CANTO CHAMPIONS A GIGABYTE SOCIETY FOR THE REGION BY 2030

 

Port of Spain     CANTO Chairman Telesur’s Mike Antonius says the body will advocate for the Caribbean to become a gigabyte society by 2030. Therefore, the region’s citizens and businesses will benefit from widespread connectivity of 1 gigabit per second, low latency, and reliable performance delivered by robust, future-proof fixed and mobile technologies. The ultimate aim of the vision is smarter cities and more robust economies. Such an accomplishment will require an investment climate that facilitates and encourages the outlay of capital by operators to fund fibre network upgrades. As such, CANTO would lead the charge on the fair share debate for the Caribbean region.

 

 

Chairman Antonius added that there are increasing costs associated with building and maintaining telecom infrastructure, with no additional revenues being received by the operators for the service. As such, like the United States of America, the European Union, and South Korea, CANTO will lobby for the Caribbean to receive from Over the Top (OTT) providers their contribution to the maintenance and use of telecommunications infrastructure in the region. He added that OTTs benefit from fees paid by Caribbean consumers to receive their content and from the resale of customers’ personal data provided to OTTs free of charge. CANTO will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to address this injustice.

 

 

Chairman Antonius indicated that CANTO had grown tremendously over the last forty years since it began forty years ago, with six operators from Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Curaçao, Belize, and Cuba. The body now boasts fifty-three (53) full members and forty (40) affiliates. In addition to championing the region’s digital transformation, CANTO is working to attract high-caliber speakers to its meetings to improve its members’ learning, sharing, and networking opportunities. As such, the Chairman indicated that the Secretariat would be undertaking significant forward planning to accomplish this objective.

 

 

The CANTO Annual General Meeting heard and received reports of its Working Committees of the Board of Directors. The Committees’ representatives highlighted the achievements/challenges and projections for the new fiscal. The Secretary General, Mrs Teresa Wankin, and Chairman Mike Antonius’s reports were also received and confirmed.

 

Treasurer and Director Gerard Cooper of TSTT reported the Association came away with a healthy surplus following its primary actives during the fiscal period October 2022-September 2023 and on account of dues from its increasing membership. The membership also received the report of the external auditor.

 

The term of Director Desha Clifford of Digicel Trinidad and Tobago ended after two period of service on the Board. Director Clifford was nominated and returned uncontested to serve another term. The Chairman informed of the resignation of Director David Cox of Cable and Wireless Grenada. The operator replaced Mr. Cox with Mr. Charles Douglass.

 

The next Annual General Meeting in 2025 will take place in Curaçao.