Roundup: for the week ending 18 October 2015 | ICT Pulse – The leading technology blog in the Caribbean

A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 12 October to Sunday 18 October 2015.

Monday, 12 October 2015

Public servants to be trained in ICT services – Harmon

Guyana – The public sector is expected to benefit significantly when the Guyana Government embarks upon Information and Communication Technology (ICT). And while the ultimate beneficiaries will be the Guyanese citizenry, public servants will also benefit from training in ICT services… more

Five men sentenced for lottery scamming

Jamaica – Five men were last week convicted for lottery scamming when they appeared in the St James Circuit Court… more

LIME Jamaica chairman quits to return to entrepreneurship

Jamaica – Former chairman of LIME Jamaica Chris Dehring has left the telecommunications company… more

BUSINESS BYTE: Flow pumps up the volume with prepaid Deezer Music App

Regional – Music lovers across the Caribbean will enjoy greater access to the popular Deezer music streaming app, as LIME extends the music app’s premium service to include prepaid account holders… more

LIME offices closed

Saint Kitts and Nevis – LIME wishes to notify its customers and the general public that its Retail Stores on St. Kitts and Nevis will be closed on Tuesday 13th October and Thursday 15th October… more

Business incubator comes to St. Lucia

Saint Lucia – Entrepreneurs, owners, operators and managers of small to medium firms are set to benefit from the Accelerate Caribbean regional incubation support program designed by InfoDev (The World Bank Group) to strengthen innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation across CARICOM… more

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

A&B attends ECTEL meeting as observer

Antigua and Barbuda – Antigua & Barbuda will be best served if the country joins the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL)… more

Technicians Tackle Cable Bahamas Outage

Bahamas – CABLE Bahamas technicians were working last night to restore cable television service to customers in Nassau, Abaco, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera after equipment failure in the company’s transport facility on Robinson Road led to an outage… more

Astaphan sends warning to media workers, radio callers

Dominica – Senior Counsel, Tony Astaphan, has warned media workers and callers to radio programs to make sure they get their facts straight on what they say or otherwise they should ‘head to the hills… more

Gov’t tablet initiative applauded

Dominica – Minister for Information, Science, Telecommunication and Technology, Kelvar Darroux has applauded the government for setting the foundation to equip students with tools to be more efficient learners, through the ‘One Tablet Per Child’ initiative… more

ICT Center of Excellence moving to second phase

Dominica – Minister for Information, Science, Telecommunications and Technology Kelver Darroux has announced that a technical team from India is presently on island to assess the Centre of Excellence and Innovation for ICT, which is moving to its second phase… more

All ICT projects expenditure were approved –NFMU head

Guyana – While the findings of a forensic audit into the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) point to some “glaring acts of corruption” the Head of the entity, Valmikki Singh, is contending that this is not the case… more

New Cybercrimes Act to be debated today

Jamaica – The new Cybercrimes Act, which seeks to protect the country from cyber criminal activities, is to be debated in Parliament today… more

Software developer on fraud rap

Jamaica – A software developer who allegedly failed to honour a commitment to design a fitness application is now before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on a charge of fraudulent conversion… more

Cable and Wireless Communications secures EPL rights

Regional – STARTING NEXT season, the English Premier League will have a new home in the Caribbean… more

C&W Networks Executes 20-Year Agreement on Allied Fiber’s Southeast Network

Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications subsidiary collaborates with Allied Fiber to expand its Florida presence… more

Column: Open Letter To Digicel About WhatsApp

Regional – Dear Digicel, Like thousands of other Bermuda residents, my family have been faithful customers of yours for nearly ten years… more

Digicel to block ads on mobile network

Regional – Digicel plans to install ad blocking software on its network, stopping online advertisers from reaching Digicel’s mobile Web users beginning Nov. 11, the company has announced… more

Flow not following Digicel’s lead in blocking ads, for now

Regional – Garfield Sinclair, Managing Director of Flow Jamaica, has declared that his company will not be following Digicel in its recent move to block ads of internet companies such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo… more

