A roundup of the ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 28 May to Sunday 3 June 2012.
Monday, 28 May 2012
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Tuesday, 29 May 2012
BTC ‘seriously exploring’ TV products this year
Bahamas – Data offerings, fixed-line broadband and delving into the television market are particular areas of growth for the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) this year… more
Anti-hack company confirms attacks on Electoral Board during polls
Dominican Republic – Prolexic, the global leader in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection services, today announced that it has mitigated a number of attacks directed at the web site of Junta Central Electoral (JCE), the central electoral board of the Dominican Republic during a recent general election… more
Women and Girls in ICT workshop
Trinidad & Tobago – In commemoration of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), blink | bmobile partnered with the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations (CANTO) to stage a High School Interactive Workshop on Women and Girls in Information Communication Technology (ICT)… more
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Five-year education ICT policy near completion
Antigua & Barbuda – Education officials are finalising a five-year policy on Information Communication Technology (ICT) for the sector… more
China gifts Guyana 30,000 laptops – OLPF project to fulfill its mandate
Guyana – The Governments of Guyana and China today strengthened their bilateral relations through the signing of a US$8M grant-gift agreement for the supply of 30,000 laptops to the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) project… more
Brief – New Tax Could Hurt Investment
Jamaica – Telecommunications firm Digicel has warned the Government that its proposed new tax measures on the telecoms sector would severely restrict further investment in Jamaica by the affected operators and hamper their ability to assist in the development of the economy, ultimately harming businesses and consumers… more
Digicel stable says Fitch
Jamaica – Digicel has maintained its “B” credit score with bond-rating agency Fitch, which listed the mobile phone company’s outlook as stable despite the armed raid by Jamaican tax officials earlier this month… more
Hostile Phone Tax
Jamaica – Opposition Spokesman on finance, Audley Shaw, says there are serious doubts about the ability of the Government to collect a vast amount of the projected $5.2 billion in new taxes from the telecommunications sector… more
No Hikes In Local Call Rates, Says Paulwell
Jamaica – Despite the imposition of a tax on the termination of calls locally and from overseas, Telecommunications Minister Phillip Paulwell says it is not likely to result in higher call rates for Jamaicans… more
CTU & COMNET MOU
Regional – The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and The COMNET Foundation for ICT Development (COMNET) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalise collaboration between the two agencies, with particular emphasis on cyber-security and cybercrime prevention activities… more
Digicel’s Saunders Tells European Telecoms To Follow Clouds
Turks & Caicos Islands – Telecommunications companies should look to gain revenues from cloud services and mobile advertising to help cover the cost of their new high speed 4G/LTE networks, Digicel Turks and Caicos CEO E. Jay Saunders told the LTE World Summit 2012 in Barcelona, Spain, on May 23… more
Thursday, 31 May 2012
BTC now entering ‘unknown territory’
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) said it looks forward to a “continued positive relationship” with the government despite the prime minister’s declaration yesterday that the firm “will be restored to the Bahamian people”… more
PM Pledges To Retake BTC Majority Stake
Bahamas – Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday said his administration remained committed to “exploring all lawful means” to recover majority ownership of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) from Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) for the Bahamian people… more
Top official: Anonymous from Mexico launched attacks on polls
Dominican Republic – Central Electoral Board (JCE) president Roberto Rosario met Thursday with hundreds of members of electoral boards across the country to analyze the May 20 elections, where he revealed that the hackers organization Anonymous launched unsuccessful Web attacks from Mexico during the polling… more
Cheaper Rates To Call Other Networks?
Jamaica – It will be much cheaper to call across mobile networks if the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) institutes an interim termination charge of J$5 on mobile networks… more
Growing rejection of proposed telecoms taxes
Jamaica – Opposition to the Government’s decision to increase charges for telephone calls terminating in Jamaica is increasing, with shadow minister on finance Audley Shaw expressing doubt that it can be collected, and local telecommunications giant Digicel asserting that the proposal will have a detrimental impact on the telecoms industry and the wider economy… more
Friday, 1 June 2012
Telecoms system ready for disasters
Antigua & Barbuda – The country’s telecommunications system, which enables communication throughout Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) states, received a passing grade on Friday during the annual Region Rap exercise… more
Karib Cable set to enter Barbados
Barbados – Regional telecommunications company Karib Cable will invest B$65 million ($2.8 billion) to expand into Barbados, pledging to build a fibre-optic network on the island and start offering services there by the end of the year… more
LIME Jamaica Turns To Parent For Support After Historic Loss
Jamaica – Cable & Wireless Jamaica, which trades as LIME Jamaica, is now dependent on its parent for survival after hitting a new record in losses both at the telecoms and of any stock market company in the exchange’s five decades of trading… more
Caribbean still lags in broadband coverage and access
Regional – Broadband is expanding rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the region still lags behind the world’s most advanced nations in terms of coverage, access and adoption of information and communication technology services delivered through fast networks, according to a new report released by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)… more
Saturday, 2 June 2012
ECTEL Approves New Licence Templates
OECS – New license templates for telecommunications services have been approved by the Board of Directors of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL)… more
Flow kicks off summer promotion today
Jamaica – Telecoms provider, Flow, will today kick off its Olympic summer promotion, dubbed ‘Turn It On’, at a road show to be held at the Courts parking lot in Portmore, St Catherine… more
Sunday, 3 June 2012
GT&T moves against Digicel in Linden
Guyana – Lindeners yesterday flocked the Egbert Benjamin Exhibition Hall at Spieghtland, Linden, to cash in on the “Switch it up” promotion, by either redeeming their old Digicel cell phones for a new GT&T one or purchasing brand new phones from as low as $1,000… more
Fujitsu, Newgen Partner On Digital Document Service
Jamaica – Technology provider Fujitsu aims to earn US$15 million (J$1.3 b) in five years from offering services throughout the Caribbean to digitalise information into a central database, expected to cut loan processing and time lost to government red tape by close to half… more
Image courtesy of NewsFlash, flickr. Logos courtesy of CTU and ECTEL.
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