A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 11 November to Sunday 17 November 2013.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Cable ‘Geared Up’ On Number Portability
Bahamas – CABLE Bahamas says it is “geared up” and “ready to go” once number portability comes into effect next month, describing its 20 per cent fixed-line market penetration over two years as “pretty phenomenal”… more
Haiti – Economy : Digicel invested $2M in «Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze S.A.»
Haiti – “Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze S.A.”, the largest microfinance institution in Haiti, announced the signing of an equity investment of $2 million with Digicel… more
eLearning centres set up in four JDF barracks
Jamaica – Four barracks belonging to the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) have been retrofitted, to include eLearning centres, resulting in advanced training opportunities for soldiers and easier access for applicants to complete their online recruit test for the Force… more
Social Media Key To Public Relations
Jamaica – In the last few decades or so, most organisations have sought to execute their public-relations programmes through traditional mass media – a mix of print, TV, and radio – in a bid to generate positive publicity about their brand, products, and or services… more
BTP-SXM Donates Data Servers & Server Rack to MPC.
Sint Maarten – Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten donated two HP DL series rack mountable 19″ servers with dual power supplies, redundant disk including memory and processor and a 19″ equipment server rack to the ICT department of the Milton Peter College… more
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Head: Cellphones not a problem
Barbados – The ISLAND’s lone boys secondary school is reporting that it does not have a problem with cellphones. Principal of St Leonard’s Boys’, Stephen King, admitted that from time to time children would sneak cellphones on to the premises… more
CANTO Wrap October 2013
Regional – DIGICEL. Caribbean mobile operator Digicel is investing another J$4bn (US$39.1mn) in Jamaica to improve its network and customer care delivery, building on the J$7bn investment over the last two years… more
Trinidad Express journalist attacked on social media
Trinidad and Tobago – The Trinidad Express newspaper said it would not be deterred by the “unwarranted and unmeritorious assault on our journalists” and pledged to continue reporting “wrongful activities at all levels of society and in particular corruption in the State and State-controlled entities”… more
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Antigua And Barbuda WTO Gaming Negotiation Team Convenes High Level Meeting In Washington
Antigua And Barbuda – Antigua & Barbuda’s WTO Gaming Negotiation Team is slated to convene a meeting with the Office of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) on 14th November 2013 in Washington, DC. This meeting is aimed at resolving the long standing WTO cross-border supply of gaming services dispute between Antigua & Barbuda and the United States… more
Government goes to market for alternative broadband licences bidders
Jamaica – THE Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) will find out if anyone is interested in buying alternative wireless broadband licences within three weeks… more
Jamaica Moving Closer to Realizing Full E-Government Service
Jamaica – Phillip Paulwell, minister of science, technology, energy and mining, recently announced that the government has completed winding up the Central Information Technology Office and is now moving to reposition Fiscal Services as E-Government Jamaica Limited and empower it to provide general information and computer technology services to the entire public sector… more
LIME regulatory troubles add to loss
Jamaica – THE double digit growth of LIME Jamaica’s mobile subscriber base in the three months to September 30 allowed operating profit to jump four times over year-earlier levels but the telecommunications firm still made a net loss of over $600 million… more
LIME To Pour J$8B Into System Upgrade
Jamaica – Telecoms provider LIME Jamaica has started to upgrade its mobile network under a two-year project costing billions that aims to deliver improved broadband speeds of up to 21 megabits per second… more
Mixed results reported for Cable & Wireless
Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications reported a fall in pre-tax profit in the six months through September as a result of exceptional charges related to the company’s cost reduction program… more
St. Kitts and Nevis and Taiwan ink new five-year ICT Agreement
St. Kitts and Nevis – The new 2013–2018 Information Communication Technology (ICT) Agreement between the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Republic of China (Taiwan), illuminates the path towards building the Information Society that will contribute to the transformation process of the local economy… more
St. Kitts and Nevis’ new ICT Agreement will boost role in Caribbean
St. Kitts and Nevis – Taiwan’s Resident Ambassador in Basseterre, says his nation’s future cooperation in information and communication technology with the Federation “will boost St. Kitts and Nevis’ role in Caribbean region.” … more
MATT condemns online attack
Trinidad and Tobago – AN ongoing Internet-based attack on the personal and professional life of Express senior investigative journalist Asha Javeed has been condemned by the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT)… more
