A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 18 March to Sunday 24 March 2013.
Monday, 18 March 2012
Communications Sector ‘Outpaces’ Regulations
Bahamas – The Bahamas’ communications sector has “outpaced” its current regulatory framework, a senior Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) executive arguing that some rules under the current regime were “too prohibitive” and “not facilitating growth”… more
Barbados can become ‘a tech hub’
Barbados – A Barbadian software developer believes Government should pay more attention to mobile application development which is emerging as one of the strongest growth areas in information and communications technology (ICT) globally… more
GT&T fixing Top-up, other glitches linked to upgrade
Guyana – The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) on Monday urged pre-paid customers to use phone cards rather than top-ups as technical experts try to resolve a number of problems associated with the installation of a new billing and customer management system… more
Computer Hackers Warned
Jamaica – The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) is reminding Jamaicans that the hacking of data from a computer or telephone is against the law and persons caught engaged in such illegal activity could be charged under the Cyber Crime Act 2010… more
Interactive math learning tool wins PitchIT Caribbean grand prize
Regional – Trinidad and Tobago’s Rick Cooper claimed the PitchIT Caribbean grand prize today with Interact XL, an online math tutoring platform. The infoDev-run pitching contest sought to make the region’s mobile and web startups more attractive to investors through hands-on pitch coaching… more
Budding UTT innovators win $30,000
Trinidad & Tobago – UTT’s Valsayn Campus buzzed from two days of exciting competition which culminated with an awards ceremony for UTT’s IDEAS competition on March 6. Dr Fazal Ali, acting president and provost of UTT, was on hand to congratulate the 22 finalists selected to pitch their ideas from among 289 entries in eight categories… more
Digicel to offer LTE to 75% of Turks and Caicos population in 18 months
Turks & Caicos Islands – Caribbean mobile telco Digicel plans to cover 75% of the population with its LTE offering in Turks and Caicos (TCI) in 18 months and 98% of the population within 30 months, Digicel Turks and Caicos CEO, E Jay Saunders, told BNamericas… more
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Cable Bahamas to commence major fibre rerouting in western New Providence
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas will be carrying out emergency fibre optic rerouting exercises in various communities in western New Providence commencing Wednesday, March 20 and ending Tuesday, March 26, due to the ongoing Airport Gateway road project… more
Digicel Limited Announces Pricing Of Private Placement Of Senior Notes
Jamaica – Digicel Limited (“Digicel”) today announced that it has priced its private placement of 6.00% US$300 million of senior notes due 2021. Digicel previously issued US$1 billion of its 6.00% senior notes due 2021 earlier this year… more
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Cable Blasts Contractors On Fibre Optic Re-Routing
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas yesterday announced it will start emergency re-routing of its western New Providence fibre optic cable systems, starting today and ending next Tuesday, due to the ongoing Airport Gateway road project… more
Cable Customers To Be Affected By Re-Routing
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas will be carrying out emergency fibre optic re-routing exercises in various communities in western New Providence beginning today… more
Cable Re-Routing Will Affect Service
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas is carrying out emergency fibre optic re-routing exercises in several areas in western New Providence beginning March 20 and scheduled to end Tuesday, March 26… more
First e-Government Forum This Thursday
Bahamas – Cabinet ministers and high-ranking representatives from Customs, Labour, Finance and other government departments and agencies will be on hand when the Ministry of Finance hosts its first ever E-Government and Business Forum this Thursday, March 21 from 9 a.m. – 12 noon at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort Independence Ballroom A… more
Broadcasting Authority had nothing to do with recent licences
Guyana – On September 27, 2011, former President Bharrat Jagdeo signed the Broadcasting Act 2011 into law paving the way for the Broadcasting Authority to start the process for the issuance of new television and radio licences… more
Broadcasting Authority processing more radio licence applications
Guyana – The Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) has started processing applications for more radio licences with about 50 submissions to be dealt with, including new ones… more
First Caribbean Bank Records Hacked
Jamaica – Client records of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank have been accessed by outsiders, but the bank says the breach should not be described as a hack… more
PM Hails Digicel Investment Downtown
Jamaica – Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, has congratulated telecommunications company Digicel, for its bold investment in downtown Kingston and the role it continues to play as a full service Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provider in Jamaica… more
Telecoms operators should abolish regional roaming charges says Philip Paulwell
Jamaica – Minister of Science Technology, Energy and Mining the Hon. Philip Paulwell this week called on regional mobile telecoms operators Digicel and LIME to abolish roaming charges for inter-Caribbean calls on their networks… more
GeekUp Saint Kitts: From Student to Software Engineer, in Eight Weeks
St. Kitts & Nevis – ThaDailyGeek is to shed light on pockets of excellence in the Caribbean. My colleague Fitzroy Edinborough is a lecturer at the CFB College in St Kitts, and CEO of Muscovado… more
TelEm Group carrying out emergency line repairs in Pelican area on Wednesday and Friday.
