A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 28 January to Sunday 3 February 2013.
Monday, 28 January 2012
Scrap metal dealers anticipate repeal of ban
Antigua & Barbuda – Scrap metal dealers anticipate the four-month-old ban on the copper trade would soon be lifted as negotiations are going well with the committee Cabinet set up to establish guidelines for operations… more
US warns of consequences as Antigua gets WTO OK
Antigua & Barbuda – The US government on Monday warned of economic consequences after Antigua & Barbuda got World Trade Organisation (WTO) approval to ignore US intellectual property rights to the tune of US $21 million annually… more
Direct TV launches investigation
Bahamas – An investigation in the U.S. has determined that a local television provider was illegally transmitting Direct TV signals in The Bahamas… more
Digicel’s tough tone
Barbados – The war of words between two of the island’s telecommunications providers is heating up, with Digicel accusing competitor LIME of trying to block its entry into the landline market and declaring that it will not be bullied by the telecoms giant… more
LIME warns customers of e-mail con
Cayman Islands – Local telecommunications company LIME is telling its customers to be on the lookout for a phishing scam following a number of reports from people who have received emails claiming to be from LIME regarding webmail storage quotas which is not genuine… more
Making public information accessible
Trinidad & Tobago – The campaign by Speaker of the House Wade Mark to make Parliament more computer literate and accessible is a welcome one… more
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
URCA election rules ‘undemocratic’
Bahamas – Gambling wasn’t the only hot topic yesterday. As people headed for the polls, many Bahamians sounded off on rules imposed by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) on election day… more
Finally – Digicel Moves Into New HQ
Jamaica – Telecommunications giant Digicel has started the trek into its headquarters in downtown Kingston with most employees expected to be in their new house by weekend… more
UTS Celebrates #1 Telecom Distinction with Customer Offers.
St. Maarten – Telecoms provider, UTS, was once again voted favorite in The Daily Herald’s annual ‘Best Of’ end-of-year readers poll… more
Digicel starts SMS, voice call promotions in Saint Lucia
St. Lucia – Digicel St. Lucia has launched two promotions dubbed ‘Free After 5 SMS’ and ‘Regional Pass’. With Digicel’s Free After 5 SMS service, customers need to send 5 text messages to a Digicel number and they will receive the next 55 text messages free of charge… more
Intellicheck Mobilisa Partners With Trinidad Company To Market Its Wireless And Port Security Solutions In Caribbean Region
Trinidad & Tobago – Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IDN), a global leader in identity solutions and wireless security systems, has partnered with Vanguards of Enterprise Ltd. (VOEL) of Trinidad & Tobago to help market, sell, distribute and install Intellicheck Mobilisa’s wireless, maritime security and intelligent buoy monitoring solutions to Caribbean countries… more
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Antigua Receives WTO Authorization in Latest Online Gambling Dispute
Antigua & Barbuda – The WTO, granted sanctions on the United States Antigua and Barbuda this week in its long running dispute over online gambling… more
Consultations on-going for allocation of computer tablets
Antigua & Barbuda – Consultations for parents who are interested in learning about eEducation connectivity component of the Government Assisted Technology Endeavour (GATE) programme continue today at the John’s Pentecostal Church House of Restoration Ministries beginning at 5 pm… more
Hundreds Attend Tablet Consultation
Antigua & Barbuda – The second leg of the GATE e-Education Computer Tablet and e-Education Connectivity initiative was held last evening at the St.John’s Pentecostal Church House of Restoration Ministries… more
Bahamas gov’t orders the immediate closure of web shop gaming
Bahamas – Less than 24 hours after Bahamians voted overwhelmingly to reject web-based gambling and a national lottery, the government has called on all operates of such games to close down their businesses with “immediate effect… more
Cyber-Thingy™ Completes an Agreement with a Cellular Phone and Airtime Services Distributor in the Dominican Republic to Place 200 Kiosk Machines
Dominican Republic – Dynasty Limousine, Inc. (OTCPINK: DNYS) is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary Cyber-Thingy™ has reached an agreement with Max Celular of the Dominican Republic to purchase 200 Kiosk machines for placement in its cell phone and convenience store locations… more
Digicel Moves In
Jamaica – Telecoms giant Digicel has officially began moving into its new 11-storey building in downtown Kingston… more
Flow adds banner ads to TV guide
Jamaica – Flow Jamaica has begun selling advertisement space on its high traffic TV guide channel. Columbus Communications, which trades as Flow, is trying to woo advertisers to place banner ads on its Interactive Programming Guide (IPG), on a pitch that the channel receives tens of billions of hits… more
LIME Readies To Lower Rates Again
Jamaica – Telecoms provider LIME Jamaica will again slash mobile phone rates if the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) lowers termination rates by March… more
Columbus Selects the Sigma Cloud ServiceBroker
