I sympathise with the public and consumers who want access. I believe in competition. The Caribbean has gone from a monopoly to a duopoly and that isn't necessarily good."
Campbell, a former junior minister for technology, and Dixon, however, pointed out that the model of competition suggested by Espinal is yet to be successfully operated anywhere in the world.
They pointed out that when Digicel was coming to Jamaica, they had opened up the venture to local investors and there were no takers. "Jamaicans never took the risk and the business will continue going overseas if as Caribbean people we don't have a higher risk profile," said Dixon.
ECONOMIC VALUE
"In Jamaica we believe in the economic value of spectrum; the model that we operate now is the model of the U.S. With time the current structure will probably have to change, but right now we think we (Government) should profit," said Dixon.
The meeting is being held under the theme: 'Spectrum Policy Review - meeting the challenges' of a technological revolution.
