Investment in the telecommunications sector in the Member States of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) increased by 20% in the past year while mobile penetration rate, number of subscribers per 100 inhabitants, is over 100 percent in the sub-region. These are among the many indicators of growth which have been released in the Annual Review of the Telecommunications Sector in the ECTEL Member States. The report presents an overview of the sector’s performance for the period ended March 2008. For the period under review there was increased activity in the telecommunication sector in the ECTEL Member States, reflected in growth in both the subscriber base and call volumes. Investment in the sector was estimated to have increased some 20 percent to $177 million, largely due to network expansion to increase coverage and upgrades of mobile services. However, total sector revenues was estimated to have fallen by 6 percent to EC$747 million. At the end of 2007, the sector was estimated to have contributed 10.8 percent to GDP in the Member States, up from 10.6 percent in the previous period. The level of direct employment reported by individual licensees increased by 13.7 percent to 1548, largely on account of expansion in the mobile and the Internet services markets. Total fixed lines in service in the ECTEL Member States increased 2 percent to roughly 130,000 while the number of mobile subscribers was estimated at 540,000 resulting in an average penetration rate of 115 percent. Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines all recorded mobile penetration rates in excess of 100 per cent. The number of fixed line Internet subscribers grew 26.5 percent to over 51,000 with broadband subscribers representing 92 percent of all subscribers. Overall Internet penetration was recorded at 11.6 percent with broadband penetration at 9.5 percent. With the global economic downturn and restructuring in the sector, 2009 may prove quite challenging to the sector; already Cable & Wireless and Digicel have both announced a number of layoffs. An ECTEL Press Release INSIDE GRENADA NEWS