A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 1 December 2016 to Sunday 1 January 2017.
Monday, 19 December 2016
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Barbados – We need to take advantage of the fact that we are now living in a digital world and acknowledge all the ways in which these technologies can be used to our advantage… more
ICT firms forced to be honest
Cayman Islands – Telecom companies are being held to account for claims in their advertising based on new guidelines from the Information & Communications Technology Authority (ICTA)… more
Specialised training for BPO coming, says Chang
Jamaica – Dr Horace Chang, the minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, said the Government would be targeting the business product outsourcing (BPO) sector for significant growth, through specialised training… more
Jamaican boss to lead Caribbean C&W ops in New Year
Regional – Regional telecommunications conglomerate Cable & Wireless has appointed its Jamaican chief, Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, as president of the Caribbean, covering 15 territories across the region, including Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and the Cayman Islands… more
Women speak out
Regional – The internet hashtag #LifeinLeggings started in late November in Barbados, and since then it has released a torrent of (largely younger) women’s stories and brief Twitter anecdotes, all based on uncensored personal experiences of womens’ demeaning experiences at the hands of men. (Older women, it seems, don’t use Facebook or Twitter so much, or are more reticent about public sharing of private experiences.) … more
St. Maartener obtains his PhD in computer science
Sint Maarten – St. Maartener Martin Kenneth Brown, from Middle Region, earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, when he graduated on December 16, with a 3.83/4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA)… more
Tuesday, 20 December 2016
BTC select committee to meet next week
Bahamas – The select committee of Parliament set to probe the controversial sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) could announce to the public as early as this week how it intends to proceed, according to committee chairman and Golden Gates MP Shane Gibson… more
Select Committee On BTC ‘Not An Election Tactic’ Insists Minister
Bahamas – LABOUR Minister Shane Gibson yesterday denied that the select committee established to probe the sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd was an election tactic as he insisted that the Progressive Liberal Party led government was only concerned with ensuring that the “chips fall where they may.” … more
New managing director at Flow Cayman
Cayman Islands – C&W Communications has named Victor Salgado as managing director of Flow Cayman Islands… more
UTS To Focus On Marketing, Sales, In 2017, New Services To Boost Income
Curacao – United Telecommunication Services (UTS) will be focusing its efforts on marketing and increasing its sales in the New Year as well as continuing its efforts to expand its products and services… more
Guyana Launching Center of Excellence in Information Technology in 2017
Guyana – Guyana is reportedly expecting to inaugurate the Center of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) sometime in the first half of 2017… more
Private Numbers Exposed – FLOW Customers’ Personal Information Inadvertently Released In Yellow Pages
Jamaica – The full scale has not been revealed, but telecommunications company FLOW is scrambling to explain to perhaps hundreds of customers why their telephone numbers and other data that have been private, in some cases for almost a quarter of a century, have been released in the 2017 Yellow Pages telephone directory… more
Cable & Wireless chooses new head of convergent business in Caribbean
Regional – Aiming to develop Cable & Wireless’ (C&W) growth opportunities in triple-play and fixed mobile convergence, Garfield Sinclair has been appointed the company’s president in the Caribbean… more
Marketing Strategies Today: Ten simple strategies for marketing on LinkedIn
Regional – Although Facebook is the largest social network on the Internet, the largest business network is LinkedIn. Regardless of what type of business you own, it’s recommended that build a presence for your business here… more
Trinidad & Tobago to Provide All Government Services through Online Portal
Trinidad and Tobago – The government of Trinidad & Tobago is placing all government services online as part of its new ICT program designed to make the country more competitive and less vulnerable to economic hardships… more
TSTT’s $1.5b bond rated ‘good’
Trinidad and Tobago – Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) has assigned an initial issue ratings of CariA (foreign and local currency rating) on its regional rating scale and ttA on its T&T national scale with a stable outlook to the proposed $1.5 billion bond to be issued by Telecommunications Services of T&T Limited (TSTT)… more
TSTT Enhances Customer Service with Redknee’s CRM Solution
