A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 16 September to Sunday 22 September 2013.
Monday, 16 September 2013
BTC payouts questioned
Bahamas – Millions of dollars were paid to former Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) employees under questionable circumstances, according to businessman Franklyn Wilson, who heads the committee appointed to negotiate the government’s planned take back of a majority interest in the firm… more
LIME moves Caribsurf mail accounts
Barbados – LIME successfully migrated the message content of its Caribsurf customers over to the Google Apps mail service. Some customers experienced difficulties while the migration was still being completed but all issues should now be resolved… more
Digicel Business introduces new cloud solutions portfolio
Jamaica – As the region’s leading full service business solutions partner, Digicel Business is excited to announce its new Cloud Solutions portfolio, featuring the latest suite of cloud solutions to drive business advantage… more
CARCIP to hold meetings in St Lucia, St Vincent
Regional – The Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) is today starting a series of meetings to address Internet traffic routing inefficiencies in the eastern Caribbean… more
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Companies: New technology to boost Internet speeds
Cayman Islands – Consumers can soon expect faster Internet service thanks to new technology being introduced by service providers in Grand Cayman… more
Caribbean Stakeholders Discuss Tech Innovation, Internet Governance
Curaçao – Commercial space travel could come to Curacao as early as 2014. Curacao Airport Holding Managing Director Maurice Adriaens announced the projected launch date for the ambitious project, during his presentation at the Caribbean ICT Roadshow, which took place at the Curacao World Trade Centre from September 9 to 10… more
Montserrat to present on use of ICT in Disaster Management at UN ECLAC workshop
Montserrat – Montserrat is to present a case study on how Information Communication Technology (ICT) is being used on island in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) situations at the ICT for DRM workshop taking place in Trinidad & Tobago this week… more
KaribCable employees voted in favour of NWU
St. Lucia – Technicians and linesmen employed with Karib Cable participated in a secret ballot poll on Thursday, September 12, 2013. About eighty percent (80%) of the employees voted in favour of having their interest protected by the National Workers Union (NWU)… more
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Evans condemns reported questionable BTC payouts
Bahamas – The reported decision to pay millions of dollars to former employees at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) under questionable circumstances was an “utter disgrace,” President of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) Bernard Evans said yesterday… more
Haiti – Diaspora : Hadem is involved in the technological development of Haiti
Haiti – On Tuesday, the organization “Haiti of Today and Tomorrow” (Haiti Aujourd’hui et Demain) (Hadem), whose leaders areevolving in the Diaspora, announced in the premises of the Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad (MHAVE), a program of setting up computer labs in Haitian schools to the benefit of students and their communities… more
ICT vital to regional disaster response: experts
Regional – Representatives of five Caribbean countries are this week gathering in Port-of-Spain to discuss disaster risk management (DRM) strategies for the entire region… more
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Island Outsourcers Restructures Operations and Expands into Bahamas
Bahamas – Jamaican BPO firm Island Outsourcers has announced plans to split into two independent companies as part of a restructuring program aimed at accommodating new services in its portfolio… more
Internet cable repair begins tomorrow
Cayman Islands – Engineering work begins tomorrow to fix the main line providing internet service to the Cayman Islands. This comes after a major failure in July caused chaos for all local communications providers… more
Haiti – Technology : 105 km of Fiber Optics in the South
Haiti – Spain’s Grupo Ezentis strengthens its position in Haiti since it has been awarded with a new contract for the deployment of 105 km underground optical fiber in the South of the country, for a total amount of $3.9 million… more
USD62m collected from telcos for school fund, but still not allocated
Haiti – Haiti’s National Council of Telecommunications (Conatel) has reported that between 15 June 2011 to 2 September 2013 a total of USD62.358 million was collected for the National Fund for Education (FNE), from telecoms operators via the tax on incoming international calls (USD0.005 per call terminated)… more
Broadband continues to show great promise
Trinidad & Tobago – According to the International Telecommunications Union, the percent of the world population using the Internet grew by over three percent in the first quarter of 2013… more
Friday, 20 September 2013
Cable Bahamas secures $135 million financing for next stage of strategic growth
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas Ltd. announced today that it has successfully completed a USD $135 Million refinancing of its Senior Credit Facility… more
CWC Seeks ‘Particular’ Terms Over BTC Talks
