Telecoms standards to be addressed

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology (MIST) have joined forces as the latter seeks to implement a quality of service framework to address the “less than desirable” quality of service provision in the telecommunications sector.

The FTC announced on Monday that the two entities have formalised their collaborative effort to ensure the provision of quality telecommunications in Barbados with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The MOU, which was signed on May 5, will facilitate cooperation and exchange of information between the FTC and MIST, in support of their respective regulatory duties.

“The impetus for the MOU came from a recognition that the quality of service provision in the Barbados telecommunications sector was less than desirable,” the FTC said in its statement.

“As a consequence, the MIST determined that the application of a quality of service (QoS) framework for all licensed service providers was critical in order to hold each provider to a suite of minimum acceptable standards,” it said.

The FTC said the ministry sought its assistance in this venture due to its experience in successfully developing, implementing and monitoring its Standards of Service framework, which applies to the fixed line telephone services of Cable & Wireless (Barbados) Limited (C&W), the company which trades here as Flow.

The MOU is intended to underpin the amicable collaboration between the MIST and the commission on this quality of service project and any potential future projects, the FTC said.

Last month, the FTC indicated that it was in the process of reviewing the Standards of Service 2018-2020 for Flow to determine whether the current standards were still applicable or new ones were needed.

This Standard of Service framework sets out the minimum level of service that should be received by customers of Flow’s landline service. (PR)