A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 2 November to Sunday 8 November 2020.
Monday, 2 November 2020
Digital Currency Is ‘A Giant Step’
Bahamas – A financial services provider has the Central Bank’s launch of a Bahamian digital currency as “historic” and “a giant step” that will help propel The Bahamas ahead of many industrialised nations… more
Guyana approximately 20 years behind rest of the world in technology adaptation
Guyana – Dear Editor, I am neither an APNU nor PPP voter. I just want the best for our Nation regardless of the Government in power. Some are apt to consider this discourse to be a criticism… more
C&W Business Jamaica Donates Tablets To Students Living With Sickle Cell
Jamaica – C&W Business Jamaica has donated tablets to the Sickle Cell Unit, part of the Caribbean Institute of Health Research at the University of the West Indies, Mona… more
Develop Tech Cities In Jamaica
Jamaica – THE EDITOR, Madam: I am a 15-year-old student of Ardenne High School, and this is a letter I wrote to Prime Minister Andrew Holness… more
Too Costly To ‘Tan A Yuh Yard’ – Urgent Calls For Work-From-Home Policy As COVID-19 Lingers
Jamaica – Three months ago, Shelly Ann Brown* gave birth to her second daughter. For the young mother, the meagre stipend that her call centre job provides towards working-from- home expenses is just not adding up… more
Tuesday, 3 November 2020
PATH students plus 100,000 others to get devices
Jamaica – THE Ministry of Education, Youth and Information last Thursday officially launched its ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ initiative, which is designed to promote inclusivity in the education sector… more
Robinson knocks Gov’t silence on call to remove duties on digital eqpt
Jamaica – Opposition spokesman on Science, Technology and Information, Julian Robinson, has expressed concern at the fact that the Government has failed to respond to calls from both the Opposition and leading private sector organisations for the temporary removal of duties and taxes on mobile devices to make them more affordable for struggling Jamaican families whose children are unable to continue their education online amidst the COVID-19 pandemic… more
Spectrum Management Authority Invites Applicants for Radio Technician Cours
Jamaica – The Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) is launching its online Radio Technician Licence (Class B) course and is inviting suitable candidates to apply for the programme, in keeping with requirements of the Radio and Telegraph Control Act (1974)… more
Telemedicine Clinic treats 206 Nevisian eye care patients
Saint Kitts and Nevis – Two hundred and six Nevisians continue receiving care from the Nevis Eye Care Programme at the Alexandra Hospital, through a Telemedicine Clinic which was introduced to ensure that patients got essential eye care in spite of the travel challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic… more
Digicel gets new T&T CEO
Trinidad and Tobago – Digicel T&T has announced the promotion of Abraham Smith to the head of the company… more
Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Government signs agreement with ITU for national cybersecurity project
Bahamas – The government yesterday announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for a ‘historic’ national cybersecurity project… more
Chamber takes digital conference online
Barbados – With no end in sight to the dreaded COVID-19 health crisis, the business community is being advised to urgently find more innovative ways to carry on their operations… more
Guyana Telecoms Agency, engages stakeholders on the new regulatory regime
Guyana – On Monday, the Guyana Telecommunication Agency (GTA) hosted the first of its series of engagements with stakeholders in the sector to inform them on the new regulatory regime following the enactment of the Telecommunications Act 2016 and associated regulations… more
Call For Digital Literacy To Have Legislative Mandate
Jamaica – The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the digital divide which exists in Jamaica; and also the deficiencies in the society, as it relates to digital literacy, with some experts calling for unconventional approaches to address the problem… more
Joan Duncan Foundation commits $10 million to laptop/tablet initiative
Jamaica – The Joan Duncan Foundation committed $10 million to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ initiative at the Haughton Terrace, New Kingston offices of Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) on Tuesday… more
Schools out, technology in!
