National ICT Strategic Plan Government of St Kitts and Nevis Summary Earlier we showed that the lack of choice and high prices of leased circuit capacity were important barriers to investment and development of ICT in St Kitts and Nevis. Faced with a similar situation the European Commission in 1992 issued a directive to harmonize conditions – tariffs (which must be cost-oriented and transparent), technical characteristics, supply and usage conditions, and licensing requirements) - for the provisions of leased lines in the then twelve member states of the European Union. EU harmonization directives were part of a wider policy of establishing a single market for goods and services which along with competition directives have, inter alia, resulted in bringing down prices for circuit leases as was shown earlier. Whether such harmonization measures are applied to promoting economic integration or simply to promote regional cooperation there are lessons to be learned from the European experience. By mutually agreeing to apply harmonization measures to conditions for leasing circuit capacity, procedures and conditions of licensing, use of frequencies, regulation of dominant suppliers and other measures, regulators, policymakers and citizens of St Kitts and Nevis can benefit through their impact on the development of ICT in the region. It would be essential to employ mechanisms to promote harmonization such as establishing a regional forum of policymakers and regulators to harmonize policies, laws, regulations, procedures and standards. Strategic Steps towards Building Infrastructure Additionally in order to ensure that infrastructure is built, certain key steps should be taken. The goal would be to enforce affordable universal access and interconnectivity, reliability and technological neutrality Important steps have already been taken through the Telecommunications Acts to achieve affordable and universal access to telecommunications facilities. Steady efforts towards their actual implementation and improvement by the Government should boost market forces and compensate for their imperfections in order for all citizens and organisations, irrespective of their location, to have access to state of the art ICT facilities at an affordable cost. In addition it is Ministry of Finance, Sustainable Development, Information and Technology November, 2006 24