A roundup of the ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 16 July to Sunday 22 July 2012.
Monday, 16 July 2012
Phone companies disconnect over 60,000 unregistered customers
Belize – The deadline for the mandatory registration of prepaid cellular phones was initially in March, but was extended twice, eventually landing on July thirteenth… more
I will not go bonkers, alleged top hacker says
Dominican Republic – Alleged hacker José Ángel Gómez (Jochi) said Monday he will not suffer a “teke teke” in reference to an attack of nerves, “or anything like that” while behind bars, to await trial on charges he accessed at least 44 email accounts to various local personalities… more
Cellphone Number Portability Lagging
Jamaica – Telecommunications giant Digicel is calling on the Government and the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to implement the necessary structures so that mobile and landline customers are able to retain their existing number when switching to another network… more
Flow Rates Down
Jamaica – Flow is the latest telecommunications provider to announce a reduction in telephone rates resulting from the recent decision by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to establish a cap of $5 per minute for mobile termination rates for incoming domestic and international telephone calls, which took effect yesterday… more
Business Growth Lags Behind Internet Chat
Jamaica – Jamaicans are being urged to make better use of the Internet to transact business and increase productivity and efficiencies… more
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
BTC outage report expected today
Bahamas – For the second time, the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has missed its deadline to present a report to the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) to explain last month’s network outage that resulted in the loss of service to thousands of landline and cellular customers… more
AnonymousRD hacks State University’s Website
Dominican Republic – The AnonymousRD hackers network attacked Santo Domingo State University’s (UASD) Website early Tuesday, to support students who’ve held a vigil in the rectory since last week to reject the rising cost of academic services… more
Alleged hacker loses court round, stays behind bars
Dominican Republic – A National District court ruled to keep alleged hacker Jose A. Gomez Canaan (Jochy) behind bars, who’s being held since last week on charges of extortion by accessing more than 40 email accounts, including business leaders and government officials… more
Failed challenge of judge another setback for alleged hacker
Dominican Republic – A National District Penal court on Tuesday rejected the challenge filed by José A. Gomez Canaan (Jochi) against judge Alejandro Vargas, who was hearing the case of the alleged hacking of at least 44 email accounts and telephone espionage… more
42 counts of ABM fraud
Trinidad & Tobago – Women yesterday appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate to answer to 42 counts of ABM (automated banking machine) fraud, totalling $15,000, and committed at ABMs in commercial banks along the east/west corridor… more
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Caribbean conference to spotlight key issues and challenges of switchover on the islands
Antigua & Barbuda – Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum (DBSF) Caribbean, planned for August 13 and 14 at the Grand Royal Antiguan Resort, will mark the first major conference and workshop addressing the complex issues of transition from analogue to digital transmission in the Caribbean… more
Bernard Evans re-elected BCPOU president
Bahamas – Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans comfortably retained his position as union leader yesterday, easily fending off any challenge to his rule by securing 50 percent of the votes in a three-way union election race… more
Embracing 4G Technology
Bahamas – Undeniably, the upgrade of our cellular network to 4G has been plagued with service disruptions causing much frustration. Dropped calls, delayed email and failed messenger services, aggravate both technology savvy and infrequent phone users… more
Kerzner asks BTC to pay up
Bahamas – Kerzner International is seeking compensation from the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) for the losses it suffered as a result of a massive system blackout on June 18, Kerzner Bahamas President and Managing Director George Markantonis has confirmed… more
TV networks spar over Olympic coverage
Bahamas – As the world’s top athletes prepare to compete in the London 2012 Olympics, the country’s rival cable companies have been silently squaring off in a bitter dispute over broadcasting rights… more
Anonymous group says it hacked two major Dominican websites
Dominican Republic – The group Anonymous-Dominican has taken credit for the outage of the websites of two of the country’s leading newspapers for allegedly favoring the government… more
Micro lenders turn to technology
Jamaica – Micro-financing institutions are using technology and social intervention to reduce the number of delinquent borrowers on their books… more
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Alleged hacker gets 3 months in jail to await trial
Dominican Republic – A National District judge on Thursday sent alleged ID thief and hacker Jose A. Gomez (Jochy) to spend three months in Najayo prison to await trial, as the Office of the Prosecutor had requested…more
Major Dominican daily denies Anonymous cyber attack
Dominican Republic – One of Dominican Republic’s major newspapers on Thursday denied being the target of hacking by the group Anonymous Do on Wednesday, in an attack which also affected the oldest daily, Listin Diario… more
Panama Advocates for Lat Am, Caribbean Digital Inclusion
Panama – The Summit “Connecting the Americas” of the International Union of Telecommunications (IUT) advocated so that the Latin American and Caribbean governments boost the deployment of bandwidth connectivity in the region to achieve a necessary digital inclusion… more
Minister Pantophlet to represent country at CANTO Telecommunications Conference & Trade Exhibition
St. Maarten – The 28th Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) Annual Conference & Trade Exhibition will take place from July 22-25 in Miami under CANTO’s 2012 calendar of events theme “Accelerating Broadband Experience in the Caribbean, Transforming the way we live.”… more
Friday, 20 July 2012
Ingraham calls BTC re-nationalization ‘fluff’
Bahamas – Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is calling the government’s bid to re-nationalize the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) “fluff”, insisting no genuine effort is being made… more
URCA appoints Bereaux as director of policy
Bahamas – The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has announced the appointment of Mr. Stephen Bereaux as director of policy and regulation (DPR) with effect from July 17, 2012… more
High hopes for ICT
Dominica – Chief Education officer Stephenson Hyacinth is hoping that a just concluded ICT training workshop will help the Ministry of Education achieve the vision of “every child succeeds.”… more
New telecom tax forces Digicel to hike call package
Jamaica – The government’s new telecom tax which took effect on Sunday, has forced Digicel to hike the cost of its new Sweetest Plan call package, just weeks after the company introduced the package at 2 dollars 89 cents per minute… more
ITU Connect Americas Summit seeks $53 billion
Panama – Commitments to the tune of $53.4 billion were called for at the Connect Americas Summit to fund ICT projects aimed at infrastructure development and to build next-generation networks… more
Next Generation board approves new contracts
US Virgin Islands – The V.I. Next Generation Network board met Thursday to approve several contracts as the project to build the territory’s first open-access broadband network moves ahead… more
V.I. phone numbers now portable
US Virgin Islands – Innovative Telephone officials told the V.I. Public Services Commission on Thursday that they have met the deadline to offer Local Number Portability – or LNP… more
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Digicel poised to expand mobile banking to the Caribbean
Bermuda – Already the fastest growing telecommunications major in the Caribbean, Digicel has recently entered into a financing deal that could see it well positioned to expand mobile banking technology across this region… more
Next Generation officials say project is moving forward quickly
US Virgin Islands – V.I. Next Generation Network officials gave senators a status update Friday on the territory’s broadband expansion project, saying they have made significant progress in the few weeks since the last Senate update… more
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Digicel’s New ‘Fix’-Ation
Jamaica – Digicel Jamaica has a toe in the door, but the telecom now sees portability as an opening to grab additional market share in a market segment where it classifies as a minnow… more
Telecoms Bake Taxes Into New Call Rates, Cancels Some Packages
Jamaica – Digicel Jamaica and LIME Jamaica have adjusted charges to compensate for the new telecoms tax on fixed and mobile calls, changes that took effect last week… more
Image credit: RambergMediaImages/flickr
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