Turks
and Caicos Introduction
In
January 2006, Cable
and Wireless yielded to pressure by giving
up the last six years of its monopoly in the
Islands, and signed a new 15-year license
agreement under the Telecommunications Ordinance
2004 and the Telecommunications and Frequency
Licensing Regulations 2005. C&W
has put a brave face on the loss of its monopoly,
and congratulated the government on its liberalized
regime.
Communications
Minister, McAllister Hanchell, said that the
liberalisation would see more players enter
the market and will boost access to communications
services.
The
first of these new players was Digicel, the
pan-Caribbean mobile telecommunications firm,
which announced in April 2006 that it had
been granted a license to establish a GSM
cellular network in the jurisdiction. Licences
have also been awared to Andrews Communications
Ltd, and Islandcom.
Commenting
on the move, Jeffrey Hall, Turks & Caicos
Minister of Communications, stated that: “We
welcome Digicel and its dynamic approach to
business in Turks and Caicos. The benefits
Digicel has created in other Caribbean markets
will help bring cutting edge technology to
the telecommunications sector, while making
a significant contribution towards the development
of our tourism, financial services and local
businesses."
The
government is encouraging information technology
operations and there is clear interest being
shown in offshore e-commerce development.
In
2004 the government formed a TCI Telecommunications
Commission as part of a drive to implement
and oversee changes in the modernising of
the telecommunications industry including
the introduction of competition in the domestic
market.
The
Telecommunications Commission carries out
the functions conferred on it by the Telecommunications
Ordinance 12 of 2004. It serves to advise
the Minister on telecommunications; regulate
telecommunications in the Islands; promote
effective and sustainable competition in telecommunications;
set standards for the quality of telecommunications
services; promote the interests of consumers
and to encourage licensees to operate efficiently;
publish information, reports or other documents;
carry out investigations and hold enquiries;
and police anti-competitive practice or behaviour.
See
below for specific information on e-commerce
in Turks & Caicos, or go to Offshore-e-com.com
for an extensive analysis of the commercial
possibilities and the legal background.
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Turks and Caicos Offshore Activities
The natural bonding of the Internet and Offshore
stems from the fact that both, of their nature,
manage to avoid tax. Businesses which can
operate on the Internet without, so to speak,
touching ground in a high-tax jurisdiction
will naturally migrate to offshore jurisdictions;
while businesses that already have offshore
existence will find it highly convenient to
be able to use the Internet to trade with
their high-tax customers without having to
make a landing in their countries.
As
a major offshore jurisdiction with tens of
thousands of offshore enterprises already
installed, including many trading companies,
it is only a matter of time before the Turks
and Caicos Islands becomes a centre of e-commerce
activity. The islands' geographical location,
good telecommunications links, sophisticated
business infrastructure and the low-cost,
English-speaking, highly-educated work-force
are all factors which will attract the sales,
marketing and administrative departments of
retail operations, particularly those trading
into North and South America.
By
locating websites in Turks and Caicos to carry
out functions previously based in high-tax
jurisdictions such as sales and marketing,
treasury management, supply of financial services,
and most of all, the supply of digital goods
such as music, video, training, software etc,
businesses can take advantage of low rates
of taxation for increasingly substantial parts
of their operation.
In
many countries, the distribution of goods
from a warehousing facility does not constitute
the carrying on of a trade or business in
that jurisdiction, so that even for physical
goods, in many case it will be possible to
avoid a permanent establishment (taxable presence)
altogether in many high-tax jurisdictions
where trading activities currently take place.
For information about the impact of e-commerce
on a number of the main offshore activities
which take place on the island, click
on a link below to go to our specialist E-commerce
site Offshore-e-com.com
Sales and Distribution of Physical Products
Sales
and Distribution of Digital Products
Banking
and Financial Services (including Investment
Funds)
Corporate
Support Functions
To
see an analysis of the current state of legal
and tax issues surrounding offshore e-commerce,
click
here.
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Turks and Caicos Case Studies
This section will contain case studies of
e-commerce solutions applied to offshore business
activities carried out from the Turks and
Caicos Islands. The case studies will be developed
in association with 
partners. Contact us
to learn more.
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