Foreign big techs ‘called out’ for not reinvesting in Caribbean telecoms’ sector
What is known as the C9 Group comprising the region’s leading telecommunications companies are ‘calling out’ the extra-regional ‘big tech’ companies operating in the Caribbean on the issue of reinvesting a ‘fair share’ of their profits from their Caribbean operations back into the growth and development of the sector in the region. The regional telecommunications grouping sounded its collective voice during its January 28-30 40th General Meeting in Port of Spain, through its new Chairperson, Former Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT) Chief Executive Officer, Lisa Agard.
The call for a higher retention of the foreign ‘big tech’ companies’ earnings to support the strengthening of the region’s telecommunications sector came against the backdrop of the disclosure that while the extra-regional telecommunications giants had walked away with $US11.5 billion from their operations in the region in 2023, they had reportedly neglected to invest any of those returns in the development of the region’s telecommunications sector. The C9 Group comprises The Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GTT) ATN International, Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), Cable Bahamas, Digicel, Liberty Latin America,
Telesur, The Cable in St. Kitts, and Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT). It was set up in 1985 to focus on “leading and shaping the information, communication and technology industry in the Caribbean region and the Americas”.
Further disclosures made at the forum reportedly revealed that some extraregional companies operating in the region “neither create employment nor pay taxes, regulatory fees, or spectrum fees in the Caribbean,” notwithstanding “their substantial usage accounting for sixty-six percent of all internet traffic in the region.” Reportedly, by contrast, Caribbean network operators invested over US$500 million per annum in network upgrades and improvements since 2017, which investments came against the backdrop of what was described as “flat and declining revenues.”