Roundup: for the week ending 27 January 2013

A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 21 January to Sunday 27 January 2013.

Monday, 21 January 2012

Mansoor Defends Tablet Programme

Antigua & Barbuda – Cabinet has granted telecommunications company, Digicel, millions of dollars in concessions in exchange for partnering on e-education programmes… more

Students warm up to computer tablets

Antigua & Barbuda – Even as the debate on the distribution of computer tablets spilled over into the weekend, students who were among first recipients were busy on the devices… more

Cuba opens one lane of Internet superhighway—inbound

Cuba – Six years ago, work began on a telecommunications project that was supposed to open up the island nation of Cuba to the Internet, giving the people a high-speed connection to the rest of the world… more

Private sector groups call for Telecoms reform

Guyana – The Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) have expressed concerns regarding the Telecommunication Bill’s lack of progress and have called for the government to resolve any issues delaying the legislation from being passed in the National Assembly… more

Digicel Faces Deadline

Jamaica – Telecoms giant Digicel has formed a technical team to resolve recent issues with its service that caused the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to give the company a deadline to respond… more

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Digicel stands behind tablet in schools programme

Antigua & Barbuda – Digicel says it has no regrets over a decision to fund millions of dollars worth of computer tablets to senior secondary school children… more

The Good and Bad of GATE Project

Antigua & Barbuda – The Ministry of Information Technology’s recent GATE project, has been the subject of much criticism since it’s creation… more

BTC ‘Gimme 10′ Promo Runaway Success

Bahamas – $1.7 M in free texts, free phone calls, and data giveaways signalled a run-away success for the recent Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) ‘Gimme 10’ pre-paid customer appreciation promotion that ended on January 4th… more

BTC To Celebrate Opening Of Andros Store

Bahamas – The town’s people of Nicholls Town, Andros have been put on notice to celebrate and party hearty at the ribbon cutting and Grand Opening of the new Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) store on Saturday January 26th… more

Columbus International Inc. Announces New Equity Investment by Dr. John C. Malone

Barbados – Columbus International Inc. (“Columbus” or the “Company”), a diversified telecommunications provider in the Caribbean, Central America and Andean region, is pleased to announce the recent addition of Dr. John C. Malone as a new equity shareholder in the Company… more

Mobile Payment Application To Be Deployed In Caribbean By Telecommunication Products Provider

British Virgin Islands – Charge Anywhere® LLC, a leading provider of award-winning, secure mobile payment applications and payment gateway solutions, announced today the signing of a distribution partnership with Tech It Easy (TIE) Ltd, a retail sales and support of telecommunications products provider, in the Virgin Islands… more

Report: Cuba Using Undersea Fiber-Optic Cable

Cuba – Cuba apparently has finally switched on the first undersea fiber-optic cable linking it to the outside world nearly two years after its arrival, according to analysis by a company that monitors global Internet use… more

Final Countdown To The Largest Telecommunications Conference Of The Region To Be Held In Curaçao

Curacao – Curaçao Technology Exchange N.V. (CTEX), announced today that the region’s largest telecommunications conference is now in its final stages of preparation… more

Digicel’s Sweet Deal Went Sour

Jamaica – The Editor, Sir: The word frustrated cannot describe how I feel about Digicel’s treatment to us the customers, who for almost 12 years have kept their business afloat… more

Gov’t Intent on Single Regulatory Body for Telecomms

Jamaica – Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell, has reiterated the Government’s commitment to establish a single regulatory body to effectively monitor the telecommunications sector… more

Gov’t Invites Private Partnership to Build Office Space for ICT

Jamaica – Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, is encouraging members of the private sector to partner with the Government for the construction of office space, especially in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector… more

Columbus International Inc. Selects SeaWell Networks to Deliver Hybrid IP Video Services for its Flow Multiscreen Rollout

Regional – Columbus International Inc., which operates the largest cable franchise in the Caribbean under the brand name “Flow” has selected SeaWell Networks Inc., the leader in monetizing multiscreen TV, for its latest IPTV developments… more

Cabinet to take measures to prevent proposed increase in Cable TV rates

St. Kitts & Nevis ­– A decision by the Cable Company to increase rates from the first of February is not sitting well with the Cabinet of Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas… more

Over 500 secondary school teachers to get laptops

St. Kitts & Nevis ­– Secondary school teachers in both St. Kitts and Nevis are to get their laptops… more

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

BTC talks ‘far from dead’

Bahamas – Efforts to acquire majority control of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) are “far from dead”, according to a lead negotiator… more

Digicel / LIME Landline Dispute Referred to the Barbados Fair Trading Commission

Barbados – The Fair Trading Commission has been asked to promptly intervene in a dispute between Digicel and LIME relating to Digicel’s proposed launch of a landline network and services to compete with LIME’s monopoly on landline services in Barbados… more

