A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 29 August to Sunday 4 September 2016.
Monday, 29 August 2016
GBPA/ItelBPO partnership building Freeport’s ICT Industry
Bahamas – As the new school year gets underway in a few days, hundreds of 12th graders on Grand Bahama will have fresh opportunities to effectively prepare themselves for either higher education, or post-graduation employment opportunities; owing to a new skills based training initiative created to support Grand Bahama’s recently established Call Center Industry… more
URCA releases Responses to SMP in Call Termination for Mobile for NewCo
Bahamas – On 15 July 2016, URCA published for consultation its “Preliminary Determination on the Assessment of Significant Market Power in Mobile Call and Short Messaging Termination Services on NewCo2015 Limited’s Cellular Mobile Network in The Bahamas pursuant to Section 39(1) of the Communications Act, 2009” (ECS 17/2016)… more
INSPIRE BVI: The rise of Guy Malone
British Virgin Islands – He has been prodded persistently to extend his reach into the political arena… more
WiFi comes to GT community parks
Cayman Islands – In an initiative intended to foster more community interaction and aid communications accessibility, former George Town MLA Ellio Solomon is in the process of providing free password-protected WiFi capabilities to several downtown community parks… more
Marketing Strategies Today: The best tools for creating viral content
Regional – It used to be a tall order to create viral content. But gone are the days when only a selected few could wow readers with their content… more
SCOTIABANK RECOGNISED AS 2016 WORLD’S BEST CONSUMER DIGITAL BANK IN 23 COUNTRIES BY GLOBAL FINANCE
Regional – Scotiabank has been recognized by Global Finance magazine as the 2016 Best Consumer Digital Bank in Barbados. The bank has also won the award in Canada and 21 other countries across the Caribbean and Latin America. The announcement comes on the heels of Scotiabank receiving the award for Best Digital Strategy of 2016 by Retail Banker International… more
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Michael Finnegan Surprised that P.U.P. Did Not Speak on B.T.L. Settlement
Belize – Litigation in respect of the compensation award, following government’s acquisition of B.T.L. in 2009 is ongoing… more
Opposition Leader Blames Speaker for B.T.L. Settlement Not Being Debated
Belize – During Monday’s press conference, People’s United Party leader John Briceño explained that the B.T.L. settlement did not make it into Friday’s debate because of the ruckus that ended the House Meeting… more
FLOW experiences day-long ‘degradation of service’
Cayman Islands – In a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon, leading telecommunications operator FLOW sought to explain the day-long interruption to its telephone service… more
Old submarine cable, poor distribution system blamed for frequent blackouts
Guyana – Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson told the Government Information Agency yesterday that frequent outages in Region Three, are being caused by the old submarine cable at the Vreed-en-Hoop station… more
Digicel secures $150m bank facility as IPO remains on ice
Regional – Denis O’Brien’s Digicel is understood to have agreed a $150 million (€134.3 million) banking credit facility to bolster its financial flexibility as the mobile phone operator keeps plans to raise equity and float on the stock market on hold… more
The Caribbean’s Most Innovative Country
Regional – What’s the most innovative country in the Caribbean right now? … more
Garcia telling ‘gross untruths’ about laptops
Trinidad and Tobago – FORMER Education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh has again called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to recall Education Minister Anthony Garcia, whom Gopeesingh has accused of telling “gross untruths” about the former government’s laptop for Form Ones initiative… more
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Bahamian hacker’s sentencing adjourned
Bahamas – The sentencing of a Bahamian man who admitted to stealing unreleased songs and movie scripts by hacking into celebrities’ email accounts has been postponed in a U.S. court until September 13 to allow his lawyer to respond to further allegations of misconduct… more
BTC, NewCo differ on mobile call, short messaging termination rates
Bahamas – The Bahamas’ second cellular mobile licensee — NewCo Limited 2015 — is facing opposition from the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) as it relates to mobile call and short messaging termination rates… more
‘e-book revolution’ being held back
Barbados – Local and regional publishers are holding back the e-book revolution and denying students access to electronic textbooks, one online bookstore has claimed… more
Flow customers struggle to connect
Cayman Islands – People on the Flow telecoms network were struggling to connect on their phones Tuesday after the company experienced what was described as “a degradation of service” for the best part of yesterday… more
EXPANDING THE REACH OF ICT CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE
Dominica – Director of Telecoms, Bennette Thomas Has articulated Government’s vision to expand the reach of the center for excellence across Dominica… more
Huawei in talks with Guyana about e-government broadband
Guyana – Huawei is discussing the possible expansion of Guyana’s e-government network, which uses fibre and LTE to connect schools and government agencies… more
Cable & Wireless partners with Ericsson and Cisco to enhance its Caribbean IP networks
Regional – Ericsson and Cisco have announced an agreement to supply and install IP networks for C&W Communications, which operates the retail brand Flow, in three Caribbean markets… more
‘Digicel Play’ Adds WeatherNation to Its Channel Lineup
