The Ministry of Telecommunications says the implementation of the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) has intensified and is progressing smoothly.
CARCIP is a 25-million US dollars Regional Program, funded by the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.
The project is designed to bridge the gaps in the national and regional information and communications infrastructure and enhance the connectivity of participating countries.
Some of the main activities ongoing at this time includes: the Conduct of a validation, design and tendering of the Broadband network.
The participating countries have successfully engaged the services of Decision/analysis –a USA firm to conduct the validation and assessment of the broadband network.
The firm has made its initial visit to St.Vincent and the Grenadines on April 24th to 25.
The main objectives were to make the acquaintance of key telecom stakeholders in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines so that further specific meetings can be arranged, and to develop a baseline of the telecommunications and ICT infrastructure, needs and identify key issues.
A second visit was conducted by its technical team on May 21st to 26th, to meet with the engineering departments of the telecommunications service providers to research on the technical details of their operations.
The firm will make its 3rd visit on May 30th to June 3rd.
The team on this visit will research on the structuring of the public private partnership (PPP) and a review of institutional and regulatory issues.
It will meet with representatives from the main insurance companies, banking institutions, policymakers, and Government’s officials responsible for the implementation of ICT projects.
