intergovernmental agency that regulates telecommunications for five eastern Caribbean countries will soon launch a broadband Internet service at competitive rates, an official said Tuesday. The service will be financed with a US$1 million (euro768,520) World Bank loan supplemented by contributions in Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said Eliud Williams, director of the St. Lucia-based Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority. Williams did not set a precise date for the launching but he said broadband Internet service would "soon" be made available to public schools, health centers and libraries. In 2001, the agency oversaw the privatization of telephone service in the region. In St. Lucia, AT&T and Cable & Wireless offer broadband service. Reprinted from biz.yahoo.com