Trinidad and Tobago – Redknee Solutions Inc. (RKN.TO), a leading provider of real-time monetization and subscriber management software, is pleased to announce that it has completed an expansion of Redknee’s real-time monetization and subscriber management platform at Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT) for its commercial brand “bmobile”… more
Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Poor Service In The Bahamas
Bahamas – EDITOR, The Tribune. OH CABLE BAHAMAS… why do you have to wait anything from 30-50 minutes to get to a Customer Service operator? … more
KeyTech back in black as revenues rise
Cayman Islands – Bermuda-based KeyTech Holding reported operating profit of USD8 million for the six months ended 30 September 2016, reversing a loss of USD1.7 million in the corresponding period last year, as revenue rose to USD61.1 million, up from USD46.0 million… more
Ibex Global Jamaica seeks 300 new hires
Jamaica – Ibex Global Jamaica Ltd said Monday that its plan to hire another 300 workers for a recently acquired account will mean that its new centre in Portmore Pines, St Catherine, will be operating at full capacity… more
The Data Protection Act: a step in the right direction
Jamaica – For the past two to three years there have been discussions on the tabling of Jamaica’s Data Protection Act (DPA) for the purposes of ensuring greater accountability where management of personal data is concerned… more
Xerox in Jamaica to become Conduent in 2017
Jamaica – Reliable sources indicate that beginning in January 2017, Xerox will start rebranding its business process outsourcing arm under the name “Conduent Inc” accompanied by changes in signage… more
Digicel objects
Regional – Telecommunications company Digicel says it “fundamentally disagrees” with a report by independent research provider CreditSights that the company was facing an uncertain future due to high debt, currency fluctuations and change in consumer behaviour… more
Flow Sports Celebrates One Year as ‘the Home of Sports in the Caribbean’
Regional – One year ago, Flow unveiled its new Flow Sports Network, giving fans an exciting and innovative viewing experience, forever changing the game in sports broadcasting in the Caribbean… more
Thursday, 22 December 2016
Poor Service At Cable Bahamas
Bahamas – EDITOR, The Tribune. GOOD morning – I write this letter in response to Simon’s “Front Porch” article in Thursday’s Nassau Guardian paper (December 22) … more
A parking meter could be a smartphone app
Guyana – Dear Editor, The future Guyana is seeking happened years ago in some countries of the world. The fact remains that as a Third World country modern technologies available in other countries will arrive on our shores years from now clichéd; yet thanks to globalization we seem to be catching up in some areas and yet hopelessly falling behind in others. We must never, ever surrender to a Third World mentality, however… more
EGov CEO’s Contract Terminated Without Cause, Third ICT Dismissal In Three Months, PNP Concerned
Jamaica – The Opposition is worried about the potential impact of the loss of three senior executives in the Information Communication Sector in as many months on the Government’s plan to use ICT as a tool for public sector transformation… more
Cellular Planet crowned bmobile Flagship Dealer of the Year 2016
Trinidad and Tobago – bmobile paid special tribute to their most accomplished retail partners for over the past 12 months when they hosted the annual Mobile Dealer Awards at VAS Lounge, Rust Street, St Clair… more
Friday, 23 December 2016
FLOW disconnects contractor
Barbados – FLOW HAS PARTED WAYS with one of its primary subcontractors… more
BTL launches “Most Advanced Network in the Region”
Belize – The Belize Telemedia Limited held its final regional launching of its 4G LTE network on Friday, December 16, in Belize City so Belize is now officially home to the most reliable and advanced network system in Central America and the Caribbean… more
Cuba slashes internet costs
Cuba – Cuba cut the price of internet access by 25 per cent Monday, but getting online still costs more than a day’s wages for the average worker in one of the world’s least connected countries… more
Indotel wants zero internet tax in Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic – The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) has announced its backing for a bill currently being discussed in government that proposes cutting the tax on internet services to zero… more
Flow apologises for publishing private numbers
Jamaica – FLOW Jamaica in an advertisement has “unreservedly apologised” for the inclusion of “private listings” of some of their customers in the 2016-2017 telephone directory… more
FLOW Trying To Retrieve Residential Directories Exposing Customers’ Private Numbers
Jamaica – Telecommunications Company FLOW says it’s making efforts to retrieve residential telephone directories in which the contact numbers and other details of customers with private listings were published… more
GraceKennedy Gets Approval To Launch Mobile Money
