Castries – Saint Lucia – The Telecommunications Acts in the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority’s (ECTEL) five (5) Member States have been in force for over 20 years, as such ECTEL is thrilled to launch its Electronic Communications Bill (EC Bill) Education and Public Awareness Campaign. The EC Bill, when enacted, will undoubtedly advance the work of ECTEL and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs) as regulatory leaders committed to consumer empowerment and harmonised benefits in a unified space.

The event is slated to be held virtually on Thursday, January 27^th from 2 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean Time). To raise awareness among a wide cross section of people it will be streamed live on Facebook: @ECTEL, as well as on various Facebook pages of the Government Information Services in our Member States and on UWI TV Facebook page.

ECTEL anticipates that our efforts through this campaign and with the support of our partners and stakeholders will provide a greater understanding of the EC Bill. The presenters for the launch include the Chairman of ECTEL’s Council of Ministers – Honourable Stephenson King, Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal (Saint Lucia); Mr. Duane Noel – Chairman of ECTEL’s Board of Directors and ECTEL’s Acting Managing Director – Ms. Cheryl Hector Fontenelle. They will be providing a brief overview of the EC Bill and the benefits to consumers. Ms. Fontenelle said:

“The launch of the EC Bill Education and Public Awareness Campaign is timely because the new EC Bill will address a number of gaps in the broadband infrastructure value chain including affordable access to high-quality, high-speed broadband. The EC Bill will also introduce new provisions for consumer protection, online submission of complaints and net neutrality which refers to free and open internet where Internet Service Providers should not speed or slow down web content based on its source ownership or destination.”

Some of the campaign activities include the creation and dissemination of infographics, the production of special ECTEL Bytes Facebook Live shows zoning in on various components of the Bill, an EC Bill social media Viral Challenge for students, EC Bill Virtual Talks and a Caribbean Media Practitioners Competition showcasing the EC Bill among other initiatives.

The launch event is expected to be brief yet packed with enough information to raise awareness about the benefits of the EC Bill to our consumers in the Member States when enacted. Viewers will also get an opportunity to win prizes for participating in quizzes. Follow us on social media to keep abreast of this event and all future projects geared at putting regulations in place to ensure consumers benefit from quality electronic communications services. Check us out at www.ectel.int or @ectel on Facebook and YouTube and @ectelauthority on Instagram and Twitter.