Jamaica – NEWS of the resumption of face-to-face classes in nearly 20 schools has drawn mixed reactions. In some quarters there is relief, and in others renewed anxiety… more
Liberty Latin America Reports Q3 2020 Results
Regional – Liberty Latin America Ltd. (“Liberty Latin America” or “LLA”) (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB) today announced its financial and operating results for the three months (“Q3”) and nine months (“YTD”) ended September 30, 2020… more
Digicel debuts Digicel+, offers more in home entertainment & internet
Trinidad and Tobago – Hot on the heels of its relaunch as a Digital Operator, Digicel is delivering on its promise to customers of ‘simply more’ with the introduction of Digicel+… more
Digicel TT keeps focus on consumer service
Trinidad and Tobago – For Digicel TT’s newly appointed CEO Abraham Smith, the importance of telecommunications has special significance as it keeps him close to his family every day… more
E-commerce reigns as three contenders eye bmobile Business Technology Award
Trinidad and Tobago – Three businesses that have turned to e-commerce to serve their customers are now in the lineup to become the 2020 bmobile Business Technology winner at this year’s Champions of Business Awards, hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce… more
TSTT COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH CWU
Trinidad and Tobago – State-owned TSTT says it will continue to work with the Communications Workers Union to arrive at a mutually agreed schedule for the payment of outstanding monies to workers… more
Thursday, 5 November 2020
BTC’s Revenues Drop Over $21m
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) fell by more than $21m year-over-year for the nine months to end-September 2020 despite further slowing the erosion of its mobile customer base… more
Corporate Bahamas donates over $123,000 towards tablets for students
Bahamas – Around 63 percent of rural residents in Latin America and the Caribbean have little or no access to internet services, severely undermining their ability to improve their competence and economic well-being… more
Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Bill, 2020 to Provide Legal Framework to regulate issuance and sale of digital assets
Bahamas – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. K. Peter Turnquest explained that the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Bill, 2020 (DARE Bill) will provide the legal framework to regulate the issuance and sale of digital assets, or cryptoassets, including digital tokens… more
Digital Assets Legislation To ‘Expand Playing Field’
Bahamas – The deputy prime minister yesterday hailed new legislation as “expanding the playing field” for the Bahamian financial services industry into the digital assets and technology space… more
Provider Partners With Super Value For QR Code Payments
Bahamas – A Bahamian financial technology provider has teamed with Super Value to enable shoppers to pay for their groceries using QR codes that facilitate cashless transactions… more
Digicel+ giving customers more
Barbados – Hot on the heels of its relaunch as a digital operator, Digicel is delivering on its promise to customers of simply more with the introduction of Digicel+… more
National Cyber Security Strategy 2020-2023 is Launched!
Belize – The Ministry of National Security in partnership with the Public Utilities Commission has launched Belize’s first national cyber security strategy. According to the ministry, the drafting of the Cybercrime Bill 2020 came out of the strategy’s development process… more
GTT’s upgraded data service in North Rupununi already unstable
Guyana – Dear Editor, In the January 3 2020 edition of the Stabroek News, I wrote a letter complaining about GTT’s poor data service in the North Rupununi. Suffice to say GTT did not have the common courtesy to respond to the issues raised in that letter… more
Haiti joins the SIM registration rush
Haiti – Haiti is the latest country to launch a push for SIM registration, following reports of attempts in a number of countries around the world to keep track of SIM ownership… more
Huawei offers students online learning experience
Jamaica – Telecom giants Huawei will be accommodating 12 students from both the University of the West Indies and The University of Technology for its 4th annual staging ‘Seeds of the Future-SKY’ programme… more
Techies unite under merged entity
Jamaica – AN entity created from the merger of two of Jamaica’s leading technology organisations will officially be revealed in mid-November, but already it has a long list of issues to tackle, one of which is nurturing a more tech-focused version of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry… more
Liberty Latin America sales down 8% in Q3, customers up 2%
Regional – Liberty Latin America (LLA) reported revenues of USD 888 million for the third quarter of 2020, down 8.2 percent from the same period a year earlier but an improvement on the 13.6 percent decline posted in the second quarter… more
Cybercrime Unit probing attack at PoS corporation
Trinidad and Tobago – THE PORT of Spain City Corporation is dealing with a cyber attack, likely committed by a hacker or hackers outside the country… more
Digicel donates 27 tablets to El Dorado Hindu School
Trinidad and Tobago – El Dorado North Hindu School received 27 tablets last Thursday through Phase II of the Digicel Foundation’s Connecting You programme… more
The cybersecurity threat
Trinidad and Tobago – Over the past fortnight, the reality of the threat to Internet connected computer systems came home vividly to Trinidad and Tobago, at the very least, to the business sector… more
Friday, 6 November 2020
Anguilla Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Anguilla Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Anguilla – The report on Anguilla Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Anguilla Telecommunications market… more
