Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has been commended by his CARICOM colleagues for leading the effort towards the reduction of roaming rates in the region.
At the recently held 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, held in San Pedro, the Prime Minister, updated regional leaders on the Declaration of St. George’s Towards the Reduction of Intra CARICOM Roaming Charges, which he signed on February 23.
Dr. Mitchell, joined by Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Rodney Taylor, explained that while total elimination of roaming charges is yet to be achieved, the agreement with telecommunications providers, Digicel and Cable and Wireless Communications, will bring significant savings of between 70 and 98% to customers as they travel between islands.
CARICOM Heads recognized the declaration as “an interim but significant milestone with respect to the Single ICT Space Roadmap”.
In addition, the negotiations have provided a platform for further collaboration, between the private and public sector at the regional and international level.
As such, regional leaders have agreed to work towards the establishment of a single regulatory space for telecommunications in CARICOM. The CTU will spearhead that effort, with the expectation to achieve this goal within 12 months.
The next step as outlined by the CTU is a technical conference that will focus on the requirements for the establishment of a single ICT regulatory framework to improve the ease of doing business and to increase investment in the sector regionally.