CARCIP funds youth ICT skills programme

Saint Lucia – Applications are invited for entry into the CARCIP Information Communication Technology (ICT) Skills Development programme… more

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Cable Bahamas restoration program in full swing for islands affected by Joaquin

Bahamas – In the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin, Cable Bahamas Ltd has completed its assessments of the affected areas in the central and southern Bahamas and the company has commenced its restoration program… more

Cable Bahamas Team Starts To Restore Services

Bahamas – CABLE Bahamas has started the process of restoring service to the central and south eastern Bahama islands which were severely affected by Hurricane Joaquin… more

Still no buyer for fibre network

Barbados – Increased efforts are on to find a buyer for the fibre infrastructure Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has been mandated to offload to a new market entrant in Barbados… more

BVI’s Minister Of Education And Culture Condemns Cyber Bullying

British Virgin Islands – There’s been a surge in cyber bullying here in various forms, including the sharing of videos showing two consenting persons enjoying intimate moments, with such videos being posted on social media platforms… more

Goodwill Secondary School students receive tablets

Dominica – Students of the Goodwill Secondary School have joined six other secondary schools who have received tablets as part of the government’s One Tablet Per Child’ initiative on Wednesday 14 October 2015… more

Gov’t to launch Dominica Internal Directory Mobile App

Dominica – The Government of Dominica through the Information, Communication and Technology Unit is beginning to utilize mobile applications thus engendering continuous citizen engagement as well as enable them to understand and access important government information and services… more

Editorial: Targeting The Scammers

Jamaica – Jamaican authorities have blamed this year’s explosion in murders, mostly in western Jamaica, on gangs grappling for the spoils from so-called lottery scamming, the swindling enterprise in which mostly elderly Americans are tricked into parting with large sums of money on the assumption that they will win even more cash… more

Jamaican start-up Amber Connect heads to Web Summit

Jamaica – LOCAL start-up technology company Amber Connect has been invited to attend Web Summit 2015 in Dublin, Ireland. CEO of Amber Connect, Dushyant Savadia, told the Jamaica Observer that his company “will be one of the first technology start-up companies in Jamaica and the Caribbean to be chosen as an exhibitor/presenter at the prestigious event.” … more

Jamaica to debate new cyber crime legislation

Jamaica – The Jamaica parliament will begin debating new cybercrime legislation on Wednesday allowing for new offences such as computer-related fraud or forgery; the use of computers for malicious communication; and unauthorised disclosure of investigation… more

House passes Cybercrimes Bill

Jamaica – The House of Representatives has passed the Cybercrimes Bill, which repeals and replaces the 2010 Act… more

OUR, FLOW to meet as customer complaints increase

Jamaica – The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is to meet with the leadership of FLOW on Friday amidst a sharp increase in the number of customer complaints against the rebranded telecommunications provider… more

Caribbean countries likely to insulate TV spectrum from telecom companies

Regional – Caribbean countries might have to end up passing laws to protect a segment of the radio frequency spectrum that telephone companies badly need to offer new services, according to the Secretary General of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), Sonia Gill… more

What is cloud computing and what are the benefits?

Regional – The definition of “Cloud Computing” in essence is the delivery (on demand), of IT resources and applications via the internet with pricing based on a pay-as-you-go model… more

Thursday, 15 October 2015

CCJ denies Bar Association application to extend nationalization cases

Belize – The consolidated appeals of the so-called “Ashcroft Alliance” against the Government of Belize over the two acquisitions of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) and Belize Electricity Limited are finally at an end following an appearance by all parties today in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), via video-conference… more

Digicel launches new data and talk plan

Dominica – Roseau, Dominica: Digicel is giving customers a new and exciting way to stay connected with the launch of its “Data Plus Free Talk” plan – just in time for the independence season… more

Dominica Grammar School Receives Tablets

Dominica – On Monday, October 12th, more than 700 students of the Dominica Grammar School received their tablets… more

Digicel Celebrates 12 Years In Grenada

Grenada – October 17th 2015 marks 12 years of business for Digicel in Grenada. Along with this celebration, Digicel has announced further expansion of their services through the introduction of a best in class fibre network… more

