A roundup of ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region during the period Monday 2 June to Sunday 8 June 2014.
Monday, 2 June 2014
Dominican spectrum award may face legal challenge
Dominican Republic – The Justice and Transparency Foundation (FJT) has threatened legal action over alleged corruption in the recent award of mobile spectrum licences in the Dominican Republic… more
Dominican Republic ends unregistered Sim sales
Dominican Republic –The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) announced that the ban on the sale of unregistered Sims has taken effect. … more
Indotel seeks to reduce internet prices
Dominican Republic – The president of the telecommunications regulatory body of the Dominican Republic (Indotel), Gedeón Santos, said that he is evaluating to recommend the abolition of internet taxes as part of state policy to lower the cost of access to that service… more
Cable and Wireless puts J’can in frontline position
Jamaica – Grace Silvera now world spokesperson for telecoms giant… more
Digicel Postpaid Customers Share $10,000
Saint Kitts and Nevis – It certainly pays to pay your Digicel bill in full by the 10th of each month; and ten loyal postpaidcustomers so far can attest to this fact as well… more
TelEm Group preparing Ascension Day service interruption report for telecom regulator
Sint Maarten – TelEm Group is reporting a 100% restoration of international telecommunication service following a major outage on Ascension Day – May 29th… more
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Eight Licences Maximum Is Likely For Webshops
Bahamas – THE government will likely award a maximum of eight web shop licences as it moves to regulate the sector, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe told The Tribune yesterday… more
Syniverse to Provide LTE Roaming Trial Environment for Bahamas Telecommunications Company
Bahamas – Syniverse today announced it has signed an agreement with Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to provide an LTE roaming trial environment that will enable BTC’s transition to 4G roaming services… more
‘Glitch’ crashes Web service across Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic – Internet service from the telecom Claro crashed across Dominican Republic Monday afternoon, attributed to glitches… more
Cops On Lottery Scam Fight: We Can’t Do Much More
Jamaica – The Jamaican police say there is not much more they can do in the fight against lottery scamming…more
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Bahamas lawyers up to deal with NSA spying
Bahamas – The government of the Bahamas has hired American lawyers to help with U.S. surveillance, after a report alleged that the National Security Agency was monitoring all the island nation’s calls… more
Bahamas Ministry of Education and Microsoft sign agreement to improve technology
Bahamas – The Bahamas Government has teamed up with Microsoft in a partnership agreement planned to further advance trends in technology that will result in changes in the way students and teachers work, learn and live… more
Bahamas To Take US Spying Claims To OAS
Bahamas – A Bahamas foreign service team will travel to Paraguay this week to address the Organization of American States (OAS) on the controversial allegations that the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States is recording and storing audio from every cell phone conversation in The Bahamas… more
Cell phones banned from classroom
Cayman Islands – In a bid to stamp out cyber-bullying, cell phones will be banned from all public schools… more
CARICOM needs to be prepared for data revolution, Grenada forum warned
Regional – As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) seeks to position itself to take advantage of the data revolution, it has been cautioned to prepare for an increased demand for information and a difference in the way it is collected and disseminated… more
Moonilal: Rowley pushing cyber spying
Trinidad and Tobago – UNITED National Congress (UNC) deputy political leader and Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal has accused the People’s National Movement (PNM) and its leader, Dr Keith Rowley, of instigating a cyber-spying society… more
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Bahamas powerless to stop U.S. spying, says Gray
Bahamas – The Bahamas government cannot stop the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States from listening to cell phone conversations in The Bahamas, Minister of Agriculture V. Alfred Gray said yesterday… more
CTEX At The IMN New York Conference “Staying Ahead Of The Curve On Services”
Curacao – As datacenters continue to evolve, service providers and enterprise customers alike are facing dramatic industry shifts… more
Officials warn of prepaid phones in crimes, but mum of latest ‘perp’ killings
Dominican Republic – Telecoms have more than five million unregistered prepaid phones that will be suspended by Dominican Republic’s regulator, Indotel, National Police Manuel Castro warned Tuesday, just days after numerous killings of alleged criminals by agents… more
Authorities clamping down on use of cellphones while driving
Jamaica – Government, through the tabling of a revised Road Traffic Bill in Parliament, has announced plans to clamp down on the use of cellular phones and other electronic hand-held devices by motorists while driving… more
Virtual Educa a ‘huge success’
Regional – A future of technology-driven learning may be closer than you think. At the Virtual Educa conference held on May 19 and 20 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, technology players, international education experts, schools officials and students came together for expert workshops and training seminars… more
New Open Data Project to Support Business Innovation and Transparency in the Caribbean
Saint Lucia – St Lucia is taking the first step in making government data easily and freely accessible online… more
‘Internet the good, bad and ugly’
Trinidad and Tobago – Nazir Alladin, deputy chairman of the Board of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has said because of the need to constantly promote cyber-safety awareness, will be partnering with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to launch a sensitisation programme at the end of June… more
Teleios cops another Microsoft Global award
Trinidad and Tobago – A local software development company has won a global award – the Microsoft YouthSpark Citizenship Award for its annual Code Jam programme… more