Antigua and Barbuda Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Antigua and Barbuda Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Antigua and Barbuda – The report on Antigua and Barbuda Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Antigua and Barbuda Telecommunications market… more
Digital asset legislation hailed as “big win”
Bahamas – Legislation regulating the sale and issuance of digital assets could provide The Bahamas with much-needed avenues to new industries and allow new entrants into that space, according to Caribbean Blockchain Alliance President Stefen Deleveaux… more
Barbados Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Barbados Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Barbados – The report on Barbados Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Barbados Telecommunications market… more
New Chief Justice to launch e-filing system
Barbados – Barbados’ new Chief Justice, Patterson Cheltenham, is expected to launch an e-filing system for the judicial system that would render the litigation process paperless soon, and speed up the rate at which matters are handled… more
Belize Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Belize Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Belize – The report on Belize Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Belize Telecommunications market… more
Flow offers free internet upgrades to connected schools
British Virgin Islands – All schools across Tortola presently connected to Flow BVI’s fixed-line network have received free upgraded broadband speeds, in some instances, up to 600 megabits per second… more
Dominica Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Dominica Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Dominica – The report on Dominica Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Dominica Telecommunications market… more
Grenada Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Grenada Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Grenada – The report on Grenada Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Grenada Telecommunications market… more
GTT doubles bandwidth to schools in eGov project
Guyana – The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) yesterday announced that it recently donated 100 hundred percent more bandwidth to the National Data Management Authority (NDMA), with the intent of providing faster connectivity to students across Guyana… more
Guyana Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Guyana Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Guyana – The report on Guyana Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Guyana Telecommunications market… more
CONATEL and INDOTEL seek a solution to the problems of interference at the border
Haiti – Two important delegations, one Haitian (National Telecommunications Council – Conatel) and the other Dominican (Dominican Institute of Telecommunications – Indotel) met to seek a solution to the problem of interference in radio stations at the border and the disadvantages of the penetration of the mobile telephone signal in the two countries which causes the activation of the roaming mode in the border provinces, affecting the users in surcharges for the costs of calls which should be local… more
Haiti Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Haiti Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Haiti – The report on Haiti Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Haiti Telecommunications market… more
GHOST BPO – Applicants, HR Reps Demand Answers As Call Centre Targets 1,500 Jobseekers
Jamaica – More than 30 applicants shortlisted for customer service and sales representative positions at a ghost call centre have raised an alarm and want the authorities to probe its operations… more
Jamaica Telecommunications Strategic Analysis and Outlook to 2025-Analysis of Jamaica Mobile, Fixed Telephone and Broadband Markets
Jamaica – The report on Jamaica Telecommunications is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Jamaica Telecommunications market… more
77 Million Rural Residents in Latin America Have Little or No Internet Access: IDB Study
Regional – Around 63 percent of rural residents in Latin America and the Caribbean have little or no access to internet services, severely undermining their ability to improve their competence and economic well-being… more
St. Lucia Must Address TV and Online Hatred
Saint Lucia – THE fact that a number of unqualified individuals in St. Lucia have suddenly become talk show hosts does not augur well for any nation in today’s world… more
Tablet Distribution Commences
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Government began to roll out its anticipated ‘one tablet each per student and teacher programme’ last week Thursday, October 29, when Minister of Education St. Clair Prince handed over the first two tablets to students of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC), at the College’s Villa Campus… more
Agard stays on as interim CEO at TSTT
Trinidad and Tobago – Lisa Agard will continue to act as Chief Executive Officer at the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT)… more\
bmobile encourages empowering the Differently-Abled as it is Key to our Development as a Country
Trinidad and Tobago – There are 45,000+ persons living with disabilities in Trinidad and Tobago, of which a significant percentage cannot afford or cannot access therapy to treat with and manage their conditions… more
Managing the disposal of electronic waste
Trinidad and Tobago – In the aftermath of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring the dreadful covid19 virus a pandemic on March 11, 2020, information communication technologies and the use of electronic devices and gadgets have skyrocketed in TT. Physical distancing has become the new normal… more
Saturday, 7 November 2020
Huawei Donates 200 Tablets To UTech, UWI
Jamaica – The thrust to get students of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Jamaica connected continues with several private, public and corporate entities stepping up to the plate… more
Sunday, 8 November 2020
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