A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 10 October to Sunday 16 October 2016.
Monday, 10 October 2016
Cayman Water calls for utility law rewrite
Cayman Islands – Cayman Water has asked government to withdraw and rewrite a proposed bill investing a new utilities regulation office with broad unilateral powers to control the firm’s activities. The company says it was not consulted on the bill… more
Bitel interested in expanding to Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic – Vietnamese-owned mobile operator Bitel could be interested in expanding its Latin American business to the Dominican Republic, reports Caribseek News… more
Marketing Strategies Today: Five ways to take advantage of the Google-Twitter partnership
Regional – t is clear now that Google and Twitter are partners; what is not clear is the way that this is going to affect the search history and also social marketing… more
Cyber crime on Government’s radar, steps being taken to protect the Federations interest
Saint Kitts and Nevis – Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Hon. Vincent Byron says his government is making strides to protect the country’s internet interest from potential cyber crimes that can hurt the Federation’s economic development… more
TSTT begins major network upgrade in Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago – Tobago has become the first market to transition to bmobile’s upgraded mobile network. This upgrade is part of TSTT’s $3.7 billion investment which will transform the company into an agile broadband provider over the next five years… more
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Gov’t to lead campaign for cyber security
Antigua and Barbuda – The Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunications & Information Technology has partnered with cyber security agencies to launch a website, which will guide consumers on safe Internet practices… more
Minister: Loss assessment ‘unnecessary’ after Digicel system failure
Antigua and Barbuda – Despite the ire of many businesses across Antigua & Barbuda at the severe disruption in service from Digicel over the weekend, the Minister of Telecommunications, Melford Nicholas has indicated that he does not believe an assessment of the losses incurred to them is needed… more
UPP accuses gov’t of attempting to forcibly take over Internet domain
Antigua and Barbuda – The United Progressive Party’s (UPP) spokesperson on Information Technology and Telecommunications, Dr Edmond Mansoor claimed that the Antigua & Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is attempting to acquire the “.ag” domain from private hands through force… more
Flow announces Brac broadband upgrade
Cayman Islands – A local Internet provider says it has improved bandwidth in Cayman Brac… more
Cybercrime, Witness Protection, Whistleblower Bills to feature in new Parliamentary session
Guyana – President David Granger will on Thursday address the Parliament of Guyana, when the session opens after being in recess for two months… more
Media freedom’s challenges
Guyana – Real media freedom can only ever derive from an environment in which the media can be trusted to discharge its responsibility to its various publics without having to steal furtive glances in one direction or another in order to determine whether what they print or otherwise pronounce upon is judged from any other perspective save and except those of honesty and objectivity… more
Digicel launches text to donate line to support relief effort in Haiti
Haiti – In the wake of Hurricane Matthew that destroyed 90 percent of Southern Haiti on October 5th, Digicel launched a text line that will allow its customers to donate well-needed funds towards the humanitarian relief effort that is urgently needed in Haiti…. more
TSTT, E-IDCOT set up JV to build first data centre on Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago – Trinidad & Tobago’s state-run operator TSTT is teaming up with the Eco-Industrial Development Company of Tobago (E-IDCOT) to build what will be the first data centre on the island of Tobago, reports Trinidad & Tobago Newsday… more
Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Flow upgrading off-island connection
Cayman Islands – This weekend, telecoms company Flow plans to install new hardware for a major upgrade to the undersea fiber connection to Jamaica, one of the two “pipes” that allow Internet users in Cayman to connect with the rest of the world… more
Business-appropriate social media posting in a natural disaster
Guyana – In the past few days, Jamaicans have gone through a whirlwind of emotions… more
C&WJ Shareholders Give In On Rehiring Auditor
Jamaica – A revolt by Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) shareholders ended last week when they voted via poll to rehire the company’s external auditors… more
BTP participated in CTU Regulators Forum Barbados.