TSTT records $505m loss
Trinidad and Tobago – State-controlled Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) has recorded a loss of more than half-a-billion dollars for its financial year ended March 31, 2014… more
Understanding bitcoin and virtual-currency
Trinidad and Tobago – The T&T Computer Society (TTCS) invites anyone who wants to learn more about bitcoin and ‘virtual-currencies’ to a tech meeting on Saturday at UWI open campus, Gordon Street, St Augustine from 3 pm to 5 pm… more
Friday, 6 June 2014
D.N.A. To Join March For Freedom Of Information
Bahamas – THE Democratic National Alliance (DNA) will join activists, environmentalists and members of the trade union movement among others in a march and demonstration in Rawson Square on June 11 to agitate for the prompt implementation of a Freedom of Information Act… more
Bar Opposes Barrow – Bar & Opposition Leader Reject Barrow’s Re-Appointment of Judge
Belize – The Belize Bar Association has bucked heads with Prime Minister Dean Barrow again over the proposed re-appointment of Justice Samuel Awich to the Court of Appeal… more
Police backup drives also corrupted in computer crash
Cayman Islands – Searches continued Thursday for a large amount of apparently irretrievable Royal Cayman Islands Police Service data, with a new revelation that some of the government’s backup drives used to store the information were also corrupted during a major server malfunction… more
Haiti – Training : Planning for the next phase of the MIT-Haiti Initiative
Haiti – Thursday, Laurent Lamothe joins MIT Sloan Executive Education faculty and administrators and MIT-Haiti Initiative leaders for a planning session on the next phase of the MIT-Haiti Initiative, a joint partnership between MIT, Haitian educators, and the Haitian government… more
Flow now has half of fixed broadband market
Jamaica – TELECOMS provider FLOW gained nearly half of the broadband internet market from main rival LIME, according to the regulator, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR)… more
‘Full mobile penetration by 2016’
Jamaica – TELECOMMUNICATIONS provider LIME aims to get the entire population using Internet on their mobile phone within two years… more
Puerto Rico announces $17 million investment at tech summit
Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico has announced a $17 million investment to create an ultra-high-speed internet network to serve the island’s growing technology sector, which translates to up to $289 million in return… more
gen-E and Columbus Communications to Co-present on Accelerated Incident Resolution at Gartner IT Infrastructure & Operations Management Summit
Regional – gen-E, provider of a fully integrated approach to accelerating incident resolution in network and IT operations, today announced that the company’s chief technology officer, Duke Tantiprasut Ph.D., and the chief information officer of Columbus Communications, Andre Foster, will co-present at Gartner IT Infrastructure & Operations Management (IOM) Summit… more
LIME St. Kitts Music Festival App Goes Live!
Saint Kitts and Nevis – Full Service Telecommunications Provider, LIME has partnered with local company CaribApp (a division of Caribbean Commerce) to deliver the first ever mobile app for the St. Kitts Music Festival… more
$115m profit for OCM
Trinidad and Tobago – For another consecutive year, One Caribbean Media Ltd’s (OCM) profit margins have remained healthy, with the Group’s 2013 revenues increasing by 12 per cent… more
Saturday, 7 June 2014
Internet Coverage delivers SOL Rally Barbados to global audience
Barbados – For the first time ever, petrol heads around the world were able to witness SOL Rally Barbados streamed live over the internet… more
CEO: TSTT’s financial position still strong
Trinidad and Tobago – TSTT’s acting CEO George Hill said despite an estimated total comprehensive loss for the year of $505 million, the company’s financial position remains strong… more
CWU calls for forensic audit into operations
Trinidad and Tobago – John Julien, general secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), yesterday called on Finance Minister Larry Howai to launch a forensic audit into the financial operations of TSTT… more
“I’ve been hacked!” Moonilal angry over PNM e-mail leak exposing anti-Rowley campaign
Trinidad and Tobago – Accusing the Opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) of hacking into his e-mail, United National Congress (UNC) deputy leader Roodal Moonilal says he’s turning over to his attorney the issue of certain e-mails the PNM revealed on a San Juan platform on Thursday night… more
New email scandal
Trinidad and Tobago – GOVERNMENT Chief Whip Dr Roodal Moonilal yesterday said he would seek legal advice and described as “disturbing” what he said was the apparent interception of private emails of Government and public officials… more
UNC e-mail urges ‘full-scale’ attack to bring down Dr Rowley
Trinidad and Tobago – Always refer to him as Rowley, not Dr Keith Rowley… more
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Technology boosts medical symposium
Jamaica – THROUGH a $1.2-million sponsorship deal with Columbus Business Solutions (CBS), medical professionals are able to access their journals, consult with their peers, make live data-enabled presentations, complete on-the-spot surveys, and respond to emergencies remotely at this weekend’s Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ) 49th annual symposium under way at the Jamaica Pegasus… more
Moonilal beefs up Internet security
Trinidad and Tobago – Housing Minister and Leader of Government business, Dr Roodal Moonilal, has increased his Internet security to stop hackers from accessing private and sensitive e-mails… more
TSTT’s plans to spend $4.3 bn for recovery
Trinidad and Tobago – In the face of a total comprehensive loss for its 2014 financial year that it estimated at over $500 million, TSTT has come up with a five-year strategic plan that envisages the majority state-owned telecommunications provider returning to profitability by the end of its current financial year in March 2015… more
Image credits: Mars Hill Church (flickr); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Flow; Wikipedia
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It will be great if lime achieves this. As it will help to push forward and make my app “Jamaica Treasures” which was released in the google play store last Thursday more accessible.