With Karel Douglas, the Executive Officer, Legal and Enforcement, of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), Cheryl Hector Fontenelle, the Acting Managing Director of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), which oversees telecommunications regulation in Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ansord Hewitt, the Director General of the Office of Utilities Regulation, in Jamaica, we discuss the evolution of telecoms regulation in the Caribbean region, and how regulation needs to evolve to accommodate the technology advancements that have been occurring and better position us for the future.
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The telecommunications sector we enjoy today across the Caribbean region bears no resemblance to what it was 25 years ago. In the late 1990s, virtually all countries had a single provider that had an exclusive monopoly, which resulted in high rates, little or no choice, in terms of service packages or plans, and limited access to the services it offered. Further, the networks were often limited to urban areas, and to people who could afford the rates payable.
Today, and across most of the region, the exclusive monopolies have given way to competitive environments and regulation, and so we enjoy lower rates, the ability to select prepaid and post-paid services, options in terms of the service packages and plans available, better service access, especially in rural or low population density areas, and services being offered at a broad range of price points.
Although admirable strides have been made, the environment has changed considerably and continues to evolve. Mobile and other wireless technologies are now at the fore, with broadband internet providing a channel through which voice/audio, text, data and video can be transmitted. We are also beginning to get glimpses of what is to come as we start to understand the potential impact of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, big data, the internet of things, etc., on our lives and societies.
These developments mean that our policy and regulatory frameworks should also be evolving. The frameworks that we had in place to liberalise our markets and introduce and nurture competition, are not what is needed now, as we position ourselves for the future and what lies ahead.
Introducing our guests
Karel Douglas is the Executive of Legal and Enforcement at the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. He is a qualified attorney at law, and holds a Master’s in Telecommunications and Information Technology law from the University of Strathclyde.
Karel previously worked as Senior State Counsel at the Solicitor General’s Chambers in the Office of the Attorney General. He was also Head Legal and Corporate Secretary at the National ICT Company of Trinidad and Tobago, also known as iGovTT, a government entity in charge of the Government’s enterprise-wide ICT projects. He also was a recipient of the Pro-Vice chancellor’s Award in communications, public relations and advertising from the Extramural Department of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine.
Cheryl Hector Fontenelle is currently the Acting Managing Director of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), a regulatory body for telecommunications in its Member States, namely, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She has more than 15 years of progressive experience in electronic communications and ICT regulation. Her current focus is on consumer empowerment and promoting an enabling regulatory environment to facilitate the digital transformation of the economies of the ECTEL Member States with affordable access to safe, high-quality broadband service for all.
Ansord Hewitt has been the Director-General of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) since 2017 after serving in various capacities in the organisation for over twenty-two years. He is a Regulatory Specialist, Economist, and Attorney-at-Law and has over 30 years of experience at various levels in quasi-judicial organisations.
Ansord holds a Master’s degree in Regulation from the London School of Economics after being awarded a Chevening Scholarship in 1997, a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Economics and Management (UWI) and a Bachelor of Law from the University of London. He also holds a Certificate in Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School in Kingston, Jamaica.
Insights into our conversations
One of the burning questions raised with Karel, Cheryl and Ansord during our conversation was, “What is the role of the regulator?” In the early days, the role of the regulator was clear: to keep the incumbent in check and facilitate a levelling of the playing field so that new entrants to the market could have a fighting chance. Twenty years later, the market dynamics have caned changed considerably – to the point some could argue that the regulator is not as essential as it had initially been.
However, the regulator is still crucial, but its role is evolving. In the discussion, Karel, Cheryl and Ansord highlighted several areas that regulators now need to address such as the affordability of service, particularly for those in lower economic brackets, and digital inclusion. Additionally, regulators now need to work in a cross-discipline construct, as telecommunications and the internet especially, underpin a number of technical areas, including cybercrime, cloud computing and fintech. Increasingly, telecommunications regulators must liaise and collaborate with regulators in other fields, to ensure cohesion and alignment of policies and regulations going forward.
Below are some of the questions pose to Karel, Cheryl and Ansord during our conversation:
- Let’s start by setting some context. What was the initial impetus or premise for introducing telecommunications regulation in your jurisdictions?
- In introducing competition, there seemed to have been the expectation – and to some degree, there still is the expectation – that it will drive down prices. What has been the reality on the ground?
- The value of regulation is that it can mimic market forces in circumstances where it is absent. In most market segments there is competition, so what now is the role of regulation?
- To what degree are the current policy and legislative frameworks relevant for the current market and the role that regulators?
- One of the challenges that many of our countries have been grappling with is the widening of the digital divide. What are the issues that need to be balanced, and how can we better narrow that divide?
- What are your thoughts on the CARICOM Single ICT Space?
- What might be issues or challenges in the current telecoms/ICT space that you believe may require better regulatory oversight?
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Let’s make it happen!
Select links
Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:
- Karel Douglas
- Cheryl Hector Fontenelle
- Ansord Hewitt
- Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority
- Office of Utilities Regulation
- Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago
- Starlink
Images credit: ECTEL; OUR; TATT; Largo Polacsek (Pexels); Pixabay (Pexels); Pixabay (Pexels)
Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell
Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez
Very interesting conversations indeed. I’m philosophically connected to the idea that regulations must be structured to deliver what amounts as close as possible to non-rivalrous public goods in the public interest. As you noted Michelle, the regional regulatory frameworks in play were intended to push market liberalisation and foster competition. Truth is under the circumstances of the duopoly, they have done a fairly decent job for our region. Not crowning achievement in all areas and all markets. But for sure, delivered a few thing for us, some of which you mentioned; lots of plans to select from, lower rates, service options, prepaid and postpaid services and so on.
Broadband internet is the single most disruptive development for extant regulatory fiat. Now different products and services are pushed down one pipe as digital data. If you’re not tone deaf, here writ large, is the message, its all about data. For our regulators to remain relevant, this development demands a pivot in regulatory approaches. Michelle juxtaposed two words that spells out the distance of travel for regulators; regulation may not not now be essential but crucial. Just take the ordinary meaning of those words and you get it.
Overall, the philosophical approach to regulation in this region has largely been light touch and moral suasion. Now, there is data. And therein lies the rub. It is crucial that regulators pivot to regulatory approaches that favour data. And they must do so in a era largely marked by disruptive forces forked at the application layer and in an era where the corpus of rules now require joint approaches with other regulators like those set up to oversee data privacy and information governance.Everyone talks of innovation. And telecoms regulators must adjust to handle and be attuned to innovation wrought by technology and market innovation driven largely by data companies and Web 3.0 tools outside their purview..
So what should be the responses you ask? Well, they have to begin to learn to collaborate with other sector regulators for pro-innovation and more data-driven decision-making in an environment gripped by this state of flux. The collaborative model driven by uncertainty in a green field where flexibility, lack of knowledge and demand for agility are key success factors recommend sandboxing. Get with others and create the regulatory sandboxes where mixing technology and processes drive experiential learning that will crucially, foster more innovation and growth and use. More public goods in the public interest.