A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 16 December to Sunday 22 December 2013.
Monday, 16 December 2013
ICTA wants feedback on local content
Cayman Islands – The Information and Communications Technology Authority (ICTA) has said it will ask for feedback in the new year to know what local television means to the community… more
An app that delivers your dream man
Jamaica – FROM paying your bills to picking out recipes, smartphones have made it easy to do everyday tasks with relative ease. One of the only things they seemed incapable of doing was to actually deliver you your dream man — until now… more
LIME & BigTime Partner Up
Trinidad and Tobago – BigTime, the global boutique firm of mobile marketing, announced today that it has launched in the Caribbean an interactive Mobile Marketing Campaign… more
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Telephone scam alert
Dominica – Local telecommunication company, Digicel, is warning of a scam which appears to be targeting it customers… more
After snapping up telecoms, Altice vows better, cheaper service
Dominican Republic – With Altice Group’s entry into the country’s telecom market snapping up Tricom and Orange, the sector’s competition is expected to increase with better Web, mobile, fixed telephone and cable TV service at lower prices… more
PUC approves overseas phone rates promotion
Guyana – The Public Utilities Commission has approved a promotion on outbound international calls to Canada and the USA (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) applicable to all GT&T and Digicel cell and landline customers… more
Retired telecoms workers demand higher pensions ; union willing to abandon retroactive payments
Guyana – Even as retired telecommunications workers continued to agitate for higher pensions, the Guyana Postal and Telecommunications Workers Union (GPTWU) said it was willing to forgo retroactive lump sums owed and settle for pensions far higher than the GUY$18,000 being currently paid… more
Columbus Achieves Highest Level of Certification for SIP Trunking for Microsoft Lync
Regional – Columbus International Inc. (Columbus), a diversified telecommunications provider in the Caribbean, Central America and Andean region, today announced that it has completed the high-encryption (TLS/SRTP) certification requirement for SIP Trunking for Microsoft Lync… more
Workshop on Science, Tech education kick-starts economic diversification in Caribbean
Regional – Last week at the third annual Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF) workshop, enthusiastic professionals from the Region and the Diaspora, met for two days at the Grand Coastal Hotel along with teachers and students from Guyana, to discuss practical ways to promote diversification in Caribbean economies… more
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
PM: Talks Concluded Over BTC Stake
Bahamas – PRIME MINISTER Perry Christie said yesterday the government has concluded negotiations with Cable and Wireless for the majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunication’s Company Ltd… more
Local TV content debate
Cayman Islands – The country’s oldest cable provider says the local content requirement of all licensees should be more than just carrying the government channel… more
New computer screens for school
Cayman Islands – A donation of 10 computer monitors got the thumbs up from students of Savannah Primary School… more
SG praises Grenada’s leadership in ICT
Grenada – Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque praised Grenada for leading by example in using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to create an enabling environment to pursue its social and economic development goals… more
Piracy website moves to Guyana domain
Guyana – The Pirate Bay has set sail to a new domain for the third time in a week. After just a few days Peru decided to suspend the site’s .PE domain forcing the torrent site to move to the Guyana-based .GY ccTLD… more
The Piratebay changes domain name from .pe to .gy
Guyana – The Piratebay changed domain names again, world’s most famous torrent site moved today from .pe (Peru) to .gy (Guyana)… more
Thursday, 19 December 2013
UK telecoms group eyes Bahamas
Bahamas – British conglomerate Virgin Group Ltd. has expressed interest in offering cellular service in The Bahamas, Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday… more
Digicel committed to investing in Barbados
Barbados – Digicel last week launched the new 4G Zone in Colonnade Mall in Bridgetown, this after a few weeks ago opening Digicel in Oistins… more
Tablets In Schools Gets Funding
Jamaica – THE PILOT phase of the Tablets in Schools project has been funded to the tune of nearly $1.5 billion from the Universal Service Fund… more
Building Caribbean Data Journalism
Regional – INTERNET USERS are bombarded daily with a vast world of digital content via news feeds, blogs, webcasts, live streams, image galleries, videoclips and sound bites… more
CIBC FirstCaribbean adopts UWI Computer Lab
Saint Kitts and Nevis – The UWI Open Campus Country Site, at Fortlands now has a fully re-furbished computer lab, thanks to CIBC FirstCaribbean… more
TelEm Group says interference problems with mobile network being addressed on several fronts.
Sint Maarten – TelEm Group has upgraded network services in the Harbour Facility area, greatly improving the quality of service to residential and business clients, including customers at the Harbour facility… more
Friday, 20 December 2013
Virgin, Digicel in running for Bahamas launch
Bahamas – The UK’s Virgin Group has expressed an interest in offering wireless services in the Bahamas once the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC’s) monopoly on the mobile market expires in April 2014… more
Not so NISE emails
Barbados – The email service of the company which manages the external database of the National Initiative for Service Excellence (NISE), has been compromised… more
Picture fuzzy on local TV requirements
Cayman Islands – Cayman’s television networks are at odds over their obligations to produce local content, with the island’s oldest broadcaster claiming its new rivals currently have an “unfair advantage.” … more
The Telecoms pensioners had service with both a public corporation to which the Pensions Act applied and a private company to which it did not
Guyana – Dear Editor, I write concerning the issue of the ‘Telecoms pensioners’. The superannuation benefits of former employees of Guyana Telecommunications Corporation (GTC) were governed by the prescriptions of the Pensions Act, Chapter 27:02, applicable to public servants… more
Focusing on developing countries is a winning formula says Digicel CEO
Regional – What if there is a way to make a profit while at the same time providing the world’s poorest with a useful service? There is… more
The University of the West Indies Selects Resolver to Support Governance, Risk and Compliance Program
Regional – Resolver is pleased to announce that The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has selected and implemented Resolver’s Governance, Risk and Compliance solution GRC Cloud to support its audit, enterprise risk management and other GRC functions… more
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Jamaica Library Service gets grant to boost ICT resources
Jamaica – The Jamaica Library Service (JLS) received a grant of US$2 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation based in Seattle, United States of America, which will, along with co-funding of US$1.1 million from the Jamaican Government, help the JLS to boost Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources in public libraries… more
Emailgate—hot topic for months
Trinidad and Tobago – Emailgate is arguably one of the biggest political scandals in the history of the country… more
Sunday, 22 December 2013
TSTT joins regional mobile campaign
Trinidad and Tobago – BigTime, the global boutique firm of mobile marketing, has launched an interactive mobile marketing campaign in the Caribbean… more
Image credits: NS Newsflash (flick); Wikipedia; Wikipedia
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