TELECOMMUNICATIONS

CMatt Communications
Established May 17, 1999

CMATT'S VISION OF THE FUTURE
IN THE YEAR 1990

Click lick on Picture to Download & Play Address

There are many of us who have always had throughout the years, a fascination for new developments in technology.  Within this century, we have  seen the evolution of a very primitive experimental motor-car develop into modern styled vehicles.  We've seen the experimental flying machines of the Wright Brothers evolve into aero planes, jumbo-jets and space ships.

The standard mechanical typewriter is right now evolving into an electronic computer based device. This is something many of us are taking for granted, but to those of us who have seen the hand-cranked calculating machines develop into sophisticated electronic computers; those of us who have seen hand-cranked spring driven gramophones evolve into sophisticated tape and cassette recorders, are very sensitive to these changes that are taking place...changes that are taking place very rapidly. Trying to predict where even new developments will take us 10 years from now, boggles the mind, because many of the developments of the coming decade are presently beyond our comprehension.

EVOLUTION IS A NATURAL PROCESS
Mankind has advanced...progressed more rapidly within the past two hundred years than all the years preceding that period combined.  What new devices, what new surprises scientists, technologists and experimenters hold in store for us to make life easier in the home and the workplace, leading up to the year 2000, we cannot really be sure.

There is one thing we can be sure of however, and that is...the computer is going to have a very significant role to play in the years ahead, in trade, industry & commerce;  in the offices, manufacturing, all aspects of tourism, agriculture, education; in fact, in all fields of endeavour.  That is why  those of us who dream and sometimes fantasize about the world of the future, find it pleasingly gratifying to be associated with an event such as this; this graduating ceremony in which there is a clear indication, that our people are being prepared to adapt to these changes being brought about by new developments in technology.

How do we, the people of Antigua and Barbuda prepare ourselves to cope with these changes. in technology. The obvious answer is training. Leaning to acquire new skills that will prepare us to be more independent, more self reliant, more self-sufficient as we approach the dawn of a new era, as we move into the twenty-first century. The twenty-first century holds a lot in store for developing countries. That is not a prophecy, nor is a prediction, it is a statement of fact.

EVOLVING FROM THE STONE AGE, THROUGH THE AGRICULTURAL ERA, THE INDUSTRIAL ERA  OF THE LATTER PART OF THE 18TH CENTURY, THROUGH TO THE INFORMATION ERA OF THE 1990'S

From the beginning of time, man has always had the will to develop tools that would make his day to day living easier, he fashioned tools out of sticks and stones, primarily for hunting, so that he could feed himself. We still refer to that period in the history of mankind as the Stone Age.

As the centuries rolled by, man recognized that the wild fruits and vegetables which formed a part of his diet, could be planted and grown at will. He recognized too, that many of the animals he had chased and hunted, could be caught, fenced in and bred so that he did not have to hunt anymore. This transition from the stone age to the agricultural era had taken centuries, but man has always had the will to acquire skills, develop new methods to be more productive, in his quest for a better way of life.

Then came the mechanical devices and machines. -This was a brand new ball-game. We still refer to this period as the period of the 'Industrial Revolution'. This change from the use of manual methods of manufacturing to mechanical methods began in England round about the year 1750 and later spread to other countries. This era was referred as a "Revolution", because it brought about vast changes in the way people worked and lived. It created an industrialized society---one in which large-scale mechanized manufacturing, replaced farming as a main source of jobs.  An era in which people no longer grew their own food and made the products they used at home, but worked for wages so that they could buy the food they ate and other necessities.

From the beginning of time, technological advancements never stood still. It is a never ending process.  Nor is the industrial era the final one.   the result of developments which began in the year 1800 and beyond have put us now ---- in our lifetime, at the crossroads between the industrial age and the next era.

The calculating machine, invented in 1822, electromagnets, electric generators, the telegraph, storage batteries, the typewriter, the telephone, the phonograph, the microphone, the electric light bulb, the transformer and wireless systems, were all invented between 1822 and 1899 (a mere 77 year period). FM  Radio did not come until 1939 and a primitive electro-mechanical computer was invented less than 50 years ago (at that time), in 1943.    The basic, electronic digital computer was developed three years later in -1946. Those first digital computers were great big monstrous devices using vacuum tubes. The transistor which would lead to the manufacture of smaller devices. was not invented until two years after the digital computer, in 1948.

The invention and development of those and other related devices have all contributed to the creation of a new type of industry ----- I N F O R M A T I C S ----- a new telecommunications industry pertaining to the movement of information.

THE VISION OF THE FUTURE IN 1990 IS A FACT OF LIFE TODAY

THE NEXT PORTION OF THE ADDRESS REFLECTS THE VOICE OF PROPHECY ESPECIALLY AS IT RELATES TO THE LOSS OF TELEPHONE SYSTEMS BY CARICOM MEMBER STATES  TO A MONOPOLY TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDER,  THUS RETARDING THEIR POTENTIAL FOR RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW TELECOM SERVICES IN A FREE MARKET ENVIRONMENT.

THE VISION OF THE FUTURE EXPRESSED IN THIS ADDRESS  LED TO A CAMPAIGN FOR US IN ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA TO RETAIN OUR NATIONAL TELEPHONE SYSTEM IN THE INTEREST OF THE FUTURE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TWIN ISLAND STATE, AND THE EVENTUAL CREATION OF THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS, AND THE EARNING POTENTIAL OF OUR PEOPLE.

THE PROPHECY
Computer and telephone systems will be combined with other telecommunication systems to provide developing countries with thousands of new job opportunities, and the foundation for stimulating great economic growth, generating great wealth from our basic natural resources, our people and our telecommunications.

The basic telephone infrastructure is the pivot on which all this economic growth will revolve.  This is why worldwide, providers of telecommunication services from the industrialized countries are desperately and frantically devising all sorts of schemes and strategies to relieve un-suspecting developing countries of their national telephone systems.

IT WAS NOT ENOUGH JUST TO SAY TO THE GRADUANDS THAT THEY COULD EARN A LIVING IN THE FUTURE FROM PROVIDING TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES, THE ADDRESS WAS CONCLUDED BY QUOTING A WELL KNOWN EXPERT IN THE FIELD AT THAT TIME, WHOSE PREDICTIONS I FELT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE READILY ACCEPTED THAN MINE AS HE EXPLAINED HOW ANY ENTERPRISING PERSON COULD PROVIDE TELECOM SERVICES WITH
VERY NEGLIGIBLE FINANCIAL RESOURCES.

(In every society, every man, woman and child has a fundamental constitutional right to a country's natural resources, that is why access must be granted to our beaches.  It is also a fundamental constitutional right for members of a society or citizens of a state, to be able to earn a living by having unrestricted access for the use of these natural resources).

Let us therefore commit ourselves to playing our part, as we prepare to meet the challenges of the coming decade, the year 2000, with the hope that we will be in a position to make our telecommunications work for us, earn for us, and not find ourselves forced to purchase time, for very handsome fees and other charges, from some overseas operator, for the use of OUR OWN TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES.

Anguilla | Antigua | Aruba | Bahamas | Barbados | Bonaire | BVI | Cayman Islands | Cuba | Curacao | Dominica
Dominican Rep. | Grenada | Guadeloupe | Guyana | Haiti | Jamaica | Martinique | Montserrat | Puerto Rico
Saba | St Barthelemy | St Eustatias | St Kitts & Nevis | St Lucia | St Maarten | St Martin | St Vincent
Trinidad & Tobago | Turks & Caicos | US Virgin Is.