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RECOGNISING THE WORK OF ECTEL IN ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Castries, August 19th 2010:
“The ECTEL model of joint Regulatory Authority is the most sought
after model, to the point where we can export our human capital, our
talents and expertise to several other regions of the world, including
Asia, the Pacific and Africa, to demonstrate and share the ECTEL
experience”.
This impression of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority
(ECTEL) was stated by Prime Minister, The Hon Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of
St. Vincent and the Grenadines in his feature address at the award
ceremony at Government House in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The
Awards Ceremony recognized the contribution of nationals of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines to the liberalization of the telecommunications
sector and the establishment of ECTEL.
The Prime Minister noted that the achievements of ECTEL was the
result of rigorous negotiations and unrelenting dedication and
professionalism of leaders, technical staff and advisers some of whom
were selected to be honoured by ECTEL through out the region.
The seven persons who were honored in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
were Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, former Prime Minister Sir
James Mitchell, Hon Jerrol Thompson, Minister of Telecommunications,
Science, Technology and Industry, Mr. Isaac Solomon, Chairman of the
ECTEL Board of Directors, Mr. Donnie Defrietas former Managing Director
of ECTEL, Mr. Randolph Cato, Senior Director at the OECS Secretariat
and Mr. Apollo Knights Secretary/Director of the National
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC).
The ceremony in St. Vincent was the third hosted by ECTEL and forms
part of a year-long programme of activities and events to observe the
tenth anniversary of the regional regulatory authority. Member of the
ECTEL Council of Ministers, Dr Jerrol Thompson who also spoke at the
event called for the revision of the current legislation governing the
telecommunication sector to be expanded in scope to embrace the ICT
sector.
Among the dignitaries present at the ceremony were government
officials, members of the diplomatic corps, executives of
telecommunications providers and the Commissioners and staff of the
NTRCs in the ECTEL Member States.
ECTEL will hold similar ceremonies in St. Kitts and Nevis in September
and in Dominica in November. In addition to the awards ceremony,
national and regional symposiums have been held in the Member States
where issues such as the experience of service delivery, collaboration
in regional regulation and the impact of ICT on young people have been
discussed.
ECTEL is celebrating ten years, having been established by a treaty
which was singed by the following countries in May 2000 –
Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and
St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
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