A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 14 July to Sunday 20 July 2014.
Monday, 14 July 2014
BTC Deal Closing Eyed For July 21
Bahamas – The Government and Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) are now aiming to conclude their ‘2 per cent’ deal over the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) on July 21, Tribune Business has been told… more
Inova Solutions Is Microsoft Partner Of The Year
Curacao – Inova Solutions NV has won the 2014 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award for Curacao… more
Caribbean telecoms shut down VoIP services, leaving expatriates in the lurch
Regional – At least once a day, Roxane Ledan chatted with her daughter at college in Canada using free call- and video-conferencing applications on her cellphone. Three weeks ago, the connection went dead… more
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
Williams Unveils BTC Management Shake-Up
Bahamas – Leon Williams has begun “the repairs to flight BTC” with an extensive management restructuring, with well-placed insiders yesterday suggesting turbulence lies ahead at the privatised communications carrier… more
Is Viber Problem Or Victim?
Regional – Are voice-over Internet-protocol (VoIP) providers (like Viber) the real issue or are they completely innocent bystanders being singled out to take the blame for someone else’s mistakes?.. more
Flow to offer 100Mbps broadband from next month
Saint Lucia – Columbus Communications, which acquired Saint Lucian cable company Karib Cable in March 2013, plans to launch faster high speed internet services on the island next month… more
Tech community disagrees with Digicel’s ban on VoIP apps
Trinidad and Tobago – The T&T Computer Society (TTCS), the Internet Society T&T Chapter (ISOC-TT) and the IEEE T&T Section (IEEE-TT) disagree with the move by Digicel to ban Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications from its network… more
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Concerns raised about Internet service
British Virgin Islands – Poor Internet and cell phone service are simply part of a wider culture of poor customer service and low expectations in the Virgin Islands. This must change if these islands are to truly compete internationally and meet global service benchmarks… more
Internet speeds draw more complaints
British Virgin Islands – As many Internet users continue to complain about the ongoing slow speed of service, DSL provider LIME said this week that upgrades to fibre optic cable are ongoing and should bring vast improvements soon… more
The Conatel call to order the Digicel
Haiti – Following the blocking since June 17, 2014, on the 4G network of the company Digicel, of all VoIP applications (among others : Viber, Skype, Tango, Nimbuzz, MagicJack), which operate on devices using a SIM card… more
Digicel reverses block of VoIP apps in Haiti
Haiti – With questions of corruption and internet censorship a crescendo about the shadowy practices of Digicel and the government of its largest market, Haiti, it was announced Wednesday that by midnight, Digicel will unblock all VoIP applications, banned a month ago by the communications provider… more
Lottery scammer caught in the act, arrested
Jamaica – Police on Monday arrested and charged a 28-year-old bar operator of Whitehouse Gardens, Westmoreland as he allegedly attempted to coerce an overseas victim to send money in a lottery scam… more
tTech expands, seeks wider customer base
Jamaica – MANAGED IT services provider, tTech Limited, increased its staff by a third and moved to a bigger office, as part of its push to expand its customer base beyond the GraceKennedy Group… more
Partnership Between Telecommunications Services Of Trinidad And Tobago, Limited (TSTT) And Curacao Technology Exchange, N.V. (CTEX) To Deliver High-End Datacenter And Cloud Services
Regional – Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT), and Curaçao Technology Exchange N.V. (CTEX) today announced that they have reached a partnership agreement to deliver high-end communications, datacenter Colocation, Cloud, managed services and disaster recovery services to customers in Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and other countries in the region… more
Social media platform designed exclusively for businesses
Regional – JAMAICAN businesses are being urged to join the region’s first social media platform, designed to help Latin American and Caribbean business expand into global markets — ConnectAmericas… more
Why the Caribbean Should Care About Net Neutrality
Regional – For those who figure that the issue of net neutrality doesn’t affect them, Trinidad-based blogger Activized connects the dots… more
blink | bmobile Donates 100 Samsung Galaxy Tablets to TechnoKids Camp
Trinidad and Tobago – “bmobile, bmobile, bmobile…” That was the chant of the 300 plus children who gathered for the opening day of the TechnoKids Camp 2014, hosted by the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training (MTEST), at the NESC campus, Point Lisas on Saturday… more
TSTT restoring services to affected mobile customers
Trinidad and Tobago – Earlier today (July 16th) TSTT discovered a software issue that affected the ability of some prepaid, postpaid and blackberry customers to use data services… more
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Digicel More launched
Barbados – MOBILE PHONE ADVERTISING is the next big thing and will “revolutionise” the way Barbadian businesses reach their customers… more
Positive outcomes being seen with ITS For Teens Programme
Barbados – The Community Development Department’s Information Technology Summer Teens Programme, referred to as “ITS For Teens”, is proving to be extremely beneficial in several ways for participating adolescents, many of whom face various psychosocial and economic challenges… more
Some 5% of Wind Telecom’s subs have triple play packages
Dominican Republic – Some 5 percent of Dominican Republic telecoms operator Wind Telecom’s subscribers have triple play packages including voice, internet and pay-TV services Telesemana reports, citing the company’s executive Vice President Damian Baez… more
Laptops shared at Trafalgar Union group
Guyana – Staff of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Secretariat yesterday visited the Trafalgar Union Women’s Training Group and Bath Primary School in Region Five and distributed approximately 600 laptops to villagers in those communities… more
INDECOM may get phone records
Jamaica – THE Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) seems close to getting access to data from telephone calls made by members of the security forces accused of breaching the rights of civilians from local telecommunications providers… more
