The recent spectrum awards to telecommunications providers in the British Virgin Islands have been welcomed as a potential boost for the BVI Forward campaign to strengthen the financial services sector and the push to improve business infrastructure in the Territory.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission recently signed agreements with CCT, Digicel and Flow which will enable the providers to deliver high speed mobile broadband services using LTE technology, bringing the Territory in line with technological developments that have already taken part in other parts of the world.

Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE said an advanced telecommunications network is essential for residents and the business community in order to ensure that the Territory retains its competitive edge in the sectors comprising the economic pillars.

The Premier while speaking as Chair of the Steering Committee that oversees the work of the Financial Services Implementation Unit, the delivery body responsible for implementation of the 10 priority initiatives, labelled BVI Forward, said the spectrum awards and pending improvement in internet access for the Territory are closely aligned to two of the initiatives under the BVI Forward campaign.

Premier Smith explained that the Invest in Infrastructure Initiative seeks to develop the business infrastructure in the BVI to bring it on par with the telecommunications services provided in competing financial services jurisdictions.

He further explained that closely related to this initiative is the one which seeks to Attract Value Added Services. Through this initiative, the BVI Government seeks to encourage investors to establish businesses in the Territory which will in turn stimulate economic growth and provide employment opportunities.

The Honourable Premier added, "Improved internet service is a critical building block in creating the new infrastructure needed to facilitate my government's thrust to build a substance based economy. The spectrum awards and planned improvements in telecommunications service are expected to provide a comparable level of operation in BVI to what exists in other jurisdictions. In an increasingly challenging global environment, we must do all we can to stay competitive."