A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 3 August to Sunday 9 August 2015.
Monday, 3 August 2015
Laptops for “friends” and “cronies”- PPP
Guyana – The opposition Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), despite having no tangible, substantiating evidence, says it suspects the current administration plans to allocate laptops under the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) Project to “friends” and “cronies.” … more
Blogger Judith Roumou contesting the conditions of her release — Hearing set for Monday August 10th 2015 — Criminal Investigation continuing — Press Prosecutor Karola Van Nie
Sint Maarten – Blogger Judith Roumou has filed a request with the Court of First Instance to ask the court to make changes on the conditions of her release from pre-trial detention… more
Digicel Sportsmax Inks 5-Season La Liga Deal
Regional – The world’s top footballers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, now have a new home as Digicel SportsMax has announced a new multi-year broadcast rights deal that will deliver live and exclusively the entire Spanish premier league season, La Liga BBVA, on Digicel SportsMax and Digicel SportsMax2 to more than 25 Caribbean territories for three seasons through to 2020… more
A quick guide to online posting
Trinidad and Tobago – We now live in an instant society where every detail of our lives is shared and posted to ‘friends’ and followers. But what are the legal ramifications for posting on social media? Here are some quick guidelines… more
The Virgin Islands Next Generation Network & Seaborne Airlines Enter Into a Public-Private Partnership in USVI
United States Virgin Islands – The Virgin Islands Next Generation Network (viNGN) is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new partnership with Seaborne Airlines. Free Wi-Fi service is now available to all Seaborne Seaplane passengers traveling between St. Croix and St. Thomas… more
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
ICTA decides against Local Loop Unbundling
Cayman Islands – Cayman’s telecoms regulator, the Information and Communications Technology Authority (ICTA), has denied Digicel’s request for access to LIME’s fibre and copper network… more
LIME: SUMMERTIME4LIME
Cayman Islands – LIME kicked off their 2015 summer promotion on July 3 with a free data weekend for prepaid customers, along with a $29 smartphone deal. Talk about starting the summer with a bang! … more
How could the liberalisation of the Internet transform Cuba?
Cuba – Cuba’s government’s primary focus is not on the process of normalising its relationship with the United States, but on the far more fundamental domestic reforms that are gradually changing the country’s political and economic model in ways that are intended to better deliver its objectives… more
GT&T completes first phase of Enhanced BroadbandProject ahead of schedule – new Internet speeds of up to 5x for the same price
Guyana – GT&T has completed the rollout of its Enhanced Broadband project at least five months ahead of the original schedule,with the delivery of the fastest and most affordable broadband Internetservices to all customers who qualified to receive the service… more
Jamaica now has electronic procurement platform
Jamaica – The Ministry of Finance has launched Jamaica’s first electronic procurement platform, aimed at significantly improving efficiency and transparency in the acquisition of goods and services… more
CWC PLC Announces Pricing of its offering of US$750 Million Senior Notes
Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (“CWC”) today announces that it has priced the offering of US$750 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes due 2022 (the “Notes”) to be issued by its finance subsidiary, Sable International Finance Limited… more
ECTEL Wants To Increase Broadband Flow
Regional – Managing Director of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), Mr. Embert Charles has emphasized the need for a constructive engagement of telecommunications service providers, customers, regulators and policy makers to address the factors, which hinder the slow uptake of broadband in the region… more
Flow Football App for Barclays Premier League Caribbean Fans
Regional – t’s another big win for Barclays Premier League (BPL) Caribbean fans, as Cable & Wireless Communications (C&W) unveils an exciting new Flow Football App that customers can download on their mobile devices to access the BPL matches and features… more
Flow TV Airs Audi Cup 2015, August 4 and 5
Regional – Flow TV kicks off an exciting summer of football with exclusive coverage of the prestigious Audi Cup 2015 on August 4 and 5, two days of live, back to back, riveting football featuring the world’s best clubs… more