Sint Maarten – Mr. Sidney de Weever – Head of the technical department at Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten (BTP) – was invited to be a panelist at Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) regulators forum that took place in Barbados earlier this month… more
Thursday, 13 October 2016
44% Of Cable Services Restored In NP
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas Vice President of Marketing David Burrows yesterday said his company is doing all in its power to fully restore services throughout the country after the devastation of Hurricane Matthew; noting that as of yesterday, 44 percent of the network is up in New Providence… more
Minister to personally watch broadband prices
British Virgin Islands – Minister for Communication and Works Mark Vanterpool has told parliament that he will personally watch the telecoms companies closely to ensure high-speed broadband is delivered throughout the territory at affordable prices… more
BUSINESS BYTE: Facebook and Digicel launches free basic in Dominica
Dominica – In celebration of Social Media Day 2016, Digicel launched ‘Facebook Flex’, a new service that allows customers to access the popular social media service without credit or a data plan… more
Guyana Stops Samsung Galaxy Phone Sales
Guyana – Guyana Wednesday ordered suppliers of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones to immediately halt sales of the device after the manufacturers confirmed several cases of the phones exploding… more
Local authorities order halt to Samsung Note 7 sales
Guyana – The Competition and Consumers Affairs Commission (CCAC) of the Consumer Affairs Unit (CAU), has ordered a halt in sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7… more
C&W Communications Expands Network With Ericsson Across Caribbean and Panama
Regional – C&W’s customers to enjoy best-in-class high speed, high performance network to address increasing data traffic demands… more
C&W expands delivery network across its markets
Regional – Cable and Wireless on Thursday announced the delivery of a complete network expansion for C&W across its operations in the Caribbean and Panama… more
Commentary: Cutting the cable cords
Regional – They say that time stands still for no man. As this is applicable in life it is even that much more applicable when it comes to technology… more
OVERSEAS: FOUR 4G OPERATORS TO BOOST COMPETITION
Regional – The Telecom Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) announced Thursday it had awarded a new 4G mobile phone license in the Caribbean, Guyana and the Indian Ocean islands, bringing to four the number of telecom operators in each territory… more
Cybersecurity – are we really ready?
Trinidad and Tobago – Cybersecurity is moving further up the news agenda. American multinational technology company Yahoo recently reported that there was massive data breach at the company in 2014… more
Is there interest in TSTT’s 49%?
Trinidad and Tobago – Ay the end of this month, five local companies are expected to send in firm expressions of interest in the 49 per cent stake in majority state-owned TSTT that is owned by Liberty Global, the US cable giant controlled by American billionaire, John Malone… more
Friday, 14 October 2016
“BTC CONTINUES TO RESTORE ITS NETWORK AND PROVIDE AID TO BAHAMIANS”
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC) continues to work feverishly towards 100 percent network restoration following Hurricane Matthew… more
Opposition Says Prime Minister Must Resign Over B.T.L. Settlement
Belize – The Opposition People’s United Party is going after Prime Minister Dean Barrow once more on the Belize Telemedia Limited Settlement Agreement and is calling for his resignation… more
Samsung launches Smart HD TV
Trinidad and Tobago – TECHNOLOGY giant Samsung International, launched its long-awaited Smart HD Television (SUHDTV) set, at the Court’s Megastore, El Socorro… more
Saturday, 15 October 2016
Audacity and Absurdity – PUP wants PM Barrow to Resign over BTL?
Belize – That PUP politicians, of all people, would be calling for the resignation of our Prime Minister over the settlement of the BTL nationalization and compensation award is, to say the least, preposterous. Preposterous, we say, because were it not for the PUP, there would be no need for any such nationalization, compensation or settlement… more
Early tests show speeds over 40Mbps – Flow
British Virgin Islands – Flow announced on Friday that a number of its new LTE cell sites are live in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), well ahead of schedule… more
TTBizLink launches new e-service
Trinidad and Tobago – THE Ministry of Trade and Industry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health and the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards launched TTBizLink’s 47th e-service – the Mobile Inspection Service on Wednesday… more
Sunday, 16 October 2016
YOUTH INFLUENCING TECHNOLOGY
Barbados – As THE country looks towards another 50 years of technological advances, a series of virtual town hall meetings are being planned for the youth… more
Modern media changes and challenges
Jamaica – Last year I had the honour of giving the keynote address at the Jamaica Broilers Fair Play Journalism Award… more
NCB Card Machines Still Experiencing Glitches – Bank Working On Resolution, Blames Telecoms Provider
Jamaica – National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCB) has acknowledged an increase in incidents where its automated banking machines (ABMs) have been capturing customers’ cards, but says it is making headway on resolving the issues… more
T&T tops in Internet porn again
Trinidad and Tobago – When you look at statistics on Google Trends for the highest number of Internet searches for pornography per capita in the world, T&T comes first. Nepal comes second… more
Image credits: Wikipedia; Marketing Magazine; Belize Web;
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