Software company team meets Harmon

Guyana – Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday met with a team from EON Reality, a global software service provider… more

Cable Operators Should Consider Compensating Customers For Lost Channels – Green

Jamaica – The executive director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, Cordell Green, says telecommunications company, FLOW, and other cable operators should consider compensating customers who lost premium channels earlier this year… more

FLOW Chides OUR Over ‘Unwarranted, Sensational’ Announcement

Jamaica – Telecommunications provider, FLOW has issued a statement chiding the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) for announcing through the media that it wanted to meet with company about increased customer complaints… more

House passes Cybercrimes Act; fine for breaches moves to $4 million

Jamaica – MINISTER of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Julian Robinson has indicated that data protection legislation for Jamaica’s cyber space should be in place by 2016/17… more

Jamaicans urged to protect personal security in cyberspace

Jamaica – STATE minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Julian Robinson wants Jamaicans to exercise greater care in protecting their personal security in cyberspace… more

Teething Pains For New FLOW

Jamaica – THE EDITOR, Sir: I really don’t know what to make of this FLOW/cable issue… more

Double the data for Digicel customers

Saint Kitts and Nevis – Digicel is giving its prepaid customers more data for the month of October so that they can surf, stream and share at superfast speeds with the launch of its Double Data promotion… more

Cyberwarriors with Calculators

Trinidad and Tobago – Computers, servers and the Internet are indispensable tools for financial professionals, and yet they are under relentless attack… more

YuppTV launched in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago – The world’s leading over-the-top (OTT) content provider for South Asian Content made headlines by launching YuppTV in Trinidad and Tobago with a sensational live concert by the renowned and popular singer Atif Aslam… more

Friday, 16 October 2015

Flow hires hundreds to fix faults

Barbados – With the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) expressing concern over the number of complaints from Flow customers, the telecommunications company which recently merged with LIME has hired an additional 200 workers in order to fix the problems… more

FLOW seeking to enhance customer experience

Barbados – In an effort to deliver the greatest possible customer service, Flow has been working to address a number of customer complaints following the rolling out of its brand a few months ago, with much success… more

Belize Internet Marketing and Website Design Unveils the New Website of Maya Walk Tours

Belize – Belize Internet Marketing and Website Design is thrilled to unveil the new website for Maya Walk Tours (www.mayawalk.com)… more

Will social media impact the general elections?

Belize – Facebook has become Belize’s latest and perhaps most popular communication forum. Belizeans are connected to “friends” across the street, throughout Belize, in the Diaspora and around the world… more

Bloggers who attack are not BVIslanders – Gov

British Virgin Islands – While calling for citizens of the British Virgin Islands to rise up against persons who use social media to attack others, Governor John Duncan yesterday ambiguously declared that bloggers who carry out similar attacks on news sites in the territory are not BVIslanders… more

Government’s Computer Services boss retires

Cayman Islands – The director of the government’s Computer Services Department, Gilbert McLaughlin, has retired after more than 30 years in the department… more

GT&T shares… Chinese buyer collects dividends; still to finish paying

Guyana – The Chinese buyer of the 20 per cent shares, once owned by the Government of Guyana in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T), is currently being treated as the minority shareholder in the company… more

74% increase in Flow complaints — OUR

Jamaica – THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) will be meeting with Flow today following a 74 per cent increase in the number of service interruption complaints from its customers over the 2015 April-June quarter… more

CXC Store launches In-Store Subscription Purchase with ‘GO’ Jamaica

Jamaica – The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) and Macmillan Education have partnered with Facey Group to launch an additional payment option for accessing digital CXC past papers via www.cxc-store.com… more

FLOW Hits Back At OUR

Jamaica – FLOW yesterday lashed the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) over its announcement that it wished to meet with the telecoms firm regarding increased customer complaints… more

Increase use of technology in fighting crime, says UWI professor

Jamaica – A University of the West Indies (UWI) professor is calling for the increased use of technology by developing countries, including Jamaica, to assist in the fight against crime… more