Thursday, 14 November 2013
BTC Union Fears Over CWC’s $100m Cost Saving Drive
Bahamas – THE UNION representing Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) line staff said yesterday it was “extremely concerned” about the potential impact its majority shareholder’s $100 million cost savings push will have on jobs, warning it would “not sit idle and let them do what they want”… more
Digicel invests J$85m in new programme
Jamaica – Telecommunications provider Digicel Jamaica has invested J$85 million in a new programme called ‘4Genius’, which allow customers to get their smart phones fully data-activated… more
LIME to funnel JMD8 billion into HSPA+ network; SMA invites EoI for new licences
Jamaica – UK-backed cellco LIME Jamaica has announced plans to invest JMD8.3 billion (USD78.78 million) over the next two years on the widespread rollout of a HSPA+ upgrade to its mobile network… more
Paulwell meets with E-Gov Board, ICT Advisory Council
Jamaica – Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Hon Phillip Paulwell today held a joint meeting with newly-appointed members of the Board of Directors of E-Government Jamaica Ltd and the National Information Communications Technology (ICT) Advisory Council at which he outlined the tasks at hand for both bodies… more
Technology lures youth into political discussions
Trinidad and Tobago – NO one can doubt that young people know technology. Growing up in the mobile Internet age means teenagers intuitively make browsing, texting and sharing a significant part of their daily lives, with bmobile as a key enabler of their immersion in that technology… more
Friday, 15 November 2013
Is the U.S. Government listening in on private phone conversations in Belize?
Belize – Visa informant Alverine Burgess has provided first-hand testimony of her financial dealings with Minister of State Edmund Castro. She has stated repeatedly that she paid Castro for each visa he would facilitate for Chinese nationals at her request. On Monday, Burgess took her allegations to another level, revealing that she had been interrogated by US investigators at the embassy in Belmopan… more
Telecoms bid for Orange Dominicana
Dominican Republic – Irish-owned telecommunications company Digicel is expected to submit a 1 billion euro offer this week for theDominican Republic operations of Orange, formerly France Telecom, as this weekend’s deadline for bids approaches… more
Internet costs too high, says Paulwell
Jamaica – MINISTER of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell says that Jamaicans are not benefitting fully from competition in the telecommunications market, due to the high cost to use the Internet… more
CWC 6M revenues slip 3% to USD935m; net income grows 26%
Regional – UK-based Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) reported consolidated revenues of USD935 million for the six months ended 30 September 2013, a decrease of 3% year-on-year. EBITDA for the period under review increased 3% y-o-y to USD298 million, while net income increased 26% to USD63 million… more
Saturday, 16 November 2013
ITU area rep praises Dominica’s ICT efforts
Dominica – Caribbean area representative for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Cleveland Thomas, who is on a familiarization visit to Dominica this week, told reporters on Friday November 15,2013, that Dominica has the potential of being recognized as a major leader using technology in the Caribbean… more
Caribbean tech project wins global innovation award
Trinidad and Tobago – With over 600 entries from 88 countries worldwide in this year’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Young Innovators’ competition, young regional entrepreneur Keston Perry and his project KUMBAConnect has emerged as one of the winners… more
Digicel close to inking major deal
Trinidad and Tobago – DIGICEL TT’s chief executive officer John Delves, says Digicel Business is, “very close to signing a deal with an extremely large company”, to provide it with cloud-based technology… more
Digicel invests $100m to boost network
Trinidad and Tobago – Telecommunications giant Digicel, which has a 55 per cent market share of the T&T market, is not interested in acquiring Cable and Wireless’ shares in rival TSTT, chief executive officer John Delves said yesterday… more
Judge warns new lawyers: Watch your Facebook posts
Trinidad and Tobago – A High Court judge yesterday advised a group of new lawyers to be mindful of their social media posts which he said may affect their future in the legal profession… more
TSTT workers to ramp up protests
Trinidad and Tobago – Workers at state-owned Telecommunications Services of T&T (TSTT) have threatened to take their protest for better wages straight to the doors of the home and office of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar… more
Sunday, 17 November 2013
BTC unveils new powerful, interactive website
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has launched a new, and more powerful and highly interactive Website as another option for customers who prefer to meet their service and products needs online instead of in-line or on the ‘phone… more
T&T to host second Startup Weekend
Trinidad and Tobago – T&T will be hosting its second Startup Weekend event during Global Entrepreneurship Week from November 22 to 24 at One Woodbrook Place, Port of Spain… more
Image credits: Gary Thomson (flickr); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia
____________