LIME lashes back

Barbados – Telecommunications giant LIME is blaming competitor Digicel for the latter’s failure to secure an interconnection with it… more

LIME’s letter of apology sent to PM

Barbados – That draft letter of apology which telecommunications giant LIME has agreed to issue to the Barbados Workers Union, the 97 employees sent home from the company and to the people of Barbados, is now before Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart… more

Thursday, 24 January 2013

URCA clarifies USO legislation

Bahamas – Bahamian telecoms regulator the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has issued a final decision on the clarification and implementation of Universal Service Obligations (USOs) as provided for by the Communications Act 2009, ending a consultation process launched in March 2012… more

URCA Rejects Cable’s Basic TV Concerns

Bahamas – Cable Bahamas’ argument that its basic cable television service should not be included within its Universal Service Obligation (USO) has been rejected by regulators, although they clarified that the latter offering need not be more than six channels… more

Belize Broadcasting Authority drafts Media Guidelines

Belize – The Belize Broadcasting Authority is in the process of formulating guidelines to regulate the manner in which media entities report on crime and violence in the country… more

Cuba Says Internet Cable Now Operational

Cuba – A statement by the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA) reports today that the Internet cable connecting the island with Venezuela is now operational… more

Digicel deploys energy saving software

Jamaica – As part of an effort to cut operating expenses, Digicel Jamaica has deployed Israeli vendor eVolution Networks’ Smart Energy Solution (SES) software throughout its network, after trials of the system in 2012 achieved significant reductions in energy consumption… more

V.I. Next Generation Network awards contracts

US Virgin Islands – The V.I. Next Generation Network approved $7.3 million in contracts Wednesday, most of which will provide critical construction elements for the territory’s first public broadband network… more

Friday, 25 January 2013

Regional Strategic Planning and ICT conferences for Fisheries

Belize – The Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, home to the Eastern Caribbean Office of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), will next week host Chief Fisheries Officers, Directors of Fisheries or Senior Fisheries Officers, and Technical ICT Officers … more

Cuba has a new Internet, but still disconnected

Cuba – With the long-anticipated activation of their ALBA-1 undersea internet cable this month, Cuban web users now have the technological equivalent of a horse-drawn Toyota Prius… more

‘No involvement’ with Cuba cable claims Telefonica

Cuba – Spanish telecom Telefonica denied this week that it has anything to do with an undersea fibre-optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela,… more

Celebrating The Third Jamaica Blog Awards

Jamaica – Blogging is the platform for freely expressing one’s views, whether personal or otherwise, on various issues. Local bloggers were publicly acknowledged and shown appreciation at the third staging of the Jamaica Blog Awards last Saturday. The function was held at South Beach Café in Kingston… more

CVM appoints new CEO

Jamaica – CVM Television yesterday announced the appointment of Andrew McGlone as chief executive officer… more

Cybercrimes Expert To Assist Jamaica Review Laws

Jamaica – An international expert in cybercrime and cyber security law has been engaged to provide technical assistance to Jamaica as the country reviews the existing cybercrime law to identify gaps… more

Digicel responds to OUR queries

Jamaica – Digicel has responded to queries made by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) regarding customer complaints about their inability to make calls successfully through the telecommunications provider’s network… more

Hackers On The Loose

Jamaica – A number of government entities, tertiary institutions and private companies last year felt the wrath of former disgruntled workers and other mischievous persons who hacked their websites, in some instances plastering pornographic material all over them… more

Review of Cybercrime Act to be completed soon

Jamaica – The Jamaican government is looking to complete a review of the country’s two year-old Cybercrimes Act, within three months… more

Irish firm signs deal with Digicel to provide data analytics

Regional – A major Irish firm has signed a deal with the Digicel Group to provide data analytics to a number of its operating entities around the globe… more

Caribbean islands award RF Communications $31M contract

Trinidad & Tobago – Harris Corp.’s Rochester-based RF Communications division has been awarded a $31 million contact for a radio system for the Trinidad and Tobago police service that will allow military, law enforcement agencies and government officials there to communicate on a single system… more

Tobago Technology Centre Opened

Trinidad & Tobago – In attempt to increase the number of skilled labour in Tobago, Government has opened the Tobago Technology Center… more

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Digicel Hacked

Jamaica – A 30-year-old man was yesterday picked up by the police in connection with an alleged hacking of telecommunications company Digicel’s database… more

Digicel reverts to old voicemail system

Jamaica – Digicel says it will be reverting to its old voicemail system following complaints about the one introduced recently… more

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Digicel Says Sorry

Jamaica – Company to revert to familiar voicemail system based on complaints from its customers… more

Pointers On Publishing – The Next Generation In Video Marketing

Jamaica – Let’s go back a bit. Do you remember the days of black and white TV?… more

Image credits:  Gary Thomson (flickr);  Wikipedia;  Bahamas Weekly;  Brands of the World

__________