Roundup: for the week ending 24 April 2016

A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 18 April to Sunday 24 April 2016.

Monday, 18 April 2016

Digicel Barbados apologises for misleading mobile ad

Barbados – Digicel Barbados has been forced to apologise to its mobile customers for misleading advertising after receiving a rebuke from the country’s Fair Trading Commission (FTC), reports Barbados Today… more

Talk about having an IMPACT…

Cayman Islands – Internet and tech industry leaders and marketing experts from across the globe converged on Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman for the Internet Marketing Association’s (IMA) IMPACT16 Cayman conference co-hosted by Cayman Enterprise City… more

It’s time to make Haiti’s 40+ community radio stations legit

Haiti – Reading the Miami Herald’s piece on Haiti’s 40 or so community radio stations, I kept wondering to myself, are they legal or not? The article says these signals are “difficult to locate” and have “no official listings and, under Haitian law, the stations do not exist.” … more

Arcep publishes additional details on LTE auction in overseas territories

Regional – France’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes, Arcep) has published additional details on the call for applications for the allocation of available 3G/4G spectrum in the French overseas territories (‘departement d’outre-mer’, DOM) of Guadeloupe, Guyana, Reunion, Martinique, Mayotte, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy… more

Marketing Strategies Today: Three must-have Instagram analytics tools

Regional – Is your business ready for Instagram’s algorithm? … more

Digicel collaborates with Local Visitor Channel

Saint Kitts and Nevis – New initiatives and collaborations are always prosperous when it comes to the Digicel brand, and here is the latest one for which the telecommunications firm is shouting about… more

No Sunday calls on TSTT

Trinidad and Tobago – “EMERGENCY calls only”, was the message tens of thousands of Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT) customers across the country received yesterday, when they tried to make calls on their mobile phones… more

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Call made for development of Dominican cyber content

Dominica – Director of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Craig Nesty, has called for further investment in the development of the Dominican cyber content… more

Dominica advances national broadband strategy development

Dominica – The development of a National Broadband Strategy for defining the way forward in the ICT Sector is the anticipated outcome of a four-day national consultation… more

Flow shows off latest technology at Expo Jamaica

Jamaica – FLOW, telecommunications partner for the biennial Expo Jamaica 2016, which ended yesterday, pulled out all the stops to impress patrons with a dazzling technology display that had patrons ‘wowed’ over at the National Arena… more

ECTEL Gets Tough With Telecoms Companies

Regional – THE Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Company (ECTEL) is preparing to take on telecommunications providers over a number of issues that have created stumbling blocks between the two entities over the past years… more

Extend battery life

Regional – Prolonging the battery life of your smartphone is quite simpler than you think… more

Regional tech community gathers in Jamaica

Regional – Anyone interested in the development of the Internet in Caribbean may have already heard of CaribNOG, the Caribbean Network Operators Group… more

Taxing online purchases will not deter consumers

Sint Maarten – One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP) says taxing online purchases will not deter consumers from purchasing their necessities via the Internet as it will still be cheaper than purchasing from stores in St. Maarten… more

Wednesday, 20 April 2016

Flow land lines suffer outage

Cayman Islands – Telecommunications provider Flow experienced outages on Wednesday affecting its fixed-line services, including inbound and outbound calls… more

ICT Center of Excellence moves to next phase

Dominica – The establishment of an ICT Center of Excellence in Dominica is moving to a next phase with a three-man delegation from India arriving on the island… more

INFORMATION MINISTER WANTS ICT POLICIES TO TRANSLATE INTO ACTION

Dominica – The Hon Minister for Information, Science, Telecommunications and Technology, Kelver Darroux on Tuesday, April 19th challenged participants of a National Broadband Consultation to put the policies that Government has implemented into action… more

NTRC challenged to ‘make greater use’ of Universal Service Fund

Dominica – The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) has been challenged to make greater use of the Universal Service Fund… more

Dominican Republic Sees First Bitcoin ATM In Santo Domingo

Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic is not a place most people would associate with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency,.. more

Govt not finding Chinese company’s payment for shares in GTT

Guyana – The almost one-year old coalition-led government says a recent trip to China for a US$5 million debt supposedly owed by a telecoms company for Guyana’s shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has turned up more questions than cash… more

Masakenari hooked up to internet

Guyana – Masakenari, a Wai Wai village in the deep south of Guyana now has an internet connection after complaining about the difficulty in communicating with the rest of the country… more

ECTEL clarifies position on LIME/Columbus merger

Regional – The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) said it has taken steps to utilize legislative tools, to ensure that it keeps the environment open for competition in the telecommunications sector… more

Liberty Global Receives Shareholder Approval for Acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications Plc

Regional – Liberty Global plc (“Liberty Global”) (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB, LBTYK, LILA and LILAK) is pleased to announce that at the General Meeting of Shareholders held today, its shareholders approved all proposals put to a vote in connection with the acquisition of all outstanding and to be issued shares of Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (“CWC”) (LSE: CWC)… more

Thursday, 21 April 2016

BUSINESSES HIT BY CYBER CRIME

Antigua and Barbuda – Police last night issued a warning to residents of the twin island nation, alerting them of the need to be extremely cautious when using the internet for financial and business transactions, as hackers have fraudulently diverted large sums of monies from local businesses and professionals to accounts overseas… more

NTRC wants broadband strategy to focus on local content

Dominica – The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) is hopeful that the development of a National Broadband Strategy for Dominica will also focus on creation of local content and not just connectivity… more

Guyana, India sign US$1M MoU for information technology centre

Guyana – Guyana and India yesterday signed a US$1 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the setting up of an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre of Excellence in Guyana, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said… more