INDECOM Wants Access To Telephone Data To Assist Probes
Jamaica – Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding has thrown his support behind a recommendation by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) that the investigative and prosecutorial body be given the right to access telecommunications data that would assist in its probes… more
Enhanced Skills needed for expanded ICT use in Disaster Risk Management
Regional – Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to significantly improve the management of disaster risk in the Caribbean… more
Time To Revisit Caribbean Telecom Regulations
Regional – The move by two major Caribbean mobile providers to block access to popular Internet-based telephony services continues to capture regional attention… more
St Vincent PM not pleased with new cable provider
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said he is not pleased with the situation where it appears that cable television company Flow did not give enough consideration to the needs of the people… more
Student among winners of Caribbean-wide tech competition
Trinidad and Tobago – An 18-year-old Trinidadian was awarded second place in the recently concluded 2014 World Telecommunications Information and Society Day (WTISD) video competition… more
Rebate of Credits to Affected Mobile Customers
Trinidad and Tobago – TSTT wishes to advise prepaid, postpaid and BlackBerry customers whose account balances were affected due to a software issue yesterday, that the Company has successfully corrected these balances for approximately 50% of affected customers thus far… more
TSTT: Disaster ready
Trinidad and Tobago – MURPHY’s Law states, “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. While albeit solid advice, Murphy fails to mention that the impact of potentially disastrous events can be alleviated by coupling anticipation with preparation. Strategists in the business arena refer to this as Disaster Management or more recently, Business Continuity Planning… more
Friday, 18 July 2014
Carrier’s $40m Spend Waits On Gov’t Approval
Bahamas – A Bahamas-based communications provider will invest at least 80 per cent of its planned $50 million capital expenditure programme in this nation, once the Government approves its majority acquisition by an international player… more
Two months after spy claims emerged, U.S. silent
Bahamas – Two months after allegations surfaced that the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States was recording and archiving every cell phone call in The Bahamas, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell said yesterday the government is still awaiting a formal response from the Americans… more
Online Poll: Cable television most popular
Cayman Islands – Television reception through a cable provider is most common in the Cayman Islands. Slightly more than half of the respondents to last week’s Cayman Compass online poll who reported having television said they got service through that method… more
Digicel Enters Cable Television Market With Telstar Acquisition
Jamaica – Digicel Group has reached an agreement with Telstar Cable Limited to acquire its cable and fibre network in Jamaica, but the deal still requires regulatory approval… more
Digicel to buy Telstar cable-TV company
Jamaica – Telecommunications giant Digicel today announced that it has reached an agreement with Telstar Cable Limited to acquire its cable network in Jamaica… more
Local IT firm offers open-source application system to SMSEs
Jamaica – Local IT consulting firm, Ingenuity Technology is offering open-source application systems that could see small businesses saving some $500,000 in start-up cost… more
OUR probe continues into plans to block VoIP services
Jamaica – The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has asked Digicel and LIME for more information as it continues its probe into the recent decision of the two companies to block VOIP services on their networks… more
Denis O’Brien ‘is on the wrong side of history’, says Viber chief
Regional – Digicel is embroiled in a cross-Caribbean scrap with a phalanx of angry VoIP (internet telephony) providers, upon which Denis O’Brien’s company wants to levy fees for providing voice call services using its data network… more
TelEm Group restores services to Pelican Key, customers with self-block feature still affected.
Sint Maarten – TelEm Group has restored all voice and internet services to customers in Pelican Key area after carrying out emergency repairs to a damaged underground cable nearby… more
TelEm Group technicians tackling network issues.
Sint Maarten – TelEm Group technicians are busy tackling network issues that have been affecting residential and business customers during the past two days… more
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Unplugged and efficient
Barbados – I’ve recently gotten back into watching stand-up comedy… more
Five arrested in St Elizabeth for lottery scamming
Jamaica – The police on Wednesday, July 16 arrested five people they say are affiliated to the ‘Up and Live’ gang that operates out of Crooks Bottom, Elderslie, St Elizabeth… more
Jamaican Youth to Benefit from Digital Employment Opportunities
Jamaica – About 15,000 young Jamaicans will benefit from training, digital work opportunities and seed investments to boost the digital and animation industries in the country as a result of a US$ 20 million loan for a Youth Employment in Digital & Animation Industries Project approved by the World Bank Board of Directors… more
Origin of video still being sought
Trinidad and Tobago – Investigations are continuing into the origin of a video which was shared on various social media sites on Thursday, in which a woman was shown using a shovel to beat a boy about his body… more
Sunday, 20 July 2014
Columbus joins business telephone race
Jamaica – Columbus Business Solutions (CBS) is set to challenge the dominance of LIME in the business telephone market with its hosted PBX solution… more
Digicel Fibre Roll-Out On Track
Jamaica – After three months on the job, Digicel is on track to complete phase one of the roll out of its subterranean network in Kingston and Montego Bay by the end of this month… more
E-mail probers go to Central Authority
Trinidad and Tobago – The Central Authority has been approached by investigators probing a series of 31 “e-mails”, which were revealed in Parliament by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley in May 2013… more
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