Bahamas – PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday indicated that the Government would likely reject terms sought by Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) for it to give up majority equity ownership in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), adding that talks between the two sides were in the final stages… more
PM rejects BTC offer
Bahamas – Prime Minister Perry Christie revealed yesterday that he has formally rejected a proposal from Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) CEO Tony Rice outlining the conditions under which the company would return two percent of shares in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to the government… more
Changes on the air at Cayman 27
Cayman Islands – Changes are in the air – and on the air – at Cayman 27. On Sept. 22 viewers will notice a new look and feel… more
LIME: Cable ship to fix communications fault
Cayman Islands – A cable ship will begin a delicate repair job Friday, Sept. 20, to fix a fault along the Cayman Islands’ primary communications link, the Maya-1 cable… more
Bureau of Women’s Affairs to host ICT training for women
Jamaica – The Bureau of Women’s Affairs, in partnership with the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF), will host women to two days of key learnings in the virtual economy this weekend… more
LIME Shareholders Face Long Wait For Dividends
Jamaica – THE LAST time share-holders of Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) received any dividend payment was in 2008, and it seems as if they have a lot more waiting to do before they receive their next cheque… more
CXC and Flow sign MOU
Regional – Teachers and students in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean, will now be able to access all Caribbean Examination Council’s syllabi from the comfort of their classrooms or homes… more
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Better response time when conducting business at Intellectual Property Office
Barbados – Cabinet recently approved amendments to the Companies Act and the Evidence Act to allow for the Corporate Affairs, Intellectual Property Office to do more transactions electronically… more
LIME to lay off at least a dozen workers
British Virgin Islands – BVI News Online has confirmed that LIME BVI will soon make at least a dozen positions redundant as it turns over its technical operations to another company whose name is yet to be disclosed to the press… more
Digicel Jamaica hands out smartphones at Reggae Sumfest
Jamaica – Digicel Jamaica has launched a campaign for Reggae Sumfest patrons participating at the music festival in Catherine Hall… more
LIME claims 140,000 new mobile customers in 100 days
Jamaica – LIME says it added nearly 140,000 new prepaid mobile subscribers in Jamaica over the 100 days after launching its flat rate of $2.99 per minute for all prepaid calls to domestic and select international numbers, billed per second… more
Phone, Water Absence Hampers Business In Mile Gully
Jamaica – THE GROWTH of Mile Gully, Manchester, has been greatly hampered due to the lack of running water and telephone lines… more
Desist from cyber-bullying
Trinidad & Tobago – President Anthony Carmona has urged university students to desist from cyber-bullying by using social media on the internet to harass or degrade persons with whom they have a dispute, but to use information communication technology (ICT) a tool which will make their studies pleasant and productive… more
Cybercrime, marital rape bills pass committee toward full Senate
US Virgin Islands – The Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee breezed through the voting process on 11 bills Friday afternoon. Most of the bills were forwarded from the Public Safety, Homeland Security and Justice Committee and are intended to make the territory safer… more
Sunday, 22 September 2013
eMedia to invest $31.3 million in original content for Flow TV
Jamaica – EMEDIA Interactive projects will invest $31.3 million over the next eighteen months to distribute more than fifteen original programmes — a collection of series that will consist of eight to 13 episodes each — through Flow TV… more
Island Outsourcers expands to Grand Bahama
Jamaica – Island Outsourcers, along with sister brand itelBPO Solutions, will in November begin to manage The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism call centre operation in Freeport, Grand Bahama… more
Wireless broadband use up but Caribbean and least developed countries left behind
Regional – With nearly two out of every five people in the world online by the end of the year, more than two-thirds of those living in developing countries, including the Caribbean, will not have access to the Internet, says the United Nations in a global survey of broadband access… more
Former Industrial Court judge joins TSTT
Trinidad & Tobago – Harigobin Jhinkoo has been appointed executive vice president–human resources at TSTT. Prior to joining the telecommunications company, Jhinkoo served as a judge in the Industrial Court and comes to TSTT with more than 20 years of experience as an HR practitioner in the energy, skills development and financial services industries… more
Richardson: I have faith in the process
Trinidad & Tobago – “I have done all I can,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and lead investigator in the four-month-old Emailgate probe Mervyn Richardson said yesterday… more
Image credits: Salvatore Vuono (FreeDigitalPhotos.net); Haiti; Marketing Magazine; Wikipedia
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