St. Maarten – TelEm Group technicians will be carrying out major repair work to a main telecommunication cable in the Pelican area Wednesday morning and as a result telecommunication services to residential and business properties will be affected… more
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Cable instead of radio/TV…Brian Yong admits he got more than he bargain for
Guyana – Brian Yong, one of the persons favoured by former President Bharrat Jagdeo to receive a cable licence to operate his digital TV and satellite communications business, has now admitted that he got more than he asked for… more
Court blocks Jagdeo radio licencee Telecor from setting up
Guyana – Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang has issued an order blocking one of the controversial new radio licencees, Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting, from setting up its broadcasting tower and offices… more
Digicel & Avaya … Enhancing Corporate Jamaica, Cutting Operational Costs
Jamaica – The two-year partnership between Digicel and Avaya has reaped benefits. Most recently, for example, Enterprise Account Manager Duwayne Watson was awarded the prestigious award of Avaya’s Top Sales Executive for the Caribbean and Central America… more
Digicel Officially Opens Regional Headquarters in Downtown Kingston
Jamaica – In what could prove to be a significant lift for Jamaica’s capital, Digicel has officially opened its new regional headquarters in downtown Kingston… more
Managing the risks of social media
Trinidad & Tobago – There is no denying social media’s impact on human as well as business communications… more
Raphune Hill conduit placed for fiber-optic cable
US Virgin Islands – The V.I. Next Generation Network is continuing its trenching work across the territory, installing underground conduit that will house fiber-optic cable… more
Friday, 22 March 2013
Cable Bahamas switches phone service
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas Ltd is gearing up for a major change in the way that it communicates with its customers via telephone… more
Parents Cautioned To Pay Closer Attention To Children’s Online Visits
Bahamas – Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon. Melanie S. Griffin, Thursday urged parents to pay closer attention to the sites their children are visiting online, adding that more and more unscrupulous persons are using those sites to advance and promote child abuse… more
URCA issues final determination and order – BTC June network outages
Bahamas – On March 7, 2013, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) issued a Final Determination and Order to the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC) regarding the operator’s network outage on June 18, 2012… more
URCA ruling as BTC data falters
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday experienced an hours-long outage of its data service on the same day the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) reaffirmed its preliminary finding that BTC breached its license last year by failing to take steps to maintain the proper and effective functioning of its telephone networks… more
Digicel Jamaica launches roaming plans
Jamaica – Digicel Jamaica has launched a roaming tariff plan family dubbed ‘Same Rates a Yaad…Same Rates Abroad’… more
Gov’t to Roll Out Islandwide Broadband Network
Jamaica – Government is in the process of rolling out an islandwide broadband network to provide universal access to digital technology for all Jamaicans… more
LIME Leads At Avaya Evolutions 2013 – Customers Validate Telco’s Platinum Status And Service
Jamaica – Telecommunications company LIME was reaffirmed in its leading position for cutting-edge business telephony systems at the annual Avaya Evolutions Expo hosted on March 13 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel… more
Men acquitted of extortion, conspiracy
Jamaica – The four men charged with extorting money from telecoms giant Digicel Jamaica were on Wednesday acquitted in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court… more
Money in cyberspace
Jamaica – As recently as five to 10 years ago, with the advent of point-of-sale card machines, consumers were constantly warned about leaving their card unattended, since with the card number and security code anyone could access the person’s money and confidential information, possibly resulting in identity theft and critical damage to credit, reputation and livelihood… more
Web-Based Information Systems Launched
Jamaica – The Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining has launched two web-based information systems geared at providing energy stakeholders with real time data… more
Samsung to open 41 stores in the Caribbean
Regional – As Samsung seeks to establish itself as the dominant technology provider in the world, the Korean company is moving to seal its presence in the Caribbean… more
The EEICTP ‘I Can’ Technology Campaign Takes Off
St. Lucia – Saint Lucians from all walks of life are being urged to embrace the power of ICT through the ‘I Can’ Technology, the official campaign slogan for the 4.3 million Euro Education Enhancement through Information and Communication Technology Programme (EEICTP)… more
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Civil society joins private media to protest radio/cable licence giveaway
Guyana – With intensified vibrancy, staffers of the National Media and Publishing Company backed by concerned supporters and members of civil society yesterday continued protest action to amplify disgust about the recent unbiased granting of radio licences by former President Bharrat Jagdeo… more
Media refuse to accept biased distribution of radio licences
Guyana – Revelations that former President Bharrat Jagdeo farmed out radio and television licences to his friends and others close to the government just before the last elections have sparked widespread concerns and a statement of defiance from privately-owned media houses… more
Radio/Cable licences scandal…Barefaced theft of limited national resources
Guyana – On September 27, 2011, former President Bharrat Jagdeo signed the Broadcasting Act 2011 into law paving the way for the Broadcasting Authority to start the process for the issuance of new television and radio licences… more
Radio licence giveaway…Ramotar claims that Jagdeo was fulfilling commitment
Guyana – President Donald Ramotar yesterday defended the granting of broadcast licences by his predecessor, Bharrat Jagdeo… more
Online scam alert issued
Jamaica – The Organised Crime Investigative Division (OCID) has issued a warning about an online scam using the website www.shopinja.com… more
Scammers Unfazed
Jamaica – Western Bureau:While the Jamaican Government is trying to stem the lottery scam, it appears that local scammers, who are being threatened with extradition, remain unfazed… more
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Frances Correia at the helm of Microsoft T&T- Technology kept calling me
Trinidad & Tobago – It was definitely not a case of love at first sight for Frances Correia and computer technology… more
Image credits: Gary Thomson (Flickr); Wikipedia; The Bahamas Weekly; Wikipedia
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