Strategy Being Developed to Support National Broadband Network

The Government is working on a comprehensive National Broadband Strategy that will support the islandwide broadband network being developed.

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Hon. Daryl Vaz, said that the strategy “will look at all the factors that will support the viability of the network, once implemented, and the use of same by all segments of the population”.

He was speaking in the House of Representatives on September 28.

The national broadband initiative aims to have every household and every community connected to the Internet.

The Minister is seeking to have the broadband initiative designated as a national development project to be funded by the Government and for the procurement to be treated as a priority.

Minister Vaz said that last year, the National Broadband Task Force and the Ministry, with keen support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), identified the key inputs/elements required to support the implementation of the broadband network and the strategy.

He noted that since May of this year, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has come on board to help to complete assessment of the best way to expand, finance, operate and maintain the network.

He said that, so far, stakeholder consultations have been held with regulators, government entities, and private-sector telecommunications and utility providers.

“From these consultations, along with other data we have provided, we expect that the IFC will be able to provide its recommendation on the best option to ensure that we will have a sustainable, islandwide, open-access network,” he told the House.

He indicated that technical officers from his Ministry, along with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, the regulatory authorities, and representatives from the National Broadband Task Force, will be having preliminary discussions with the IFC team on these options.

“It is expected that by the end of the year we will have a complete assessment, which will help us to chart the way forward,” Minister Vaz said.

“Additionally, our partners from the European Union (EU) have come on board and will be providing us with a consultant to assist us in putting together the other necessary elements of the broadband strategy,” he noted.

Minister Vaz said that the goal remains to have a truly digital society by 2030, noting that the strategy should be completed by 2025