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Media Release courtesy ECTEL

March 13, 2023  — “Today is our first in-person Board of Directors Meeting. We would have had numerous meetings via Microsoft Teams but today we have Directors from various Member States present as well ECTEL’s Leadership Team among others. The aim of the meeting is to assess the performance of the 2021 to 2022 work plan, and to review the strategic priories for the 2022 to 2023 work plan.” ​ So said the Chairperson of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority’s (‘ECTEL’) Board of Directors, Ms. Shaniqua Carey-Brown (St. Kitts and Nevis) at the 94^th Board of Directors Meeting held on 9^th March 2023, at Bay Gardens Beach Resort in Saint Lucia, and on-line via MS Teams for anyone who could not attend in person.

Several reports were presented by the Directors and Leadership Team as the meeting progressed. In presenting the Report of the Audit Risk and Finance Committee, Chairperson Director Gregory Shillingford (Commonwealth of Dominica) apprised the Board of the financial performance of ECTEL for the financial year ended September 2022.

ECTEL’s General Counsel and Secretary to the Board, Ms. Sallyane Cotter, provided an update on the Electronic Communications Bill (EC Bill) for each Member State. She was particularly pleased to share that, “The Directorate has been informed that the Legislative Drafting Unit in St. Kitts and Nevis is working to prepare the Order to bring the EC Act into force”. St. Kitts and Nevis passed the EC Act on 18^th February 2021; this latest development brings the country one step closer to ensuring a more robust mechanism for regulating the activities of electronic communications licensees in St. Kitts and Nevis, and ensuring the protection of consumers’ rights. To this end, the Directors called on the Directorate of ECTEL to ramp up its EC Bill public education campaign, emphasizing that the enactment of the EC Bill will be a ‘win for customers, service providers and governments’.

Other Directors in attendance were Mr. Philip Dalsou (Saint Lucia) and Mr. Marc Richardson (St. Vincent and Grenadines); Mr. Edmund Burke (Grenada) attended the meeting virtually. The meeting was open to observers in-person as well as online via Microsoft Teams. On 10^th March, the Directors also participated in a half day training workshop on the licensing framework and spectrum management and monitoring for the ECTEL Regulatory System.

Since 4^th May 2000, ECTEL has been the regional regulatory body advising the NTRCs on electronic communications matters in its five (5) Member States namely: the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. ​ In simple terms, ECTEL works with the NTRCs to promote consumer rights and harmonised benefits in the electronic communications sector in its Member States.

Visit at www.ectel.int or follow us at @ectel on Facebook and YouTube and @ectelauthority on Instagram and Twitter for more information about our work.