Is regulation the answer to the rise of over the top (OTT) services? An exploratory study of the Caribbean market

Abstract

Over the Top (OTT) content has seen unprecedented growth in recent years that has disrupted the traditional telecommunication business model. As a consequence, countries have offered different regulatory responses. The Caribbean market has seen similar evolution in OTT content which has transformed the telecommunication market and has influenced the growth in access to technology. An analysis of this market has seen fractured regulatory responses with the telecommunication providers chiefly driving the process. It is argued that such an approach may result in an unbalanced ecosystem, limited consumer protection with privacy and security concerns. The purpose of this paper is to report on the regulatory responses in key countries in the Caribbean and propose a regulatory framework that may aid in the effective management of OTT services and its evolution in the region. The framework considers the perspectives of the multiple stakeholders including regulatory agencies, telecos and customers and includes domain understanding, OTT understanding, regulatory process understanding, regulatory design and development, evaluation, implementation and review and monitoring stages.