A digital security advisory
Trinidad and Tobago – On Wednesday last week, three trainers from Internews offered local journalists an insight into digital security principles at a seminar organised by the Media Association of T&T… more
Mobile 4G LTE Launched in Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands – The largest telecommunications full-service provider in Turks and Caicos today announced its launch of the fastest and most advanced 4G network in the islands… more
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Digicell Under Fire for Offensive Online Ads
Belize – Belize Telemedia Limited, a government-owned company, is under fire tonight, for a series of offensive ads that have been posted on social media… more
Telecoms law for another review
Guyana – Cabinet has approved a US$15,000 (some G$3 million) contract for two consultants to examine existing telecommunications legislation and make recommendations toward the preparation of a new Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill as government looks to reform the sector… more
BPO explosion
Jamaica – JAMAICA is now among the most sought-after destinations for major clients of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services with the local sector expecting to increase to 20,000 the number of jobs available by year end, according to Yoni Epstein, chief executive officer of ItelBPO in Montego Bay, St James… more
Flow Brings All-Woman Talk Show To Jamaica
Jamaica – Flow is once again set to break new ground with the launch of the first ever, all woman talk show on Jamaican cable… more
Flowing on up, White and Abrahams get new roles
Jamaica – WITH the recent takeover of Flow by LIME, there have been several job changes happening at the telecoms company… more
Radio Jamaica and The Gleaner to combine media operations
Jamaica – The boards of Radio Jamaica Limited, (RJR) and The Gleaner Company Limited, (Gleaner) today announced that their directors have signed an agreement which will see the combination of their respective media businesses… more
Minister of Telecommunications Connor attends 31st CANTO 2015 about Improving Lives through Broadband Innovation.
Sint Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, and Transport & Telecommunications Hon. Claret Connor, recently attended the 31st Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition (CANTO 2015) of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication (CANTO) in Miami, Florida… more
TelEm receives permit for emergency works on public roads and sidewalks
Sint Maarten – Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), has granted TelEm a permit to carry out emergency works on public roads and sidewalks under number 37/15… more
TSTT, Digicel deny giving out personal data to political parties…
Trinidad and Tobago – STEVE was at home with his son when he got an unexpected call on his cellphone from an unknown number… more
Thursday, 6 August 2015
Cable Bahamas expands Cash N’ Go partnership in Abaco
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas has relocated its operation in Abaco from the Dove Plaza on Don Mackey Boulevard to the BAF Financial & Insurance building as part of its extended partnership with Cash N’ Go… more
No merger
Barbados – Less than a month after telecommunications companies Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) and Columbus International Inc. announced their official rebranding to FLOW, signaling their merger, a consumer rights advocate is questioning the legality of the merger, saying some conditions are still to be met… more
Learning to build computers in Belize
Belize – There are hundreds of thousands of smart phones being used in Belize today, a country of just over 330,000 people… more
Digicel denied access to LIME network
Cayman Islands – Telecom regulators have rejected Digicel’s bid to access LIME’s copper and fiber networks so that the mobile phone company could offer home Internet service… more
Digicel opens new store
Cayman Islands – Digicel has opened an outlet in the new building at 72 North Church Street in George Town. Digicel is the anchor tenant of the contemporary building, which opened earlier this year… more
ICTA denies Digicel access to LIME’s network
Cayman Islands – The Information and Communications Technology Authority (ICTA) has recently settled a four-year dispute between Digicel and LIME regarding Digicel’s request for access to LIME’s fibre and copper network… more
Tertiary level teaching in the digital age
Cayman Islands – The digital age is characterised by knowledge explosion and accessibility. At no other time in the history of mankind have students had so much information – now at the click of their buttons… more
BUSINESS BYTE: LIME is giving away BIG MONEY Every Day!
