Status report on Mobile Delivery Modes in the Caribbean

Donnie Defreitas

Director of Technical Services

Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority

ddefreitas@ectel.int

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 callsProvision of access to the InternetCost of leased circuitsInterconnection and facility sharing

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 www.ectel.int orDonnie De FreitasDirector of Technical ServicesECTEL Castries St. Lucia.Phone (758) 458 1701Fax (758) 458 1698Email ddefreitas@ectel.int