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Jamaica to combine telecom regulatory bodies
27 March 2012
Jamaican government to merge spectrum, utilities and broadcasting regulators into one, says minister
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The Jamaican government is in the process of forming a strong integrated regulatory authority for the telecommunications sector, according to local reports.
Phillip Paulwell, minister of science, technology, energy and mining for Jamaica, told Jamaica Information Service that the government would combine the functions of radio frequency spectrum regulator Spectrum Management Authority, the Office of Utilities Regulation and the Broadcasting Commission into one.
Paulwell told newly appointed SMA board members: “We do have a number of regulatory systems in place, all operating almost as silos, and creating, I believe, unnecessary bureaucracy for the private sector. What we are going to do, and it’s now policy, is to merge and to collapse the functions of the OUR, SMA and the Broadcasting Commission into one super body.”
The ministry will lead the development of legislation to facilitate creation of the new regulator, and has set an 18-month deadline for completion of the process, said the report. GTB
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