Dominica – Who wouldn’t welcome the chance to win $250 or more every day, especially if it could help to make day-to-day living a little easier? … more
Digicel Haiti selects Astellia for 3G network optimization
Haiti – Astellia is extending its monitoring of Digicel Haiti’s 2G network to its 3G network to support the growth of mobile broadband… more
Google celebrates with Jamaica on Independence Day
Jamaica – Google, the American multinational technology company that specialises in Internet-related services and products, on Thursday joined Jamaica in its Independence Day celebration… more
JAMAICA – Media giants merge
Jamaica – The boards of directors of the 180-year-old Gleaner Company and 65-year-old Radio Jamaica have agreed to a merger of their media businesses… more
The BCJ Says Takes Note Of Gleaner, RJR Deal
Jamaica – The Broadcasting Com-mission of Jamaica (BCJ) has noted the announcement of a plan for the merger of the media assets of Radio Jamaica Limited and the Gleaner Company Limited. Both entities or their subsidiaries operate electronic media outlets… more
Cable & Wireless Communications Certified as Master Cisco Powered Cloud and Managed Services Provider
Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications announced today that it has achieved the Cisco(R) Master Service Provider designation with the introduction of Cisco Powered(TM) MPLS VPN and Cisco Powered Metro Ethernet… more
Digicel filing shows profits of $708m on $2.8bn revenues
Regional – Digicel made an operating profit of $707.8m (€646.3m) on revenue of $2.8bn in the 12 months to the end of March, according to an updated filing made to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)… more
Governments Back Low Cost Or Free Internet Phone Calls
Regional – Telecoms ministers across the region have given strong signals that they won’t be persuaded by telecoms providers to ban Skype and similar services… more
‘21st century campaign strategy’
Trinidad and Tobago – THE phone calls and e-mails sent to citizens on behalf of the United National Congress (UNC) is simply a 21st century campaign strategy and nothing illegal was done to access contact information, UNC campaign manager Rodney Charles has said… more
Major milestone for outsourcing firm
Trinidad and Tobago – The first local company to solely offer outsourcing services in T&T, Aegis Business Solutions Limited, recently celebrated its 14th anniversary… more
The digital revolution changing the face of finance?
Trinidad and Tobago – THE digital revolution is having an impact on all aspects of our life — including how organisations hire new staff, particularly in the finance sector. Technology is bringing scalability to the recruitment process… more
TSTT: Submarine cable damaged by Kick’em Jenny repaired
Trinidad and Tobago – WHILE the Kick em’ Jenny (KeJ) submarine volcano eruption on July 24 caused panic but no physical harm in Grenada, it did damage the submarine fibre optic cables located on the sea floor between St Vincent and Grenada… more
Friday, 7 August 2015
BTL apologizes for offensive ads
Belize – Belize Telemedia Limited this week, apologized for a line of advertisements which have raised the public’s ire as being offensive to women… more
B.T.L. Explains Away Social Media Marketing Blunder
Belize – Earlier this week on Tuesday, Belize Telemedia came under attack for a series of suggestive and offensive ads that it had posted on its Facebook… more
Digicell Advertising Campaign
Belize – I write to you on the mentioned subject in several capacities – as a former Chairman of Belize Telecommunications Limited, a Senator, a Belizean, and a woman. As a taxpayer, I would also add the capacity of shareholder… more
Curaçao 1st Caribbean Destination Attending Hotel Data Conference
Curaçao – From Tuesday August 4th to Thursday August 6th CHATA attended the United States’ largest Data Conference, the Hotel Data Conference, hosted by Smith Travel Research (STR) and Hotel News NOW in Nashville, Tennessee. Data collection on Industry performance is one of CHATA’s focal points, therefore this DATA Conference adequately fits CHATA… more
Lottery scamming down in St James, up in other parishes
Jamaica – Lottery scamming is on the decline in St James… more
Tourism, BPO sectors survive negative image cast by lotto scamming
Jamaica – ONE of Jamaica’s leading hoteliers, Josef Forstmayr, has said that lotto scamming, which has painted the island in a negative light on the international stage, hasn’t affected the tourism product in Montego Bay, St James… more
CTR #33: VoIP And OTT Debate Rumbles On
Regional – Weeks after the CCJ Ruling against Guyana Telecoms for unfairly terminating a constomer’s internet service, because he used Vonage. The topic of Over-the-Top (OTT) Services was a ministerial discussion point at the recently concluded 31st Annual Conference of Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Operators – CANTO, in Miami… more
