PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad—As part of its ongoing effort to harmonise regional stakeholders’ approaches to spectrum management, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) collaborated with the International Telecommunication Union to hold the expert-led Regional Radiocommunication Seminar for the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad from July 18 to 22, 2016.

The CTU is an intergovernmental organisation that advises regional governments on information and communications technology (ICT) issues including spectrum planning and policy development, as well as areas such as digital switchover and frequency reallocation.

“The CTU and its member states are committed to ensuring that the region progresses in terms of the switchover from analog to digital broadcasting. We are drawing from the lessons and best practices from other regions as we seek to protect broadcast signals in the region from interference, as well as to unlock the Caribbean’s creative potential for technology innovation and content development,” said Bernadette Lewis, CTU Secretary General.

Organised with the financial support of the Inter-American Development Bank, the weeklong event brought together about 50 participants from the Caribbean, Central and South America. Along with general training in spectrum management principles and practices, the gathering represented an opportunity for regional stakeholders, including regulators, technocrats and policy experts, to consider several policy issues related to the cross-border spectrum management.

Among the speakers were Francois Rancy, Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau, and delegates from international mobile and satellite industries and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The seminar addressed the sometimes conflicting claims of these various key users of radiocommunication spectrum and identified areas for Caribbean inputs into negotiated settlements in the run up to the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019.