US$5 million from sale of GT&T shares unaccounted for

Guyana – Government has obtained documents which show that the US$5M thought to be outstanding from the sale of GT&T shares was collected prior to President David Granger taking office and efforts are underway to detect the money trail, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman says… more

US$30M GTT sale of shares…Coalition Govt. searches for missing US$5M

Guyana – In 2012, the then Government under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) announced that it had sold its 20 percent shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) to Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group for US$30M… more

Legislation for digital society

Jamaica – Energy, Science and Technology Minister, Dr Andrew Wheatley, says several pieces of legislation are in the offing to transform Jamaica into a digital society… more

More public school students, teachers to get tablets

Jamaica – A sum of $700 million has been allocated in the 2016/2017 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House, to continue the utilisation of tablet computers to increase learning opportunities for students… more

Gov’t, Telecoms Companies To Butt Heads Again?

Regional – INTERESTING times are ahead in the telecommunications sector that are reminiscent of the 1998-2000 era when then Communications Minister, Calixte George Sr., and some of his ministerial colleagues in the Windward islands, took on the telecommunications giant, Cable & Wireless and ended its monopoly… more

Cyber-bullying a growing concern

Trinidad and Tobago – SECONDARY school principals yesterday warned a Parliament committee that cyber-bullying is becoming more of a problem…more

Friday, 22 April 2016

Beware of cyber crime threat, warns IT expert

Antigua and Barbuda – Antigua & Barbuda information technology expert Yves Ephraim has confirmed that cyber crime is on the increase and people should be on “high alert”… more

E-Commerce strategy highly praised by Rolle

Bahamas – The E-Commerce Strategy Training Seminar hosted by the Invest Grand Bahama Small Business Bureau (IGBSBB) at Canal House, Pelican Bay Resort this past Wednesday and Thursday provided attendees with vital information guaranteed to revolutionize business operations for Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licensees, small and medium sized entities as well as budding entrepreneurs… more

candw.ky emails hacked, warns ICTA cyber team

Cayman Islands – Cayman’s Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT-KY), a new branch of the Information Technology and Communications Authority dealing with online threats, has issued a public ‘cybersecurity alert’ after it was discovered that some candw.ky email accounts have been compromised… more

Dominican Republic Unveils Plans to Bolster ICT Infrastructure

Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic is going to invest millions of dollars in an ambitious program aimed at stimulating the digital economy and generating thousands of jobs in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector… more

India plugs US$1M for start-up of ICT training centre at UG

Guyana – The Government of Guyana, through the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, on Wednesday signed a US$1M Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Government via its High Commissioner in Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam, for the establishment of an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre of Excellence… more

Who bought the GTT shares?

Guyana – More controversy now surrounds the sale of the 20 percent shares that the Government of Guyana held in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT)… more

Ramotar denies gov’t claim over US$5M for GTT shares

Guyana – Former President Donald Ramotar yesterday denied a claim by government that US$5M owed by a Chinese company as an outstanding payment for shares in GTT had been paid over to his administration prior to the May 11, 2015 general elections… more

Innovation up, but globally Jamaica ranks below par

Jamaica – Jamaica has improved in the Global Innovative Index (GII) 2015, released this week by The Economist, moving from a rank of 121 to 96… more

Saint Lucia welcomes the new FLOW!

Saint Lucia – Last weekend there was excitement all over St Lucia as the country welcomed the new Flow following the unveiling of the new brand which was done in grand style… more

FIRE for FLOW

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – So Camillo finally has something to say about cable TV rates, and it is a backward step, in an attempt to conciliate irate subscribers… more

Saturday, 23 April 2016

Dominican Republic’s low production the key hurdle to innovate

Dominican Republic – Low production and absorption of knowledge and weak regulatory and business environment are the main obstacles challenging innovation in the Dominican Republic, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative Flora Montealegre affirmed Tuesday… more

National Id System On Track

Jamaica – The National Identification System (NIDS) project remains on track for full implementation by 2020, Project Director in the Office of the Prime Minister Denzil Plummer noted… more

Government invests heavily to enhance police telecoms

Saint Kitts and Nevis – Communication between elements of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force operating in the field is expected to be much clearer with the installation of a Digital Radio System… more

Earning US dollars online

Trinidad and Tobago – There are fiercely independent and enterprising souls in T&T desperately working their way around the limitations of this backward country to find success in the global world of e-commerce… more

Sunday, 24 April 2016

GT&T shares…Datang and Hong Kong Telecom are related companies- Nandlall clarifies

Guyana – Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall has sought to bring some kind of clarity to the recent mix-up surrounding the controversial sale of government’s 20 percent share in the Guyana telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company… more

The radio licences fiasco….Pres. Granger says you cannot correct the wrongs by multiplying the cases

Guyana – Much has been said in the media about the need for the coalition administration to right a number of the irregularities in the local broadcasting sector… more

Consumers turned off by TV warranty problem

Jamaica – Dear Claudienne, On September 12, 2015, my husband and I purchased a Blackpoint Smart TV, model # BP49SMT, Serial #1410087M00167 at a store downtown Kingston… more

Technology Innovation Fund to be created

Jamaica – Minister of Energy, Science and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley says the Government is moving to make Jamaica the Caribbean’s leading producer of technology, through the creation of a Technology Innovation Fund… more

TSTT wants former director to repay $$

Trinidad and Tobago – A former director of TSTT received a US$9,000 per diem to attend an international conference on behalf of the majority State-owned telecommunications company but he did not go… more

 

Image credits:  GotCredit (flickr);  ECTEL;  Wikipedia;  Wikipedia;  

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