A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 22 April to Sunday 28 April 2013.
Monday, 22 April 2012
LIME urges students to enter essay competition
Barbados – As a member of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations, LIME is encouraging students between the ages of 15 and 18 to participate in the regional association’s seventh annual World Telecommunication & Information Society Day essay competition… more
CWC launches Pay TV in the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands – LIME, the Caribbean division of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), has introduced pay TV competition to the Cayman Islands with the launch of its ‘LIME TV’ service… more
BUSINESS BYTE: LIME keeps customers moving smarter with BlackBerry Z10
Dominica – LIME on Friday launched the new BlackBerry® Z10 smartphone powered by BlackBerry® 10, and announced that three lucky customers from across the region will be jetting off to see Alicia Keys’ SET THE WORLD ON FIRE concert in Prague, Czech Republic… more
Jamaica Plans to Increase ICT Use in Education Sector
Jamaica – Jamaica’s government says it plans to increase the use of information and communication technology in its education sector… more
LIME Launches Blackberry Z10
Jamaica – Politicians, BlackBerry enthusiasts, technophiles and other corporate officials, gathered at the promenade of the Oxford Towers in New Kingston to celebrate with LIME, the Caribbean’s largest telecommunications giant, in the launching of the BlackBerry Z10… more
UTS/Chippie Launches BBZ10 in Festival Village — More Cell Sites Being Installed For Better Data Service — Juan Pedro.
St. Maarten – The United Telecommunication Services (UTS) is launching its BBZ10 at 12:01am Tuesday morning at Festival Village since St. Maarten can only begin selling the new mobile devices on April 23rd, 2013… more
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Gov’t plan in the works for open data info system
Antigua & Barbuda – Information and statistics on hospitals, schools, crime, the economy, agriculture, and just about every sector of government could soon be available to the public in a user-friendly package… more
Stiff competition will force incumbents to improve services
Barbados – With the entry of Columbus, the privately held, Barbados-based international business corporation seeking to provide digital cable television, broadband Internet and digital landline telephony in Barbados under the brand name FLOW, incumbents in the local telecommunications market will have to raise their game… more
Hackers attack Police Twitter account
Dominican Republic – The Twitter account of Dominican Republic’s National Police was hacked Tuesday morning, forcing authorities to pull it off the Web for several minutes… more
TELEM Launches BBZ10 at Festival Village — Persons who bought BBZ10 Outside of St. Maarten lost Investment — Promotions Begin on Tuesday.
St. Maarten – Prior to the official launching of BBZ10 on St. Maarten which began one minute after midnight on Monday, officials of TELEM group of companies told reporters that the latest BlackBerry device comes with all the added applications… more
ECFS Consortium Selected Xtera for Upgrading its Caribbean Festoon Subsea Cable System
Regional – Eastern Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) Consortium has selected Xtera Communications Inc. (Xtera), a leading global provider of optical networking solutions, for the upgrade of its festoon subsea cable system… more
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
BTC Calls for a More Consumer Driven Market Place
Bahamas – Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) is calling for more flexible pricing opportunities in the mobile phone sector to ensure the development of a consumer driven marketplace to benefit consumers now and to prepare for the sectors impending liberalization… more
Digicel does it best
Barbados – Compare and buy the best. That’s the advice of Digicel to customers caught on the new BlackBerry Z10 craze, for the device that was only released by them to local markets yesterday… more
Special delivery from LIME
Barbados – The arrival of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone caused quite a stir in and around Bridgetown this week, as LIME, Barbados’ leading telecommunications company, personally delivered the cutting-edge handsets to all of its pre-registered clients… more
