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Markets begin to open in Eastern Caribbean

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts—St. Kitts and Nevis has announced two telecommunications licenses as Eastern Caribbean governments continue to make good on a pledge to liberalize their telecommunications markets.

The Cable, established in 1983, will formally receive a license to provide a fixed public telecommunications network and services, while another local company, CariGlobe gets a license to provide a public cellular and mobile telecommunications network.

St. Kitts, unlike St. Lucia, has opted to provide licenses to local companies as five member countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) move to fully liberalize their telecommunication markets by next year.

The St. Lucia government last month announced the award of licenses to an associate of U.S.-owned AT&T Wireless, Irish-owned Digicel and French-owned Gensat. Local investors greeted the announcement with dismay and expressed concerns that their interests in U.S.-backed Trans-World Telecom Caribbean (TWTC) had been overlooked.

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