MR. Philip Dalsou of Saint Lucia is the new Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL). Mr. Dalsou is currently a consultant in the areas of Economic, Financial, Industrial Relations and Human Resources. He retired from the Saint Lucia Public Service in 2020, after serving for almost nineteen years as Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, and Cabinet Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Other Directors are Mr. Gregory Shillingford of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Mr. Edmund Burke of Grenada, Mrs. Shaniqua Carey-Brown of St. Kitts and Nevis (outgoing Chairperson) and Mr. Marc Richardson of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Board of Directors consists of one Director or an Alternate from each of the five ECTEL Contracting States: namely the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Directors and Alternates are appointed by the Minister with responsibility for Electronic Communications for a term of one year. ECTEL’s Managing Director serves as an ex officio member of the Board.
The main functions of the Board include, inter alia, to ensure the effective implementation of ECTEL’s Treaty and policies in accordance with directives from the Council of Ministers; to make recommendations to the Council on any matter relating to electronic communications; and to devise the forms and process for the application and recommendation for an Individual Licence, and to ensure the transparency of the process.
Since 4th May 2000, ECTEL has been the regional regulatory body advising the five National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs) on electronic communications matters in the Contracting States. In simple terms, ECTEL works with the NTRCs to promote consumer rights and harmonised benefits in the electronic communications sector in its Contracting States.