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Jamaica has now achieved its
universal service objectives in terms of voice telephony.
Commerce, Science & Technology Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell
stated this during his contribution to the sectoral debate in
Parliament today.
According to Minister Paulwell, there are currently 1.6
million cellular users and 500,000 landlines, which means that
in Jamaica’s current population of 2.7 million there are now
2.1 million active voice lines, a growth of 300,000 over last
year. Digicel, he reminded the House, reached the one
million-customer mark last month.
Minister Paulwell said the universal service objective will
now have to move from voice communication to the provision of
data access across the length and breadth of Jamaica to
include free Internet access to public institutions such as
schools, libraries and post offices.
He said his Ministry has initiated dialogue with the major
telecoms providers, Cable and Wireless, Digicel and Oceanic
Digital, to solicit their support in achieving this goal as
part of their Universal Service Obligations (USO) under the
Telecommunication Act 2000. This law, he pointed out, provides
for the imposition of USO fees of up to 5% of the revenues of
service providers. He said the option being proposed by his
Ministry would be less costly and would create a quantum leap
in achieving Jamaica’s information society goals.
Minister Paulwell said although there are still many
challenges ahead, the continued growth in the
telecommunications sector reinforces the fact that Jamaica is
a success story in telecom deregulation. An important factor
of this development, he said, was the fact that in 2000, tele-density
was 30% but by the end of 2003 it had increased dramatically
to over 80%.
He said this has resulted in Jamaica being ranked by the
International Telecommunication Union’s Digital Access Index
(DAI) among the countries in the world in the upper Access
Category. In this region, we are above Mexico, Brazil,
Venezuela and Costa Rica, he stated.
In terms of investment, he noted that in addition to the
US$103.5 million paid by cellular providers for licences,
other investments in such areas as infrastructure have
surpassed by far, the US half a billion dollar mark. Revenue
estimates for the industry in 2003 was J$50 billion, with over
J$8 billion being paid in General Consumption Tax.
According to the Minister, consumers continue to benefit from
the continued growth of fierce competition among existing
telecoms service providers, with an additional 112-service
provider and carrier licences being issued during the year,
bringing the total number of telecoms licence holders to 392.
These licences include 84 international voice service
providers, 61 international carrier licences, 76 Internet
service providers and 31 domestic voice service providers.
Minister Paulwell said his one disappointment during this
post-liberalization period, was the inability to deliver
broadband or high-speed Internet service at affordable prices
to the Jamaican consumer. This, he said, is being addressed.
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