ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, March 2nd, 2012 – Minister for Communications and Works the Honourable Mark Vanterpool had the opportunity to address the challenges that the residents of the Territory are facing with the delivery of cable television service with Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States Mr. Robert McDowell at the GSMA Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain.
Honourable Vanterpool was afforded an excellent opportunity to directly engage Mr. McDowell and explain the present issues facing the British Virgin Islands (BVI) with the delivery of cable television service and sought his agency's assistance to correct it.
According to Minister Vanterpool this was significant as he was able to register this concern at the highest level since “the BVI must work with organisations like the FCC in trying to fix this vexing problem.” The congress which was held from February 27 to March 1 is an annual event which targets senior government officials in the field of telecommunications, regulators, and mobile industry operators from 205 countries and provided a useful platform to explore opportunities as well as challenges facing the sector.
The BVI delegation's main area of focus was the Ministerial Programme that was held during the World Mobile Congress. The forum was designed for policy makers and industry leaders to meet to discuss strategies for shaping the future of the telecommunications industry and its potential to accelerate economic growth and social advancement.
The thematic workshop series focused on key areas such as the socio-economic benefits of Sim-based Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology that enables a new wave of digital services such as ticketing for transportation modalities and payment for goods and services.
Additional key areas included the evolution of the mobile internet; regulatory and investment challenges for sustaining broadband growth; suggested approaches for the awarding of spectrum for revenue generation and the important role that governments must play in the development of national information communications technology (ICT) plans.
According to Minister Vanterpool, attendance at this year's World Mobile Congress was quite timely from a policy perspective as the ideas that were harnessed could be used to better position the Territory to benefit from emerging technologies and best practices in the field of telecommunications.
The Minister further stressed his vision of telecommunications becoming the 'new frontier' that could yield increased economic benefits for the Territory, which is also in keeping with government's legislative agenda.
From a regulatory viewpoint, the BVI attendees were able to gain first-hand knowledge in critical areas based on the common themes that emerged as a result of the discussions such as the challenges related to broadband growth and the awarding of spectrum.
Acting Permanent Secretary Mrs. Arlene Smith-Thompson and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Mr. Guy Malone also represented the Territory at the congress.
The GSM Association or GSMA is an association of mobile operators and related companies devoted to supporting the standardising, deployment and promotion of GSM mobile devices and is responsible for organising the Mobile World Congress which has become the largest telecommunications event of its kind worldwide.
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