The Telecoms wholesale capacity conference, Capacity 2011 got under way at the Westin Resort & Spa Tuesday with a call to incumbent operators to lower the price of bandwidth in the region if small Caribbean operators are to survive and prosper.
The call was made during a heated keynote panel discussion entitled: Growth, Change and Competition in the Caribbean Wholesale market, in which TelEm Group Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Mr. Eldert Louisa was one of the panellists.
According to Mr. Louisa, the demand for additional bandwidth throughout the Caribbean region is being driven by new technologies that are data intensive and involve the delivery of bandwidth-hungry services such as video and IP TV.
"Unless the price of bandwidth comes down many of the smaller islands will have no option but to explore the expensive options of building their own cable systems so that they can meet the demands of their customers and home markets," said Mr. Louisa.
The feature panel was moderated by telecommunication expert, Linda Wellstein and also consisted of Mr. David Crawford of LIME, Ms. Michelle English of Flow Jamaica and Mr. Brian Jahra of Three Sixty Communications.
The panellists have now set the tone for two days of discussions and negotiations between important suppliers and consumers of bandwidth with pricing sure to play a key role.
The morning session also got off to a great start with an official welcome from TelEm Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mrs. Helma Etnel and a feature address from Mr. Mario Assaad, Group Chief Technology, Digicel.
Mrs. Etnel officially welcomed Prime Minister and TelEm Group Shareholder representative, Mrs. Sarah Wescott-Williams to the Conference noting that this is the third consecutive year that organizers of the annual Capacity Conference have chosen St. Maarten to host their meeting.
She urged participants to explore all that the island has to offer during their stay and much success in developing strong business contacts during the two-day event.
According to Mrs. Etnel St. Maarten can offer participants access to the US For Caribbean operators from the company’s own undersea cable, SMPR-1 and a gateway to outside operators seeking contact with Caribbean operators, via the company-operated Open Caribbean Internet Exchange (OCIX).
TelEm Group is offering free membership of the exchange, with the promise of revolutionising Internet telecommunication traffic via St. Maarten as a de-factor telecommunication hub.
Keynote speaker Mr. Assaad informed the gathering the demand for data services is growing exponentially globally with revenues from data showing positive growth for mobile operators such as Digicel while revenues from voice remains flat or slightly declining.
"If we transpose what is happening to data in the Caribbean with what we have seen in areas such as Japan where data accounts for more than 50% of revenues, then we see that there is a lot we still have to do," said Mr. Assaad.
"Mobile operators are moving, but change is happening very quickly, forcing operators to become data centers. There is a radical change happening, it’s starting to happen now and this is where both mobile and fixed operators are going," continued Mr. Assaad.
"The technology of today is making it more affordable for mobile operators to be more data centric. The wholesale vendors and capacity vendors are a virtual market, so you need more affordable prices to get to the Internet and that in itself will result in more data demand," suggested the keynote speaker, Mr. Assaad.
He ended by noting that there is a lot more pressure on the telecommunication industry in the Caribbean and predicts that in the coming years there will be some radical changes as a result.
In reference to St. Maarten’s own ownership of an undersea cable, Mr. Assaad says the island has shown foresight from which it should benefit and indeed this is the way for many of the smaller islands to go if they are to compete and provide the level of bandwidth they need now and in the future.
He believes the island’s ambition to become a telecommunication hub with the development of its own Internet exchange also brings something new to the table including new services and an easing of pressure on the international backbone by committing those services to domestic traffic.
The day’s session of meetings and speakers ended shortly after 5:00 pm and reconvenes Wednesday morning at the same venue.
TelEm Group hosted a cocktail reception at Westin Resort & Spa for participants followed by a dinner at Beau Beau’s restaurant at Oyster Bay.