Regional– Sigma Systems, the authority in provisioning converged broadband solutions, announced today that Columbus International Inc. (Columbus), leading regional cable and telecommunications provider to residential and business markets across 25 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, has selected the Sigma Cloud ServiceBroker® for the provisioning and management of SaaS and IaaS services targeted to small and medium business (SMB) customers currently serviced under its business brand, Columbus Business Solutions (CBS)… more
LIME, Digicel to launch BlackBerry Z10 in Caribbean
Regional – Telecoms providers LIME and Digicel have announced that they will be launching the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone powered by BlackBerry 10 across the Caribbean… more
Thursday, 31 January 2013
CXC supports e-tablet Initiative
Antigua & Barbuda – The Assistant Registrar of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Michelle Stephens is encouraging parents and students to take advantage of government’s tablet programme… more
LIME Executing Positive Change… In An Effort To Boost National Productivity
Jamaica – The LIME Foundation turned its focus on national productivity and the well-being of LIME Jamaica employees’ children when it opened the LIME Foundation Homework Centre on Tuesday, January 29… more
Out of the ashes – Montserrat’s technology-driven recovery
Montserrat – In 1995 the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted, devastating the tiny Eastern Caribbean island of Montserrat. In the aftermath, Montserrat’s capital, Plymouth, and its economy, lay in ruins. Its population shrank from 12,000 to a remnant of under 5,000… more
America Movil and Alcatel-Lucent on track to deliver the longest 100G submarine cable system
Regional – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. (‘America Movil’) (NYSE and Mexican Stock Exchange: AMX, NASDAQ: AMOV), the leading wireless services provider in Latin America, are actively constructing America Movil 1 (‘AMX-1 System’), which will be the world’s first 17,500km submarine cable system specifically designed for 100Gigabit per second (100G) transmission… more
Ministry Of Education To Launch A Digital Learning Resource And Handbook
St Vincent & the Grenadines – he Ministry of Education will launch and release a digital learning resource with an accompanying handbook today, as it continues to place major emphasis on the integration of Technology in Education… more
Friday, 1 February 2013
KeyTech subsidiary to acquire TBi sister company in Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands – KeyTech’s Cayman subsidiary WestTel has agreed to acquire TeleBermuda International’s sister company TeleCayman to expand its fibre footprint in the Cayman Islands… more
Computer Society Pushes For Early Education
Jamaica – With the aim to build a better information and communications technology (ICT) sector in Jamaica, the Jamaica Computer Society (JCS) is aggressively targeting students from the early stage of their development to ensure that they are fully equipped with the necessary technological skills to function in the global job market… more
Honour Awards I Jamaica 50 Edition – Digicel Remains Focused On Jamaicans
Jamaica – It was a mere 12 years ago that the principals of the Irish-owned telecommunications firm Digicel set foot on local soil. It is now a forgone conclusion that Digicel came, saw and conquered… more
No Love For Mobile Ambitions Of Micro Bankers
Jamaica – Last year, when the Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League (JCCUL) came up with a mobile-banking product to be deployed sectorwide, the agency got steamrolled by the central bank, which told the micro financiers that JCUES would need its imprimatur before its deployment… more
United Telecommunication Services (UTS) and Uniqa to Launch BlackBerry Z10 smartphone powered by BlackBerry 10 in Dutch Caribbean and Surinam.
Regional – UTS today announced it will be launching the new BlackBerry® Z10 smartphone powered by BlackBerry® 10 in the Dutch Caribbean and Surinam… more
Government equips all public high schools with WI-FI internet
St. Kitts & Nevis – All public secondary schools in St. Kitts and Nevis have been outfitted with the necessary infrastructure to provide high speed Wi-Fi internet access to enhance the learning experience… more
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Campaign to ban texting while driving
Antigua & Barbuda – Reckless motorists who send text messages while driving could soon face the wrath of the law if a campaign by one telecoms firm is successful… more
American Journalist Dan Rather Visits Jamaica For Lottery Scam Documentary
Jamaica – American journalist and former CBS ’60 Minutes’ anchor, Dan Rather was in Montego Bay, St James, this week to film a documentary on the infamous lottery scam… more
British trade mission on information technology coming to T&T
Trinidad & Tobago – A British trade mission will be in T&T next week showcasing information and communication technology (ICT) and expertise… more
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Data gone!
Barbados – Millions of dollars worth of seismic data on Barbados’ critical oil industry have been reported missing from Government’s Division of Energy and Telecommunications… more
Digicel’s Hack Wack
Jamaica – Recently, the story about the breaching of Digicel’s security systems by locally based hackers dominated the headlines… more
Digicel St. Kitts & Nevis starts promotions
St. Kitts & Nevis – Digicel has launched two promotions for its customers in St. Kitts & Nevis… more
Image credits: NS Newsflash (flickr); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia
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