Follow-up Caribbean Labour Market Information System (CLMIS) Training Course for the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to take place
Regional – The OECS Commission with support from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) will convene a follow-up training course targeted at the Caribbean Labour Market Information System (CLMIS) Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) (i.e. representatives from the Central Statistics Offices, Departments of Labour and National Insurance agencies), from 10th – 14th August 2015 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines… more
Free Software
Regional – OUR enslaved ancestors must have been relieved to have finally achieved their freedom… more
Lime Customers Receive Over $4000 In Prizes Every Week
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – LIME customers continue to be rewarded every week as their summer promotion builds momentum. Free Samsung Galaxy S6, free school bags and free CK Greaves grocery coupons are some of the items collected every week… more
Saturday, 8 August 2015
The Bahamas Weekly apologizes for server glitch
Bahamas – Between July 6th and 7th, The Bahamas Weekly News Team issued an alert from one of our new servers to our subscribers… more
Web shop bosses want bank license
Bahamas – FML Group of Companies CEO Craig Flowers said yesterday that he wants to open a bank… more
Volcano’s activity responsible for FLOW issues
Barbados – Telecommunications company FLOW has blamed its recent technical issues on the seismic activity related to the Kick ’em Jenny Volcano which occurred just over two weeks ago… more
OECS Statisticians to discuss the Further Strengthening of Administrative Data Systems for Better Decision-making in Education.”
Regional – In that regard, Education Statisticians across the OECS will attend an annual meeting in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis from August 11-14, 2015… more
More Digicel customers now $1,000 richer!
Saint Lucia – In keeping with its promise to continuously deliver exciting and rewarding promotions, Digicel rewarded an additional 20 customers through the Digicel RED HOT CASH Promotion… more
Sunday, 9 August 2015
Flow systems back up and running
Barbados – AGAINST A BACKGROUND of complaints from the public regarding the quality of service from telephone provider Flow, the company is assuring its users that it was “working assiduously to resolve technical issues that have affected its network in the past couple weeks”… more
Tech literacy ‘vital’ for Med data
Barbados – AS THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH prepares to fully roll out a Medical Data system, health Minister John Boyce is encouraging all health professionals to become computer literate… more
Editorial: The Gleaner’s Bright Future
Jamaica – We would have been naive not to have anticipated the unease, apprehension even, among some readers of this newspaper over the announcement of its planned acquisition by RJR Limited as part of that company’s broader takeover of the media assets of The Gleaner Company Limited… more
Girls Who Code
Jamaica – It can’t be denied that the technology industry is mostly dominated by men. But this is something that State Minister in the Minister of Science Technology Energy and Mining (STEM) Julian Robinson, plans to change by introducing the Girls Who Code programme to Jamaica… more
Insurance Helpline | Online Insurance A Potential Rival For Brokers
Jamaica – QUESTION: My motor policy expires at the end of this month. I am planning to buy directly from an insurance company instead of using an insurance broker… more
RJR-Gleaner Merger: Independence Blues?
Jamaica – The stunning news of the RJR-Gleaner merger on the eve of Independence Day could be seen as fortuitous or brilliant timing, suggesting that this $1.5-billion deal actually strengthens independence. Lester Spaulding, RJR chairman and soon-to-be-head honcho of the super-media entity, said as much… more
Scammers still top priority for MOCA
Jamaica – WITH roughly 178 people arrested and charged with lottery-scamming and money-laundering activities by the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), the organisation continues to make the capture of scammers and money launderers one of the top priorities of the its mandate… more
Voip Fight Rages On Despite Pro-Subscriber Court Ruling
Jamaica – Three weeks into a final appellate ruling that sided with a subscriber over a telecoms in a VOIP case, the top two regional players say they are still weighing the judgment, which could potentially colour the type of actions governments take across the Caribbean to regulate over-the-top services… more
Image credits: NS Newsflash (flickr); The West Indian News; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia
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