Regional – Digicel Play announced today that it has added WeatherNation™ to the Digicel channel line-up across its Caribbean and Central America footprint, giving customers up-to-the-minute access to the latest weather conditions… more
Video: Why Mobile Internet Remains A C’bean Challenge
Regional – Structural differences are crippling how regional utility regulators can unify to respond to Internet service providers across the region who are intent on going against net neutrality principles and charge users for certain online services… more
INNOVATIVE DOUBLES INTERNET SPEEDS
United States Virgin Islands – As reported by The Consortium a week ago, Innovative doubled all tiers of its Internet service today, according to a promo flyer forwarded to this publication… more
Thursday, 1 September 2016
ICTA criticizes FLOW’s communication in outage
Cayman Islands – IT overseer Information and Communications Technology Authority said Wednesday it was “fed up” with local telecommunications company FLOW after the group did not notify the regulator of Tuesday’s 10-hour islandwide service outage… more
$2.1 Billion for Second Phase of Tablets in Schools Programme
Jamaica – Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government plans to spend $2.1 billion over the next three years to facilitate the second phase of the Tablets in Schools programme… more
Attorney General Welcomes BPO Development in St. James
Jamaica – Attorney General, Hon. Marlene Malahoo Forte says the expansion of the Business Process Outsourcing, (BPO) sector in Montego Bay is expected to play a major role in the provision of employment for the youth of St. James… more
Jamaica Customs solves online payment woes
Jamaica – The Jamaica Customs Agency says it has ironed out problems which were affecting its ePayment portal and normality to all of its online payment services has been restored… more
American pleads guilty to cellphone fraud linked to Caribbean
Regional – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says one man has pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges in connection with a sophisticated global cellphone fraud scheme that involved compromising cellphone customers’ accounts and “cloning” their phones to make fraudulent calls to the Caribbean… more
Digicel Launches Play Go Streaming App
Regional – Digicel Play today, announced the launch of Play Go, its all-new live streaming service with premium and exclusive content for sports fans and TV lovers across its markets in the Caribbean… more
bmobile doubles the experience for mobile customers
Trinidad and Tobago – blink I bmobile has expanded its existing 3G mobile network to enhance its existing capacity in response to the growing demand for wireless mobile broadband service… more
School system was not ready for laptops
Trinidad and Tobago – Many good ideas are often contaminated by political expediency. Such was the case of the school laptop project which began in 2011 with the grand distribution of laptops in the absence of important preparatory activities such as the clarification of the goals and objectives of the project, teacher preparation, pupil preparation and proper supervisory resources which were all neglected because they were not photogenic… more
Friday, 2 September 2016
No landlines
Barbados – IN THE WEE hours of yesterday morning, residents across the island woke up to find their houses in darkness and fans off… more
SURPRISE PRESENTATION FOR DIGICEL PLAY’S 10000TH CUSTOMER
Barbados – Representatives from the telecommunications company Digicel turned up at Block 2K Silver Hill, Christ Church yesterday, to make a surprise presentation to Digicel Play’s 10 000th Customer, Stacia Greenidge… more
5G next – Will the BVI be ready?
British Virgin Islands – Considering its recent experiences regarding spectrum allocation, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) said it will not be caught napping when the next big advancement in communication technology is made by the year 2020… more
Recent Spectrum Awards Expected To Boost BVI Forward Initiatives
British Virgin Islands – The recent spectrum awards to telecommunications providers in the British Virgin Islands have been welcomed as a potential boost for the BVI Forward campaign to strengthen the financial services sector and the push to improve business infrastructure in the Territory… more
12,000 teachers get training for new curriculum
Jamaica – SOME 12,000 teachers have already been trained to deliver lessons from the new National Standards Curriculum in five grades, starting this academic year… more
Saturday, 3 September 2016
SBA releases start-up e-toolkit
Barbados – t should now be easier for Barbadians seeking to start a business to access financing and other assistance… more
16 Alleged Scammers For Court September
Jamaica – Sixteen persons accused of defrauding Americans of approximately US$50,000 between 2011 and 2015 are to appear in court on September 14 and 20… more
Internet service to be restored to all customers within the hour — FLOW
Jamaica – FLOW is advising customers who have been experiencing disruptions in their Internet service that Internet and voice services are currently being restored and all customers should be back up and running within the hour… more
ECTEL Chairman promotes the benefits of new Legislation
Regional – Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), Senator Hon. Dennis Byron, says that the new Electronic Communications Bill for Eastern Caribbean States is designed with best intention to serve the public interest, while offering service providers with opportunities to do business in our markets… more
Sunday, 4 September 2016
Technology Minister wants full report on loss of internet/voice services to FLOW customers
Jamaica – Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley, says he will be requesting a full report on the cause of the loss of internet and voice services to Flow customers be submitted to his office on Monday… more
Image credits: carterse (flickr); Brands of the World; Wikimedia; Wikipedia
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