CRT 2014: public-private collaboration and open dialogue to promote investment

The second edition of the Regional Telecommunications Congress was organized by GSMA LA, AHCIET, CAF and ASEP. The event has took place in Panama from 18 to 21 August and has gathered more than 300 public and private representatives of Latin American’s telecommunications sector.

crt2014 12During CRT2014 there was the Regulatory Working Group (REGU) meeting. During the REGU meeting, representatives from 18 national operators from 14 countries discussed the hot regulatory issues most relevant for the mobile industry in Latin America.

On Wednesday 20, the CRT2014 plenary session featured keynote presentations of Zelmar Rodríguez Crespo, General Manager ASEP, Randall Treviño, Senior Advisor ITU Regional Office for the Americas, and Allan Ruiz, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications of Costa Rica, among others.

crt2014 2“To sustain the socio-economic benefits generated by the mobile industry we must move into an area of wider agreements on the development of public policies. First of all, the mobile operators should focus on giving users more tools and maximizing investments in new networks and services. And second, the public sector needs a more incentive-based regulation and to understand the future challenges of the sector,” said Sebastian Cabello, GSMA LA Director, during a panel discussion that included Raul Perez Reyes, Deputy Minister of Communications of Peru, Adrean Rothkopf from Millicom, José Juan Haro from Telefónica, and Jose Ayala from Ericsson.

Sustainability of mobile industry

crt2014 3At the same time, on Thursday 21 GSMA LA organized a Seminar on Sustainability of Mobile Industry with outstanding presentations on Child Online Protection and Electronic Waste. During the seminar, it was announced a collaboration between the GSMA and UNICEF on Child Online Protection for Latin America and the Caribbean with speeches by Sebastian Cabello, Director of GSMA LA, Marcelo Ber, UNICEF’s Focal Point on CSR and Childhood for Latin America and the Caribbean and Alma Jenkins, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Panama.

Regarding electronic waste, the E-Waste in Latin America report by GSMA LA was introduced followed by presentations from Federico Magalini, Research Associate at the University of the United Nations, and Daniela Espinosa Torres, Manager of Green ICT and the Environment in the Telefónica Group worldwide.

Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transport seminar

crt2014 4By the end of the event, the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) of Mexico delivered a workshop titled “Towards universal coverage and democratization of telecommunications and broadcasting services”. The seminar included presentations from José Ignacio Peralta, Secretary of Communications of Mexico, Luis Fernando Peláez Espinosa, Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), and Monica Aspe Bernal, Coordinator of the Information Society and Knowledge.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Internet Address Registry for Latin America and Caribbean (LACNIC), Internet Society (ISOC) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have collaborated to make the CRT 2014 possible.

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