ECTEL Board of Directors Approve New Licence Templates

New licence templates for telecommunications services have been approved by the Board of Directors of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL).{{more}}

The decisions taken at the fifty-ninth meeting, held in Saint Lucia on May 11, 2012, related to the proposed internet telephony; value added services and internet exchange points (IXP) licences.

One of the main recommendations was the amendment to the Internet Telephony licence to mandate the providers of that service to ensure access to local emergency services. The Board also agreed to the removal of the requirement for providers of internet telephony to have a telephone directory in the internet telephony licence.

Other decisions included the revision of the value added services (VAS) licence to allow for the provision of video on demand and IPTV services and the reduction in fees associated with the IXP licences.

In order to give effect to these new arrangements, the ECTEL Board of Directors also approved changes to the fees schedule of the Telecommunications Fees Regulations. The new licence templates and amendments to regulations are the outcome of months of public consultations, during which comments were received by service providers and other stakeholders in the telecommunications sector.

The new licence templates will be sent to the five ECTEL Member States for adoption by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs).

At its meeting, the Board also approved publication of the Annual Review of the Electronic Communications sector for the period ending December 2011. The review outlines important economic and market statistics on electronic communications sector for use by policy makers and other interested parties. The report will be available on the ECTEL website – www.ectel.int

The ECTEL Board of Directors meets quarterly to review the operations of the ECTEL Directorate and approve recommendations on regulatory matters for submission to the ECTEL Council of Ministers.

ECTEL was established in 2000, to promote open entry, market competition and liberalization in telecommunications in the Eastern Caribbean States of Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.