ANTIGUA SUN:
THE BUZZ around the liberalisation of the telecommunication industry grew stronger on the weekend with the announcement that Digicel will launch its service in Antigua on Friday and with Senator Edmond Mansoor's statement that the sector will soon be more effectively regulated.
Dr. Mansoor's commitment came after general manager of Digicel's local operations Darren Derrick expressed concern that Cable & Wireless was effectively acting as both regulators and competitors in Antigua & Barbuda's telecommunications industry. Derrick has urged the government to act quickly to liberalise and regulate the sector.
Mansoor said the country does not have the financial resources to support an independent regulatory system. Nevertheless, he stated that the new Telecommunications Act should go before Parliament by June. That legislation is expected to speak to a number of regulatory issues for telecommunications. It is not yet clear as to what extent the issues will concern Digicel as a new player in the market and how they will be addressed.
TREMENDOUS PROGRESS
"Regulation is not an overnight process," Mansoor said, "We have made tremendous progress within the last 15 to 18 months, and well before year-end we will be indicating to the various telecommunications service providers here in Antigua and Barbuda, that they too have a role to assist in ensuring that regulation and the ability for Government to regulate the sector are fully nourished."
In keeping with this push towards regulation of the industry, the government has engaged experts and begun training of the staff in its telecommunications division, to increase their awareness of and exposure to global industry standards of regulation.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mansoor said plans for the landing of additional submarine fibre optic cable capacity are now advanced. He said the additional capacity should be operational within the next 12 months. Among the expected effects will be dramatic reductions in costs associated with telecommunication.
