Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation, Guy Joseph, has commended the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) for its considerable strides and accomplishments over the course of its 16 years of existence.
Minister Joseph, who is the incoming Chairman of the ECTEL Council of Ministers, made the complimentary remark at the 34th ECTEL Council of Ministers Meeting.
He surmised that though governments come and go, ECTEL has provided stability and stayed the course, even as the OECS telecommunications sector has moved forward at a blistering pace.
“Mr. Embert Charles and his team at the ECTEL Office, I think you are the ones who have remained constant in keeping things moving in the direction that we want it to. I think the technology is moving at a pace where even the providers themselves are grappling with the speed at which things are moving.”
The meeting brought together ministers with responsibility for telecommunications in all ECTEL Member States, namely the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) was established on May 4, 2000 by treaty signed in St. George’s, Grenada, by the governments of five Eastern Caribbean States.
Regulation Recommendations, the ECTEL Treaty Plan for Promulgation, the Electronic Communications Bill and ECTEL’s 2016-2017 work plan were among the key talking points of the meeting.
After a successful 2016 gathering at the Royal St. Lucian Hotel, the Council of Ministers agreed to meet in the Commonwealth of Dominica next year for the 35th ECTEL Council of Ministers Meeting.