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Lib­er­ty Caribbean CEO Inge Smidts de­liv­ered a force­ful mes­sage at CAN­TO Con­nect 2026 this week, that the Caribbean must move be­yond lay­ing ca­bles and build­ing tow­ers, and start us­ing its dig­i­tal in­fra­struc­ture to gen­er­ate jobs, ser­vices, and in­no­va­tion that can com­pete glob­al­ly.

“Con­nec­tiv­i­ty is now our foun­da­tion, so the ques­tion be­fore us is sim­ple and ur­gent: with that foun­da­tion in place, what are we go­ing to build?” she told del­e­gates.

Speak­ing un­der the theme El­e­vate the Caribbean – From Con­nec­tiv­i­ty to Glob­al Com­pet­i­tive­ness, Smidts set out a clear agen­da for trans­lat­ing ac­cess in­to im­pact.