By Gerard Best
CJ Contributor

CASTRIES — The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) is this week holding a regional workshop on broadband Internet development, in partnership with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU).

The workshop is being held at the Golden Palm Events Centre, Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, from October 19 to 22. The four-day event is an important step in the ongoing regional process to develop the legal framework for undersea cables, open and retail Internet access, Internet Exchange Points and broadband quality of service.

The event is part of the Caribbean Communications Infrastructure Project (CARCIP), which is being implemented in three ECTEL member states—Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“The workshop is not a consultation but will provide capacity building to stakeholders in international best practices and principles for the regulation of subsea fibre, open and retail access and quality of service in the electronic communications market,” said Winston George, coordinator of the ECTEL component of the CARCIP project.

The workshop is intended to pull together a broad spectrum of interests, including regional regulators, consumer advocacy groups, Internet service providers and government representatives with responsibility for telecommunications in the CARCIP participating countries.

CARCIP is a World Bank-funded initiative, coordinated by the CTU. It aims to improve access to and use of information and communication technologies in the participating countries and other ECTEL member states, St. Kitts and Nevis and Dominica.