Jamaican techpreneurs head to Slush 2015 in Finland

Jamaica – Despite the limited resources and the small geographic and population size of Jamaica, Robert Whitehorne, project manager for PitchIT Caribbean, is hoping that the country will announce its arrival to the worldwide app-developing industry next month in Finland at the Slush 2015 Global Impact Accelerator… more

OUR meets today with FLOW about customer complaints

Jamaica – THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) willl today meet with the leadership of FLOW to discuss the sharp increase in the number of customer complaints… more

CBU president Bolai to serve on IAPA board

Regional – Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) president Shida Bolai has been elected to the board of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA)… more

ECTEL Concerned About Push By Telecoms Providers To Raise Rates

Regional – The telecommunications landscape in the Eastern Caribbean is changing and in the absence of strong regulatory mechanisms, a push is on for consumers to pay more for telecom services… more

ECTEL Council of Ministers Meet in St. Kitts

Regional – The Council of Ministers of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) is meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis, this week, for the 32nd meeting… more

E-Commerce Legislation and the Way Forward in the Greater Caribbean

Regional – Electronic Commerce or E-Commerce as it is most often referred to is defined as commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet; the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the Internet… more

‘Stop blocking OTT services’

Regional – Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) managing director Embert Charles has issued that directive to telecommunications operators providing service in ECTEL member states – Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, and Dominica… more

Freedom of Speech and Expression under attack in St Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis – The private residence of businessman and radio station owner, A U Browne, a severe critic of Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris/PAM/CCM Government was riddled with bullets in the wee hours of Wednesday morning… more

Saturday, 17 October 2015

Minister says fixing Internet speeds would be costly

Antigua and Barbuda – Information Minister Melford Nicholas has announced that a new fibre optic network could cost the country at least $US 40 million… more

Broadcast Commission tunes in to cable disquiet

Jamaica – LOCAL cable regulator, the Broadcasting Commission, has weighed in on the disquiet among local subscribers to the service… more

Opposition calls for data protection, privacy legislation

Jamaica – ANDREW Wheatley, the Opposition’s spokesman on science, ICT and digital society development, says he welcomes the move by the Government to amend sections of the Cybercrimes Bill in light of concerns raised by the Jamaica Labour Party and other stakeholders… more

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Communications, AG Vincent Byron, assumes Chairmanship of ECTEL

Regional – The Honourable Senator Vincent Fitzgerald Byron, who holds the portfolio of Minister of Communications but who also is the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs in the Team Unity Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, has assumed chairmanship of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) Council of Ministers, taking over from Honourable Gregory Bowen, Minister of Communications, Works, Physical Development, Public Utilities and ICT in Grenada and the Grenadines… more

Lime St. Kitts-Nevis is the New Flow

Saint Kitts and Nevis – Flow has now replaced Lime St. Kitts-Nevis as the new retail brand for Cable & Wireless in the country… more

Sunday, 18 October 2015

Computers in schools

Guyana – The old-fashioned teachers’ brigade will be savouring an ‘I told you so’ moment, while the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) aficionados would no doubt feel somewhat chagrined… more

Digicel satisfies customer who misunderstood roaming plan

Jamaica – Dear Claudienne: On July 15 I sent an e-mail to Digicel’s customer service director complaining that Digicel failed to activate ‘Roam Like You’re Home’ as I requested, before travelling overseas… more

Gov’t reshapes OUR’s regulatory powers

Jamaica – MINISTER of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining, Phillip Paulwell says that changes to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) Act, approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, will strengthen the regulation of the electricity sector… more

FLOW launches first flagship superstore in west

Jamaica – QUAD play telecoms provider FLOW has committed to delivering “a world-class portfolio of quad play retail environments” at its new state-of-the- art customer experience centre in Fairview Montego Bay yesterday… more

Flow Says Well Done To Chris Dehring

Jamaica – Outgoing Chairman of LIME Jamaica (now FLOW), Chris Dehring was showered with praise at a farewell reception held in his honour in Beverly Hills, St Andrew recently… more