May 25, 2005

450 DELEGATES, 60 EXHIBITORS EXPECTED TO ATTEND CANTO’S 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND TRADE EXHIBITION IN ST. KITTS

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MAY 22ND 2005 (CUOPM) - The Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations (CANTO), is to hold its 21st Annual Telecommunications Conference and Trade Exhibition in St. Kitts.

The 19th to 22nd June event is being hosted by Cable & Wireless (St. Kitts and Nevis Limited) at the Royal St. Kitts Marriott Beach Resort and is expected to attract some 450 delegates.

Sixty exhibitors will be on hand to demonstrate their technology, equipment and services.

The four-day event will be held under the theme, “Telecom Liberalisation and the CSME: Opening New Doors” and is being held at a time when St. Kitts and Nevis and the Caribbean are experiencing the entrance of new companies in the local and regional markets.

“Liberalisation has made its way into the majority of the Caribbean telecommunications markets. New entrants and existing operators will co-exist and balance social and economic development with public sector requirements as the region embrace emerging technologies,” said CANTOS, Secretary General, Regenie F.Ch. Fraser.

The CANTO official said with the materialisation of regional integration, the Caribbean Single Market and Economy or CSME will increase economic activity and drive growth in employment, investment, and trade.

“The theme will focus on the convergence of these two dynamics and its effects on the Caribbean Telecommunications industry. It will also look at the environmental, cultural and economic impact of competition on Caribbean economies,” said Fraser.

CANTO’s annual conference and trade exhibition has long been recognized as the premier telecommunication event in the Caribbean.

Fraser said the annual forum facilitates better understanding of the issues in a non-confrontational atmosphere and establishes a platform for intelligent dialogue among the stakeholders in the execution of their individual responsibilities.

The Caribbean has been identified as a region with immense growth potential in the communication sector and manufacturers, operators, vendors, academics and others who missed last year’s meeting should ensure their attendance this year, if they hope to maintain, regain or grow their markets in the Caribbean region.

CANTO is a regional organisation which was formed in Port of Spain, Trinidad in April, 1985 as a professional trade associations and telecommunications lobby group for the telecommunications companies carrying on business in the Caribbean region.

Its objectives are to establish a forum which Caribbean Telecommunication Organizations may facilitate on an ongoing basis the exchange of information expertise pertaining to telecommunication to help generate inputs for orderly growth of a policy formation in the Regional Telecommunication Sector and to consider matters of mutual interests to its members engaged in providing telecommunication services in he territory of any Caribbean Country.