PAULWELL. pushing single regulator for IT sector by June next year

WESTERN BUREAU- Consolidation of the four agencies that regulate Jamaica's information technology sector is expected to take place by June next year, with Cabinet expected to approve the new single-structure entity that will replace the current institutions.

The single regulator, will, according to technology minister, Phillip Paulwell, be more investor-friendly than the system that now exists.
"We are pushing for a single regulator to regulate the sector and this is to take effect next in the middle of next year," Paulwell told the Business Observer last week, following his address at the 35th annual conference of the International Institute of Communications, at the Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay.

GREEN. Jamaica was privileged to have staged conference

The four agencies that will, in effect, be merged are:
. the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR);
. Spectrum Management Authority;
. the Broadcasting Commission, and
. the Fair Trading Commission (FTC).
Paulwell stressed that the new entity that would emerge would ensure transparency and ease of access of investors seeking to do business in the telecommunications sector.

"I do not believe that there is sufficient ease of access by investors," he told the Business Observer. "We have the OUR, the FTC the Broadcasting Commission, the Spectrum Management Authority and I think that, that is too many bodies for investors in the industry to have to relate to."

The draft, which is already in place, should be approved by Cabinet soon, while the existing agencies are busy working out the details on how the convergence may be effected.
Paulwell told participants at the conference that the government was pushing ahead with initiatives to put the ICT sector in the best possible position to make a significant contribution to the modernisation of business processes and the strengthening of the Jamaican economy.

"When we speak about using information technology for development, we are not merely talking about stimulating a rise in national Gross Domestic Product," noted Paulwell. "We are talking about embracing information and communications technology as a way of life; using it to impact every area of our lives."

The minister believes that ICT has tremendous potential for transforming old economy industries, for giving new life to manufacturing, for vastly improving the services sector and for increasing value added and productivity in agriculture.
"Increasingly, ICT applications are enhancing and supporting education, health care, the environment public administration and poverty alleviation," he argued.

More than 35 telecommunications and broadcasting regulators from about 20 countries attended the two-day conference which was hosted by the Jamaica Broadcasting Commission in collaboration with Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) and the Caribbean Central American Action (CCAA).
Cordell Green, executive director of the Broadcasting Commission, told the Business Observer at the end of the conference that participants explored several 'cutting edge' issues. Green said that Jamaica was very privileged to have staged the event.

"They (the conference organisers) usually go to much larger countries that are at the forefront of the deployment of technology," noted Green. "Last year it was held in London and the year before in South Africa and the year before that, it was held in Singapore."
The fact that the event was staged in Jamaica, he argued, was an indication of the island's stature internationally.
"People are taking notice of the fact that we are leaders in grappling with how to manoeuvre in this new information age, how to respond to challenges and to take advantage of the challenges that exist," declared Green.

According to the executive director, the conference gave the more than 100 participants the opportunity to interact with persons with tremendous experience in the communication sectors.
The conference looked at a wide range of issues, among them:
. 'voice over Internet protocol' (VoIP),
. consumers' role in relation to technological changes and content,
. the role of government in public sector broadcasting and,
. the adoption of technologies that 'bypass' conventional technologies.

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