Mitchell to lead review of telecommunications in region

Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell, is set to lead a review of the telecommunications environment in the region. Mitchell is Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Science and Technology in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet.

Along with David Burt, who is the Premier of Bermuda, Mitchell will support Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados and Chair of CARICOM, to review the sector’s environment, with a view to creating a competitive environment where customers and providers are treated fairly.

Addressing the media at the end of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, Mottley referred to the annual billion-dollar earnings of some communication platforms and services from which the region does not benefit economically.

“We were informed that (these entities) earn as much as $11.6B a year and they pay no taxes. There is no contribution in any way to the regional economy, and at the same time, the absence of revenue to the telecommunications firms means that at the very time that we need to be looking at re-investment to make our telecommunications infrastructure sturdier, it is not there,” the chair stated.

“We are at the stage of exploration, but Premier Burt and Prime Minister Mitchell will work with me to be able to put the Community in a position to be able to better level the playing field to ensure that there is fairness to the consumer, fairness to the provider and a competitive environment. We are conscious that the Caribbean, as a region of small states, has higher telecommunication costs than we would normally like to see as compared to other regions,” Mottley said.