Jamaica – The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has granted GraceKennedy Payment Services a licence to take its mobile money solution to the public through GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS) locations islandwide… more
JNBS targets Canadian market with new remittance website
Jamaica – JN Money Services (JNMS), subsidiary of the Jamaica National Building Society and owners of the JN Money Transfer brand, has launched its website, www.jnmoneytransfer.com, which it says is a first for a fully owned Jamaican remittance company… more
Opposition concerned about management changes at agencies under Ministry of Technology
Jamaica – OPPOSITION spokesman on information and the knowledge economy Julian Robinson has raised grave concerns over the sacking of the heads of critical agencies of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology over the past three months… more
UWI grads top PitchIT Caribbean
Regional – Two UWI alumnae are among a group of all-female winners of a Caribbean tech entrepreneurship competition. Dispelling notions of male domination in the field, five female mobile app developers took all the top prizes at the recently concluded PitchIT Caribbean Challenge in T&T… more
Saturday, 24 December 2016
FLOW Offers Customers Freebies After Foul-Up
Jamaica – Telecommunications company FLOW is offering customers whose private numbers were exposed in the 2017 residential telephone directory, a new private number, free of charge for a year… more
NGOs launch CSAFE security app
Trinidad and Tobago – A new community safety app has been launched, called ‘CSAFE’… more
Sunday, 25 December 2016
66,000 now benefit from internet ready computers – Hughes
Guyana – Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, recently disclosed that the E-Government Unit has been quite busy this year, particularly in poor, remote, hinterland areas… more
Cyber scammers are now targeting Guyanese and their inadvertent weakness for Christmas parcels
Guyana – The holiday version of a cyber-scam which seeks to implant a photo stealing and data stealing Trojan into the mobile phones and computers of unsuspecting persons has been targeting Guyanese and other Caribbean web users on an unusually higher scale this Christmas… more
Caricel partners with Global Cyber Alliance to reduce cyber threats
Jamaica – New superfast LTE broadband network Caricel says it is gearing up to provide customers with the best protection from malicious cyber activity available, courtesy of the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA)… more
Govt saves $75m with new Microsoft deal
Trinidad and Tobago – Chairman of iGovTT Esther LeGendre, left, speaks with Country Manager for Microsoft T&T Frances Correia and Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie at the formal signing ceremony for the zMicrosoft Enterprise Agreement… more
Monday, 26 December 2016
American jailed for cellphone fraud scheme linked to Jamaica
Jamaica – A United States national has been sentenced to 48 months in prison for his role in a sophisticated global cellphone fraud scheme linked to the Caribbean… more
Tuesday, 27 December 2016
Telephony, the competition in figures (2016)
Haiti – The Observatory of the Telecommunications Market set up by the Direction of Prospective and Economic Affairs (DPAE) of the National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL) within the framework of its mission published the main indicators retained by the DPAE to follow the evolution during the period from January 2016 to September 2016 of the two main telephony operators (Digicel and Natcom)… more
Marketing Strategies Today: Facebook Introduces group video chat in Messenger
Regional – As 2016 ends, Facebook has launched the most requested Messenger feature ever – Facebook group video chat. The video chat feature gives Facebook users the ability to video chat in groups… more
Wednesday, 28 December 2016
More sensitization needed for ICT sector to flourish – UG lecturer
Guyana – “I believe that there is great potential for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to benefit businesses in Guyana. There is an explosion of ICT that transcends other careers and there nothing stopping Guyana from being a part of that movement. There definitely needs to be more sensitisation.” … more
Thursday, 29 December 2016
BTC unveils its mobile television app, “FLOW to Go”
Bahamas – BTC today officially unveiled its mobile television app, “FLOW to Go”, with twenty-nine channels. As a special introductory offer, FLOW to Go will be offered free for thirty days to all BTC customers with a mobile data subscription… more
Number Portability Puts ‘Big Spending’ 20% In Aliv’s Reach
Bahamas – Aliv’s top executive yesterday said number portability’s imminent arrival would enable the new operator to penetrate the ‘big spending’ segment that accounts for up to 20 per cent of the Bahamian market… more
Flow TV for everyone
Bahamas – Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday officially unveiled its mobile television app, “FLOW to Go”, with twenty-nine channels. As a special introductory offer, FLOW to Go will be offered free for thirty days to all BTC customers with a mobile data subscription… more
