THE EASTERN Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) is this month marking its 25th anniversary with a range of activities across its five Contracting States: the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St.Vincent and the Grenadines.
Established on May, 4, 2000, ECTEL has been instrumental in promoting open markets, fair competition, and harmonised policies to ensure efficient and modern electronic communications services for all, states an ECTEL release.
Among the key milestones it lists are: exponential fall in prices for all electronic communications services in the sub-region; the implementation of Mobile Number Portability in 2019, and the establishment of the Universal Service Fund (USF) in 2008.Through the dedicated work of National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (“NTRCs”) USF projects have enabled or promoted affordable and even free access to electronic communications services and devices for members of the public in all Contracting States, and benefitted low-income households, persons with disabilities, schools, community Wi-Fi points, health centres, and police stations.
To celebrate this milestone, ECTEL plans to launch several activities, including its ‘25Years, 25 Questions’ trivia contest in May; a “Girls in ICT” competition for students; a special episode of ECTEL Bytes; and the airing of a special commemorative public service announcement outlining some of ECTEL’s major accomplishments since its establishment in 2000 on all its social media platforms. A longer, specially commissioned documentary will also be part of the celebrations, highlighting some of the organisation’s achievements and challenges over the past quarter-century, and its work to collaborate with NTRCs to positively impact the lives of people in the Contracting States.
In the release ECTEL also states that it will be launching the Pearl Allison Lake (P.A.L) Scholarship Fund in early June in memory of one of its longest-serving employees who died in June, 2024.
In observance of the anniversary milestone, ECTEL’s Managing Director, David Cox, noted: “The creation and establishment of ECTEL, including the march to liberalisation from monopoly, and all the political and social drama that attended it, is a unique and remarkable story about the ingenuity and resilience of the people of the Eastern Caribbean.Those of us who have had the privilege to work with ECTEL, are proud to be carrying on the legacy of those visionaries who saw the need to create the institution”.
Additionally, “ We continue to fight every day to improve the lives of the people we serve, by working to bring down prices, improve the quality of their services, and enable the most advance technology we can”.
ECTEL says it remains committed to fostering a connected, sustainable, and inclusive digital future for the people of its five Contracting States, the release concludes.
