MAHO BEACH, St. Martin (June 19, 2002) – The 18th annual conference of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO) ended as it had started three days ago-on a very impressive note at noontime on Wednesday, June 19, 2002, at the Maho Beach Resort Convention Center as delegates gathered to hear a surprise announcement by both Nortel Networks and Tel-Em of an e-learning network initiative both telcos undertook to provide several of the island’s learning institutions-from the Sister Basilia Day Care Center to the University of St. Martin, not forgetting elementary schools and the St. Maarten Medical Center.
“We have delivered on our promises to wire the community of St. Martin to the point where everyone can have easy access to each other through our telecommunications systems. Now, it’s time for us to step up a gear, with the help of Nortel Networks, to bring our Internet services up to speed by bringing the benefits of e-learning and teleconferencing right here to St. Martin,” said Mr. Dennis Richardson, managing director of Tel-Em.
Nortel Networks, which is donating the necessary hardware including computers, printers, software packages and networking equipment that will be used in the project, said this was an indication of its “long-standing commitment to education.” According to Winston Estridge, president of Nortel Networks Caribbean and Latin America, the company “wants to re-affirm this commitment by providing the necessary tools for the development of the region’s future leaders.”
The announcement caught CANTO chairman, Mr. Cornelius B. Prior Jr., by surprise. He, however, added that the initiative was in perfect sync with the organi-zation’s goals and congratulated both parties for their vision. Several other delegates to the conference gave high marks for the organization of the event, particularly on Tel-Em’s part, and declared it a resounding success. “From the very impressive opening ceremonies to the very last session, this has been a great conference,” one delegate commented. The last conference presentation was actually a workshop by senior Nortel executives messieurs Kevin Taylor and John Hudson at the Royal Pavilion, Maho convention center, following the historic Tel-Em-Nortel announcement.
Hon. Samuel Condor, deputy prime minister and minister of telecommunications of St. Kitts/Nevis, in his presentation during the “Ministers’ policy statements” on Monday, made direct references to the cultural component of the opening ceremonies when he stated that the Ponum dance performed by the Motiance Dance Company, was a liberation dance, which was in tune with CANTO objective of liberating the creative energy of the Caribbean through telecommunications. Condor also mentioned Lasana Sekou’s poem, “People,” performed by Ian Valz at the opening ceremony, as symbolic of the organization’s aim of bringing the Caribbean people closer to the rest of the world.
In fact, Valz was back again Wednesday to give a cultural closing touch to the conference as delegates watched him, Gertha Hodge and Fernando Clark perform a skit to wash down their splendid lunch prepared by the Maho resort.
Speaking during the announcement of the Nortel-Tel-Em initiative, commissioner in charge of telecommunications, Mr. Frankie Meyers expressed the hope that the more than 300 delegates who attended the conference would return to the island in future. He apologized for the absence of commissioner of education, Mrs. Sarah Wescott-Williams, who could not be present Wednesday afternoon due to previous official commitments.
Representatives of the institutions selected for the high-speed Internet access, teleconferencing and virtual exchange capabilities were given written “promissory notes.” The Internet Service Provider (ISP) for the project will be St. Martin’s IDL, while its competitor, TelNet, a subsidiary of Tel-Em, will be responsible for setting up the teleconferencing and necessary network connections.
The CANTO closing ceremony, beginning at 8 PM, included a lavish dinner at Le Meridien, sponsored by Siemens Nederland. But the afternoon was not yet over before Mr. Joe Dominique, Tel-Em’s corporate information officer and conference coordinator, was being told by delegates and exhibitors that CANTO 2002 “was a tremendous success. The delegates particularly thought that the opening was excellent and the community aspect of the closing with Nortel Networks, was what the CANTO theme was all about, ‘Exploiting the opportunities.’ They were also very pleased with the meals.”
“The exhibitors liked very much the fact that the exhibition hall was so close to the conference venue, which made it easy for the delegates to visit the booths in the immediate area of the conference presentations and workshops and the CANTO and Tel-Em offices.”
One delegate noted that, “Apart from the great amount of information and exchange of ideas, the conference also had a very important cultural content, which goes to show that technology and culture do go hand-in-hand. I liked this aspect of the conference very much.”
CANTO, founded in 1985, consists of 47 member companies in 28 countries and territories, which employ over 20,000 people. Together, they provide 2.9 million customers with fixed line telephones and another million customers with fixed and mobile cellular service. The organization’s mission statement is “working through the sharing of information, expertise and coordinating efforts to facilitate the provision of quality telecommunications services for regional, economic, social and cultural develop-ment for the Caribbean.”