PHILIPSBURG:--- On February 16th 2015 Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten (BTP-SXM) hosted a seminar on Next Generation Mobile Spectrum Management at Divi Little Bay Beach resort, to educate St. Maarten Telecom providers on several topics that are important to effectively manage a mobile telecom network.
Chief Operating Officer of BTP-SXM, Mr. Giovanni King, gave a presentation on the role of the regulator, the future of telecom and the importance of embracing latest technology standards for the betterment of telecommunication services on the island. Mr. King stated: "mobile broadband is key for socio-economic development of a country, and managing & harmonizing mobile spectrum is required for sustainable development of mobile broadband.
Key note address came from Dutch Telecom Expert Mr. Jan van Rees. During an in-depth presentation, Mr. van Rees discussed several global case studies and shared his thoughts on the future of technology. "Nowadays, mobile users are consuming ten times more mobile data than in the recent past, and usage will only go up as people are using their mobile devices for video calls, TV, social media, online shopping, banking, health, education and much more. In addition to that, "machine to machine communication" is becoming more popular globally. Just think of all the cars, copy machines, alarm systems and electronic meters that are equipped with mobile chips and directly communicating with other devices. These developments are all very positive but it requires an enormous amount of mobile bandwidth, and mobile operators can only facilitate this data growth if they upgrade to latest mobile technology standards such as LTE".
Amongst the people present where local telecom providers, Telem, UTS, Scarlet, Zenitel and the new concession holders Corporate Innovations and Beach Mart Television. Mr. King is extending his gratitude to all the providers for their active participation in this session.
In closing Mr. King stated: "I realize that the mountainous landscape of St. Maarten and the small economy of scale often makes it more challenging for local telecom providers to provide state of the art telecom services. But despite these disadvantages, I'm pleased to see that all the providers are making great efforts to bring in new technologies to offer good, reliable telecom services on our island".
Presentations will be availible on the BTP-SXM website: www.sxmregulator.sx
