The telecommunication regulators in Dominica and St. Lucia say they hae requested a ‘detailed report’ from Flow telecommunications following the ‘severe service’ outage experienced by Flow customers over the last weekend.
Flow telecommunications in the Caribbean which is run by Liberty Caribbean, formerly known as C and W Communications, which is a subsidiary of the broader international telecommunications company Liberty Latin America, described the incident as a ‘crisis-level event’ and that its Regional Network Disaster Response and Recovery Center and local Crisis Management Team had been activated.
The St. Lucia-based Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) along with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs) of Dominica and St. Lucia, say preliminary information provided by Flow indicates that the disruption was caused by a fault on a fibre transmission path between Guadeloupe and Antigua.
‘Flow has advised that it is actively exploring measures to strengthen network resilience and reduce the likelihood of similar incidents in the future. These measures include the deployment of alternative connectivity solutions, a review of route resiliency, and the establishment of additional fibre paths within the network,’ said ECTEL’s Communications and Media Relations manager, Karetta Crooks Charles.
She said that the NTRCs and ECTEL will consider these measures, and broader regulatory steps, to promote increased network resilience across ECTEL contracting states, for all operators.
‘ECTEL and the NTRCs recognise the significant inconvenience and disruption this outage caused to consumers, businesses, and other users who rely on electronic communications services. We will continue to monitor the situation and review the information provided by the operator to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to improve service reliability.
‘We encourage the public to consider their own plans for suitable backup or redundant communications in the event of unexpected service outages,’ said Crooks Charles, adding that as regulators, ECTEL and the NTRCs remain committed to fostering a telecommunications environment that promotes reliable services, innovation, consumer choice, and sustainable competition for the benefit of all users throughout ECTEL’s contracting states.