Status report on Mobile Delivery Modes in the Caribbean Donnie Defreitas Director of Technical Services Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority

Our Caribbean  Encompasses geographical area from Belize to Suriname  Includes Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, BVI, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Turks and Caicos,  A region in change ongoing reform of the sector with numerous initiatives.

Context The analysis of the of the status is to be done in the context of  Technical/Infrastructure  Policy  Regulatory  Governance

Status: Technical/Infrastructure  There are several modes for mobile delivery that include Fixed and mobile (narrow band), Broad band wireless Access, WiFi, WiMax, Satellite  Infrastructure reasonably well developed but unevenly distributed and expensive to access  Mobile penetration ranges from in excess of 100 % in some countries to less than 10 % in Haiti and Cuba

ICT Infrastructure  95 Licenses have been issued for mobile operation providing competition in most countries  20 fiber optic submarine cable systems are in the region: 14 primarily serve the region, six serve other regions and only have landing points, providing a combined potential total capacity of 3 Tera bits/second  Competition among and access to these submarine cable systems are however limited  34 geostationary satellite systems with combined total transmission capacity of 55.5 GHz serve the region

Status: Current policy Issues impacting on current policy development are: High charges for International calls Provision of access to the Internet Cost of leased circuits Interconnection and facility sharin g

Future Policy The reality is that mobile has surpassed fixed service and the emphasis should be facilitating broadband access There is need for new and efficient methods of spectrum management and use Light touch regulatory approach with technology neutrality and sensitivity to a converged environment recommended

Regulation  Seven countries in 1997 made modest commitments to WTO  Since then new legal and regulatory frameworks implemented and competition been introduced in most countries focus on mobile  Generally, mobile rates are competitive though not necessarily in line with costs, but international calling and leased lines expensive  Interconnection Agreement difficult to negotiate  Facilities sharing costs are prohibitive

Regulatory barriers in the Region  Barriers in respect of regulatory Institutions and barriers resulting from deficiencies in the legal and regulatory competitive environment.  In some jurisdictions even with liberalization de facto monopolies still exist and some operators still dominate the market  There is real and perceived political interference in the regulatory system some regulators lack experience and training  Policies and regulation are not always harmonized across the region

Governance Framework  Caribbean is engaged in inter-regional, hemispheric and bilateral negotiations (CSME; WTO Doha Agenda; EPA; CRNM; FTAA; Bi-laterals with Costa Rica, Dominican republic, Cuba, Columbia, Venezuela;  Initiatives abound for ICT including MRP Program, CKLN, developing Ecommerce legislative framework, Caricom ICT Agenda, ICT policy development, EU SFA ICT Programs and Projects e.t.c

Options for providing local access  GSM is the technology of choice for the access network  CDMA and TDMA system are available in limited cases  Cellular mobile access can be provided with fibre optic transport systems, Broadband wireless access or with satellite transport  WiFi can provide local access and transport while the WiMax option is being examined  New bands like 450 MHz and 700 MHz are being examined for mobile broadband delivery

Observations  Mobile penetration exceeds that of fixed lines  Mobile subscription is increasing while fixed lines either stagnant or declining  Analysis of transmission technologies for local access shows that mobile handsets is the access terminal of choice and GSM for the local access network

Recommendations  The facilitating regulatory framework needs to be developed by removing those regulatory barriers to the promotion of competition  Spectrum policy geared toward a light handed approach in the award and pricing of spectrum for mobile broadband services need to be adopted as soon as possible  Regulators need to be trained to equip them with the necessary skills to practice in the emerging converged market

Recommendations(2)‏  Regulators need to adopt efficient spectrum management & pricing policies especially for those bands favoured for broadband mobile services

 THANKS FOR LISTENING

For Further information Contact us at orwww.ectel.int Donnie De Freitas Director of Technical Services ECTEL Castries St. Lucia. Phone (758) Fax (758)