URCA developing disaster preparedness plan focused on ICT sector
Bahamas – The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) will step in to provide disaster relief by developing a disaster preparedness and management initiative for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in The Bahamas… more
BPO providing opportunities for financial, legal professionals
Jamaica – President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Diane Edwards, said the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is providing opportunities for financial and legal professionals… more
Friday, 30 December 2016
Digicel to soon pass on VAT
Barbados – THE HONEYMOON had to end at some time… more
Call Centre Job-Ad Proves To Be A Scam
Cayman Islands – An advertisement posted on Facebook looking for people to work at a call centre in the Cayman Islands has proved to be a con the police have said… more
Flow Technician Awarded For Excellence
Cayman Islands – Charles Bodden, who has been with the company for more than 40 years, has won Flow’s Managing Directors Award for Excellence for 2016… more
Worker bonuses a mistake — Xerox
Jamaica – Document and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company Xerox indicated last Thursday that the issuance of bonus payments to workers by a payroll system was a mistake which has been corrected, following reports from employees in its Jamaican workforce that bonus payments which had been assigned were withdrawn… more
CWU condemns TATT and NEL
Trinidad and Tobago – TWENTY-two months and two extensions later to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC), Secretary General of Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), Joseph Remy, says enough is enough… more
Flow Lend Surpasses US$1 Million In Loans
Regional– FLOW Lend, the mobile top-up app for customers of telecommunications firm FLOW, has advanced more than US$1 million (about J$150 million) in mobile credit in less than six months across the Caribbean region… more
Saturday, 31 December 2016
Barbados: Digicel customers to pay more
Barbados – The Irish telecommunications company Digicel has announced a hike in its mobile and data rates for customers in Barbados… more
Phone rage
Barbados – Telecommunications companies operating here are being accused of playing games with consumers in the wake of this week’s announcement by Digicel that it was raising its rates beginning in the New Year… more
GTT shares issue…NICIL to pursue arbitration to recover outstanding US$5M
Guyana – The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) will be pursuing the route of arbitration in the United Kingdom in hopes of recovering the outstanding US$5M from the sale of Government’s shares in GTT… more
Saga of GTT shares money rolls on
Guyana – The National Industrial and Commercial Invest-ments Limited (NICIL) is preparing to begin arbitration to recover the outstanding, mystery-riddled US$5 million for the sale of government shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT)… more
Police vow to trace, punish 119 prank callers
Jamaica – Security Minister Robert Montague says technology will be utilised to track and then punish people who continue to make prank calls to the 119 police emergency number… more
US EMBASSY SERVES GOJ WITH ‘HARD EVIDENCE’ RE CARICEL
Jamaica – Nationwide News understands that the Jamaican government has been provided with what a senior government official is describing as ‘hard evidence’, questioning the fit-and-proper credentials of Caricel to own and operate a spectrum licence… more
Sunday, 1 January 2017
Bus shelters getting charging points
Barbados – TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER Digicel is paving the way for continued convenience for all Barbadians, by bringing charging points to bus shelters across the island… more
‘Big data’ and your health
Jamaica – WHAT is ‘big data’? Well, data refers to information, and in recent years there has been a steady increase in the amount of personal information that is gathered about individuals — whether through data gathering forms for our completion, online surveys, research, or other means… more
OUR Gets New Boss – Enforcement Director Picked To Replace Gordon
Jamaica – Ansord E. Hewitt, regulatory specialist, economist and attorney-at-law, is the new director general of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR)… more
US Gets Tough Over Caricel – At Least Three Attorneys Among Six Jamaicans Whose US Visas Have Been Revoked
Jamaica – The United States (US) has revoked the visitors’ visas of six prominent Jamaicans, including three senior attorneys, in what sources say is a shot across the bow of the Andrew Holness-led administration over its failure to cancel the spectrum licence granted to Symbiote Investments Limited, which trades as Caricel… more
US VISA OF ANOTHER CARICEL ATTORNEY CANCELLED!
Jamaica – Nationwide News can confirm that the United Staes visa which was issued to the Attorney for telecommunications company, Caricel Jamaica, Patrick Bailey, has been revoked… more
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