BlackBerry 10 launches in Cayman
Cayman Islands – On Tuesday, the BlackBerry 10 platform officially debuted in the Cayman Islands… more
Digicel unveils new BlackBerry smartphone
Guyana – Digicel Guyana on Monday announced the launching of the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and from today will be selling the cutting-edge mobile device… more
GT&T launches BlackBerry Z10
Guyana – The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) announced yesterday that customers who purchase the new device from Research In Motion Limited (RIM), the BlackBerry Z10, will also receive one year free data service… more
Gov’t pushing for increased ICT use in schools
Jamaica – The Government is to increase the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the education sector during this fiscal year as part of efforts to bridge the digital divide and enhance knowledge… more
Jamaica dips in new IT rankings
Jamaica – Jamaica dipped 11 spots to rank 85th in the new Global Information Technology Report (GITR) published this month, due to low e-commerce, venture capital funding and Internet penetration, the report indicated… more
LIME gets advanced Cisco certification
Jamaica – Telecommunication firm LIME announced yesterday that it has achieved advanced certification from Cisco, a leader in the design and manufacture of networking equipment, for the use of the multinational’s technological solutions… more
Students to get tablet computers
Jamaica –The government is to spend $850 million to provide students and teachers from 30 schools with tablet computers… more
CTEX Engages With Senior Policy Makers On How To Leverage Technology To Improve The Caribbean’s Competitive Positioning
Regional– Curaçao Technology Exchange (CTEX), today engaged with senior business leaders and policy makers in charting a new economic development path forward for various Caribbean island nations by leveraging technology as a way to create new value in a global digitized world… more
Lee-Chin To Acquire Bigger Stake In Flow Parent Company
Regional – Portland Investment Counsel (PIC), an outfit chaired by investor Michael Lee-Chin, plans to acquire additional shareholding in Columbus Communications… more
Shareholder offering a stake in Flow
Regional – John Risley is selling a minority stake in Columbus International — the owner of Flow — through a private placement… more
Digicel will be officially rolling out its 4G experience on Thursday
St. Kitts & Nevis – The bigger, better network Digicel will be launching its 4G plan in St. Kitts and Nevis on Thursday… more
EEICTP Launches The ‘Inside Village Website’ Competition
St. Lucia – Saint Lucians from all walks of life are being urged to embrace the power of ICT through the ‘I Can’ Technology, the official campaign slogan for the 4.3 million Euro Education Enhancement through Information and Communication Technology Programme (EEICTP)… more
Samsung launches S4 in T&T
Trinidad & Tobago – With claims that it now has the lead in the local retail market for mobile handsets, technology-giant Samsung might be considering slashing consumer prices in T&T to boost sales and carve out an even larger share of the market… more
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Public Forum On Open Data Opportunities Held In Antigua
Antigua & Barbuda – On Tuesday 23rd April the Ministry of Telecommunications, Science and Technology held a public forum on Open Data – Opportunities in Antigua & Barbuda and the Caribbean, at the City View Hotel… more
BTC Urges More Flexible Cellular Pricing Process
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday called for more flexible cellular pricing opportunities, as part of its preparations for the sector’s impending liberalisation in 2014… more
Columbus providing free Internet, educational TV to Barbados schools
Barbados – Schools in Barbados will enjoy a boost to their efforts to integrate technology into the teaching and learning process… more
ICT Growth Requires Aligning Action To Vision
Barbados – A liberalized telecommunications market is on the rise in Barbados and throughout the Caribbean and this shift will help illustrate that while the region may be small, it can be powerful… more
At last, a book on cyber law in Jamaica!
