The Isle of Man is playing host to a leading conference of European Telecoms regulators, with 60 delegates expected from across the continent.

Running from yesterday (Monday, April 27th) until Thursday, April 30th, the conference is being held at the Claremont Hotel in Douglas.

The regulators are part of a working group of Administrations from the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications (CEPT), meeting in preparation for the forthcoming World Radio Conference in Geneva in November this year.

ManSat is sponsoring the conference, alongside EchoStar, SES, SpaceIsle, Sure, Telesat, ViaSat and 3FM, together with the Isle of Man Government’s Department of Economic Development and several NGOs – International Institute of Space Commerce, Society of Satellite Professionals International, Space Data Association, EMEA Satellite Operators Association, and Satellite Interference Reduction Group.

Juan Watterson MHK, Chairman of the Island’s Communications Commission, said: ‘We are delighted that the Regulators have chosen the Isle of Man as the venue for their event.  The Isle of Man has been at the forefront of technological advances in spectrum use being the first to launch 3G and our 4G network is now reaching 95% of the Island’s population. I hope as well as networking that the attendees will get the chance to look round our beautiful Island and take some great memories home. ’

Tony Azzarelli, Chairman of the PTA, said: ‘We are honoured to be invited by the Isle of Man Communication Commission and ManSat and its associates to host such a meeting in the Isle of Man. This is one of the last two meetings in the cycle between 2012 and 2015 to prepare the European positions to the next World Radio Conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a specialised agency of the UN dealing with international regulatory framework in the ICT sector.

‘Our achievements at this meeting will be presented at a meeting of the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG), which is being held in June 2015 and will contain proposals for new frequency allocations to the Space and Science services, as well as proposals for procedural changes to the ITU Radio Regulations. The meeting will be chaired by Martin Fenton, who will take over from myself, as I’m stepping down at this meeting due to a new work opportunity. Both Martin and myself are from the UK regulator Ofcom.’

Laurence Skelly MHK, Minister for Economic Development, said: ‘We pride ourselves on being a responsible, well-regulated nation so I am delighted to see that the CEPT have chosen to host this important conference in the Isle of Man.’

ManSat CEO Chris Stott said: ‘It’s a welcome and wholly unique opportunity for market-leading Isle of Man companies in the field to interact with some of the foremost telecoms regulators in Europe at a crucial time for the telecommunications industry as a whole. The World Radio Conference only happens once every four years and there are many challenging topics to be debated that will affect all in the global industry. The working group will touch upon all uses across the spectrum, from radio to cellular to satellite and beyond.’

For further information about CEPT, visit: www.cept.org