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| Minister of State responsible for Information, Broadcasting and Telecommunications Dr Edmond Mansoor pointed out that the technology, which includes services such as Vonage and Skype, are illegal in the country but government was looking to change the legal framework. VoIP is a protocol optimised for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet-switched networks.(File photo) | |
ST. JOHN'S, Antigua, May 15, 2008 - Officials in Antigua and Barbuda are exploring the possibility of legalising the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) which is already being widely operated across the twin-island nation.
Minister of State responsible for Information, Broadcasting and Telecommunications Dr Edmond Mansoor pointed out that the technology, which includes services such as Vonage and Skype, are illegal in the country but government was looking to change the legal framework. VoIP is a protocol optimised for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet-switched networks.
"We will be examining the whole matter of VoIP and looking to see how those technologies can be legalised, because under the existing laws of Antigua and Barbuda the usage of VoIP is illegal," he said.
"This is a technology that is used worldwide and has international, regional and local ramifications and the government supports the use of not just voice over Internet, not just data, but also video. So we are in the process of examining that as well."
According to the Antigua Sun, Dr Mansoor said that a company, Bitek International, had been contracted to assess the use of VoIP in Antigua and Barbuda and carried out that assessment between September 2007 and January 2008, giving government a more definitive evaluation of the scope of local use of the technology and the potential impact on the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) and on central government.
He added that after the Bitek assessment confirmed that many people were using the technology government decided to move ahead with the process to both legalise and leverage on its use.
The Minister suggested that it could be legalised as a prelude to a number of other initiatives that would lead to telecommunications reform.
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