LIME says it wants to see deeper broadband penetration in the Caribbean.

Martin Roos reckons that greater consumption of data service will lead to increased indigenous regional content, which can be exported to the rest of the world.

“The Caribbean is behind in relation to smartphone penetration and usage,” said the CEO of LIME Caribbean. “You must be able to consume in order to create.

“Together we must enable entrepreneurs to tap into this global ecosystem.”

He was urging representatives of governments in the region, and LIME’s competition across the telecommucations markets, in his address to the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations’ (CANTO), 30th anniversary Ministerial Breakfast.

More specifically, Roos suggested that governments remove taxes and import duties on smartphone devices as part of their market liberalisation programme to better facilitate content creation and entrepreneurship, especially among young people.

He believes that mobile data will increase by a factor of 10 over the next five years, and appealed for urgency in regional action so that the Caribbean is not left behind.

LIME is currently undertaking a US$1.05-billion investment in its telecommunicaitons network across the Caribbean.