This is a roundup of the ICT/technology news across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 27 February to Sunday 4 March 2012.
Monday, 27 February 2012
BWU/LIME talks start
Barbados – The long awaited talks between the Barbados Worker’s Union (BWU), telecommunications company, LIME and Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo have begun at the offices of the Labour Department, Warrens Government Complex, Warrens, St. Michael…more
Cable & Wireless CEO paycheque: up 45%. Service reliability? That’s something else…
Barbados – Cable & Wireless paycheque alright for some! … more
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Blazing a trail for the online world
Bahamas – Jason McDowall is the founder and CEO of BahamasLocal.com… more
BTC Quickly Repairs Road Crew Cable Cuts
Bahamas – BTC repair teams worked around the clock over the weekend dedicating more that 580 man hours to restore service in record time to more than 4,000 landline customers in eastern New Providence… more
LIME/BWU meeting ongoing
Barbados – Talks aimed at brokering a wages agreement between the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and telecommunications company LIME, are currently being held as both parties met with Minister of Labour, Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo and other officials at the Ministry of Labour in Warrens, St Michael… more
Prank Calls Plague LIME
Jamaica – The ability of telephone operators to route emergency calls to the appropriate state agencies is being severely undermined by pranksters… more
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
BTC VSEP exercise winding down
Bahamas – Another group of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) employees who accepted voluntary separation packages is set to leave the company at the end of March, said President of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) Bernard Evans… more
BTC works around the clock to restore service
Bahamas – BTC repair teams worked around the clock over the weekend, dedicating more that 580 man hours to restore service in record time to more than 4,000 landline customers in eastern New Providence… more
Fixed line and video integral to growth
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas is exploring new services and enhancing the company’s video product as a means to achieve growth… more
BWU/LIME talks to continue
Barbados – IT IS BACK TO the negotiating table tomorrow for the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and telecommunications company, LIME, after talks were suspended just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday night… more
Still no LIME deal
Barbados – Up to late last night there was still no agreement between the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and telecommunications company LIME after marathon talks lasting close to seven hours with Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo aimed at brokering a wages agreement… more
Thursday, 1 March 2012
BTC entices ‘major player’ in call center world to GB
Jamaica – A “major player” in the call center world is looking to establish facilities in Grand Bahama after being enticed to the island by the CEO of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC)… more
First BTC franchisee expected in March
Bahamas – The CEO of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) said he expects to launch 10 flagship stores across the country over the next 14 to 16 weeks, and bring the first franchisee to market by the end of the month… more
Cable Company To Pay Flow For Stolen Cables
Jamaica – Mars Cable Vision Ltd in Mandeville, Manchester, has been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay US$25,000 with interest for 22,000 feet of cable that was stolen from telecommunications provider Columbus Communications Jamaica Ltd which trades as Flow… more
Claro Shutdown Begins Today
Jamaica – Scores of Jamaicans will be left holding expensive cellular phones fit only for the scrap dump this morning after Digicel shuts down the Claro network at the start of the day… more
FTC argues case against Digicel/Claro merger
Jamaica – Lawyers for the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) spent a second day yesterday making submissions in the Supreme Court supporting the assertion that it has legal standing to challenge the merger between telecoms providers Digicel and Claro… more
Jackson lashes managers of e-Learning project
Jamaica – OUTH St Catherine Member of Parliament Fitz Jackson has lashed the drivers of the e-Learning Jamaica Project, charging that they have “deceived the Jamaican public” by not carrying out any activity under that initiative for an entire year despite a more than $1.2-billion budget… more
Paulwell Looking to Improve Broadband Access
Jamaica – The Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining is moving to expand broadband access to make it easier for Jamaicans, especially those in remote areas, to conduct business with government agencies… more
DIGI Home – The family phone
St. Kitts & Nevis – Ensuring that its customers have many ways of keeping in touch and staying connected with friends and family, Digicel today introduced a new product to its product portfolio… more
Cable TV for Inmates
Trinidad & Tobago – Plans are under way to install cable television at the multi-million-dollar Santa Rosa prison so inmates will have the luxury of watching a variety of channels while serving time for their crimes… more
Friday, 2 March 2012
Cell Rates Cut – Digicel Jamaica Reduces Prepaid Charges Across Networks
Jamaica – Cellular service provider Digicel has announced it is cutting its prepaid cross-network rates by roughly 35 per cent to $8.99, but customers must log in a code to enact the savings… more
Digicel cut rates – Prepaid calls to any local network now $8.99
Jamaica – Telecommunications provider Digicel yesterday announced a flat $8.99-per-minute rate for prepaid customers, cutting cross-network prices by as much as 49 per cent, in what could be the start of a fresh battle in the cellular market… more
LIME Promises Response To Digicel Rate Cut
Jamaica – LIME Jamaica says it will be responding to the call rate cut announced today by its competitor Digicel… more
Why the Digicel/Claro deal is bad for Jamaicans
Jamaica – The 500-year-old proverb that “fair exchange is no robbery” has become acceptable but only under normal circumstances… more
LIME St. Kitts-Nevis to eliminate senior positions
St. Kitts & Nevis – he pending elimination of a few senior posts at LIME St. Kitts and Nevis is part of the company’s ongoing transformation that began some three years ago, says Country Manager David Lake… more
TSTT: Union using courts against us
Trinidad & Tobago – Telecoms provider TSTT is accusing the Communication Workers Union (CWU) of encouraging workers to use the court system against the company in order to “defend clear instances of poor work ethic”… more
Court backs PSC ruling on Innovative
US Virgin Islands – The V.I. Supreme Court upheld a V.I. Public Services Commission decision this week to allow the Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation to take over the territory’s telephone and cable companies… more
Saturday, 3 March 2012
GT&T’s parent company reports US$780M revenues
Guyana – Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), the parent company of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T), has announced a 23 percent increase in total revenues… more
First mobile phone cash transfers facilitate home rebuilding in Haiti
Haiti – Survivors of the 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti have this week started receiving cash subsidies through the first-ever mobile money transfer system in support of post-disaster housing reconstruction, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported on Thursday… more
Jamaica Offering Loans for ICT Projects
Jamaica – The Jamaican will be offering loans of up to $5 million for investment projects in the ICT sector, according to Investment Minister Anthony Hylton… more
Sunday, 4 March 2012
LIME takes credit for Digicel rate drop
Jamaica – Telecommunications provider LIME on Friday said the industry is “beginning to see some results” from the company’s fight for “more affordable” call rates… more
Many inaccuracies in your article, Mr Wright
Jamaica – Dear Editor, This is an open letter to Mr Dunstan Wright’s opinion piece in the Caribbean Business Report last Friday… more
Image courtesy of Gary Thomson, flickr
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