Plan to open telecom sector to competition in 2004

Minister of Public Administration and Infor-mation, Dr Lenny Saith on Monday night announced Government’s intention to open the telecommunications sector to full competition in 2004. This move, he said, would help in the reduction of costs to consumers, while improving quality and providing faster and easier access to the internet. Dr Saith was speaking at the launch of “Fast Forward,” the National Information and Communication Technology (NICT) plan for Trinidad and Tobago, which was held at the Cascadia Hotel. He maintained that the information and communication technology sector presented the perfect opportunity to move forward as individuals as well as a nation.

However, he noted that the NICT plan by itself would not be effective in bringing about the desired transformation. He said, “Technology is merely a tool, for some it is mainly a toy. It is the use to which it is put that will determine whether our society will reap the full benefits. Dr Saith challenged the business community, including the small business sector to grasp the opportunity of a knowledge-based society, since, he said, Government’s plan to accelerate the economy would effectively make the entire world a virtual market. The only impediments to success, he asserted, would be hesitation, doubt and disbelief. He maintained that cooperation between the private sector and Government would aid in exceeding the target of ensuring that by the year 2007, over 50 percent of companies in TT use the internet as a business tool for e-commerce and other business transactions. “This,” he said, “is the kind of partnership between Government and the private sector that has produced miraculous development in many countries of the world, some as small as ours and with fewer resources than we have.”

Dr Saith went on to note that “Fast Forward” presented TT with an excellent opportunity to further diversify its economy, stimulating the creation of new industries and giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to enter in the fields of data processing, software development, call-centres and technology manufacturing. “We have here an excellent opportunity for new business development, new wealth creation and new levels of employment generation,” he said. “Our entrepreneurs must grasp the opportunities.” Dr Saith noted that NICT has already demonstrated that it had the penetrative capacity to take progress and opportunity into the disadvantaged heartlands of poor societies, surmounting social, economic and infrastructure development. As such, he maintained, it would be a very potent force for transformation in TT, which already had a facilitating environment. “The Government shall not lose this chance to ensure that all our people are lifted by the prosperity and opportunity of this modern technology wave,” he said. ‘“Fast Forward’ will ensure that there is no digital divide in TT.”