The Tribune

THE telecommunications provider that first connected the Caribbean to the rest of the world, LIME, has called on regional government ministers and fellow providers to push for greater broadband penetration in the region. That would allow Caribbean nationals and businesses to participate in the consumption, creation and commercialisation of mobile applications and digital content capitalising on the benefits of the thriving global technology industry.

LIME Caribbean CEO, Martin Roos was lauded for his statesman-like address at the Caribbean Association National Technology Organisation (CANTO), 30th anniversary ministerial breakfast on Monday where he observed that, “the Caribbean is behind in relation to smart phone penetration and usage.”

He noted that, “You must be able to consume in order to create and Caribbean consumers need more indigenous regional content. There is also a huge opportunity to export content as the world is interested in the Caribbean. Together we must enable entrepreneurs to tap into this global ecosystem.”

The LIME executive, speaking at Atlantis, Paradise Island, called on regional government ministers to remove tax concessions on smart phone devices as a part of their market liberalisation programme to better facilitate content creation and entrepreneurship, especially among young people. Noting that LIME has been the Caribbean’s ‘green house’ for engineers, he said that the technology highway is the new playground that will unlock and unleash the potential to export Caribbean music, sports and produce, as well as allow those in the region’s ubiquitous hospitality industry to better position the region’s natural beauty in the global competition for tourism.

Aided by research, he predicted that mobile data will increase by a factor of ten over the next five years, and appealed for urgency in regional action so that the Caribbean is not to be left behind.

LIME is making a major network investment to the tune of US$1.05bn across the Caribbean to ensure that their network will continue to transcend not just the surrounding geographic borders but connect to the gateways of the world’s sophisticated telecoms ecosystem.

The CANTO ministerial breakfast is a flagship event in the annual conference, which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this week under the theme “Strategic Alliances for Sustainable Broadband Development.”