Jamaica – Jamaica now has a concise legal source of material to provide guidance on cyber law, thanks to the work of copyright lawyer, Nicole Foga of the Kingston-based firm, Foga Daley… more
Digital Jam 2.0 creates 4,000 online jobs for young Jamaicans
Jamaica – The World Bank says a ground-breaking initiative has created thousands of jobs for young Jamaicans in the virtual global economy… more
Growing Caribbean digital media
Regional – The demands of today’s technology-driven world present a challenge to the Caribbean to invest in relevant development of its human resources… more
Information technology can boost Caribbean economies – study
Regional – Caribbean countries have been told that purchasing goods and services in the information technology (IT) sector by government offices provides untapped potential for stimulating domestic economic progress… more
On ‘Girls in ICT Day,’ UN encourages jobs in information and communications technology
Regional – In a world where more than 95 per cent of jobs have a digital component, more girls need to get involved in science, technology, engineering and math, the head of the United Nations telecommunications agency urged today, marking “Girls in ICT Day.”… more
Panama Hosts OAS Cyber Crisis Simulation
Regional – The Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS), in collaboration with the Authority for Government Innovation (AIG) of Panama, today concluded a Cyber Security Crisis Management Exercise in Panama City… more
Digicel Launches 4G Network in SKN
St. Kitts & Nevis – Digicel the bigger,better network launched its 4G network on Freedom Fm early Thursday as a prelude to an exciting all day launch of 4G in St.Kitts & Nevis… more
Minister Phillip attends CTU’s 11th Ministerial Strategic ICT
St. Kitts & Nevis – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, the Honourable Glenn Phillip is in Barbados with senior policy makers and leaders from across the Caribbean to discuss the region’s approaches to ICT enabled development… more
Digicel launching S4 handset tomorrow
Trinidad & Tobago – Always one step ahead and offering the best value, Digicel is now offering its customers the new dynamic Samsung Galaxy S4 handset… more
Friday, 26 April 2013
Mobile gaming starts Monday
Bahamas – A major gaming company out of Las Vegas has reached an agreement with Atlantis to provide mobile gambling throughout the resort campus by as early as next week… more
Secure Hosting Opens Second Bahamas Data Centre For Offshore Hosting On Secure Dedicated Servers
Bahamas – Secure Hosting, a data hosting company that provides secure dedicated servers for offshore hosting has opened a second data centre in the region to serve a growing need for clients around the world… more
Web shop layoffs loom
Bahamas – Layoffs are looming at web shops as business has slowed to a trickle in the months since the failed January 28 gambling referendum, The Nassau Guardian understands… more
Hon. Vanterpool Encourages Women And Girls To Bridge Digital Gap
British Virgin Islands – Minister for Communications and Works Honourable Mark Vanterpool is encouraging women and girls to bridge the digital divide as the Territory celebrates International Girls in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Day… more
Paulwell Gives Tablets To Parliamentarians
Jamaica – Phillip Paulwell may not have been able to announce lower electricity rates just yet, but he succeeded in illuminating Wednesday’s sitting of Parliament when he presented tablet computers to parliamentarians, and spoke of 20,000 tablet computers to be delivered to 30 public schools – from basic to high schools… more
Students, teachers at 30 schools to get free tablets
Jamaica – Thousands of tablet computers are to be distributed to students and teachers from 30 institutions across the island, under a pilot programme starting in September… more
Tablets Should Reduce School Expenses – Thwaites
Jamaica – Plans by the Government to equip thousands of schoolchildren across the island with tablet computers is expected to significantly reduce the amount of money parents are usually asked to fork out at the beginning of the school term to purchase textbooks, Education Minister Ronald Thwaites has said… more
Samsung wants No 1 spot in region too
Regional – Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, Samsung, the global leader in smartphone sales, has turned its eye on the Caribbean market… more
Saturday, 27 April 2013
Moving on from the BTC issue
Bahamas – The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) said in its manifesto that it would seek to return the majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to the Bahamian people. The party, however, did not give a detailed and plausible plan to achieve that aim… more
Flow supports CTU, Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation
Barbados – The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF) received a significant grant from Columbus Barbados, new telecommunications entrant into Barbados at the launch of Flow World, the company’s launch event in Barbados, on Monday, April 15th… more
The beauty of Internet banking
Barbados – Now don’t be alarmed. When I talk about the ‘heart attack’ I received yesterday afternoon, I’m speaking of the metaphorical ‘heart attack’ and I am in no way referring to a medical condition that was life-threatening in any way… more
ICT to form major platform for growth in Grenada
Grenada – Information Minister Winston Garraway said information and communication technologies (ICT) will form a major platform for growth and development in Grenada… more
Teachers Have A Vital Role In Tablet Programme
Jamaica – Chair of e-Learning Jamaica, Yvonne McCalla-Sobers, believes teachers have a crucial role to play in the Government’s upcoming Schools Tablet Computer Programme… more
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Digital dilemma
Barbados – While the technological area has ensured that persons are now more readily able to access information themselves as well as transmit this information to one another, it also means that protecting the rights of the creators of these works has become even more difficult… more
Going digital makes sharing information easy
Barbados – It is so simple to copy and transmit information that is in digital format… more
The Next Big Job Creator
Jamaica – This past week, I attended an investment conference in the United States on business process outsourcing (BPO) in the Americas… more
Image credits: Gary Thomson (flickr); The Eleutheran; Tech Needs Girls campaign; Flow Curacao
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