US$1M for CTU Harmonised Spectrum Project

Caribbean governments and telecommunications regulators will meet next month to discuss issues related to the management of spectrum across the region.

The Harmonised Caribbean Spectrum Planning and Management project, organised by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), will bring together a range of stakeholders to build on the CTU’s work from 2006 to 2010 in reforming spectrum management policies and practices.

At the project launch in Jamaica on December 5th, 2013, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced an agreeement to provide US$1M funding to the CTU project, which is being undertaken with technical cooperation support from Compete Caribbean, the Government of Canada and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK.

Bernadette Lewis, CTU Secretary General, said in her opening remarks, “Today’s wireless technologies are more sophisticated and efficient in their use of spectrum and the traditional spectrum management policies in use in the region are limiting the speed of proliferation and the full realisation of the benefits of these technologies.”

Also making presentations at the launch ceremony were Julian Robinson, Jamaican Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, and Robert Nelson, Chief Engineer of the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission of the USA.

The project’s regional steering committee and technical task force were established and a 2014 work plan was formulated.

"On its completion in 2015, the project will establish a plan with regionally harmonised recommendations to address such areas as minimisation of cross border radio interference, technical and policy approaches to digital broadcasting, spectrum pricing, frequency allotments for commercial wireless services, public safety and disaster/emergency communications," a post-launch release from the CTU said.