A review of the five ICT\/tech trends we anticipated would be evident in the Caribbean in 2016.<\/em>
\nAt the beginning of the year, we published five trends we believed would become more evident in the Caribbean during the year. On this our last article for 20146 it is opportune for us to review our predictions and determine how well we did.<\/p>\n
As expected, with the mergers and acquisitions that had occurred in 2014 and 2015, there has been a sense that the region\u2019s telecoms landscape is still finding a new equilibrium in 2016. Publicly, there have not been any overt changes, such as with respect branding, by the new owners of Cable and Wireless Communications, Liberty Global plc, though in the latter half of the year, a number of management changes were reported.<\/p>\n
With regard to Digicel, the firm has been rolling out Digicel Play (its fixed-line voice telephony, subscriber TV and broadband Internet platform for the home) across the region. In doing so, the firm is evolving into a quad-play provider, and so will be able to compete against Flow across the major service segments. However, the firm may be strapped for cash. It withdrew its Initial Public Offer on the New York Stock Exchange in September, which experts projected would not secure the level of investment Digicel had hoped. Further, recent reports have suggested that the firm is heavily in debt, which it may soon need to address.<\/p>\n
Although we, here at ICT Pulse, continue to accuse regulators of being flat-footed, in 2016, there was also evidence of policy and regulatory changes that could result in improvements in the medium to longer term. Examples include the following:<\/p>\n
However, as was mentioned with respect to this projection, and especially with respect to legislative processes, they can be quite protracted, and run the risk of no longer being relevant, or just having limited impact, when they are finally ready to come into effect.<\/p>\n
With the recent changes in the competitive landscape in the region \u2013 due to the mergers and acquisitions that have occurred \u2013 the remaining firms seem to be trying to reposition themselves in the markets and countries they serve. Though price (for service) continues to be a battlefield in which the players jostle, broadband Internet may be the most dynamic segment. Across the region, plans have been improved, with faster speeds being offered, but without the commensurate increase in rates that one would normally expect.<\/p>\n
In the mobile\/cellular space, focus continues to be on the prepaid segment, which the carriers offering a broad range of benefits and inducements, such as free minutes for calls at specific times of the days, along with other short-term promotions. However, many Caribbean countries have introduced mobile number portability, which allows customers to vote with their feet, and change their providers whilst keeping their mobile\/cellular number.<\/p>\n
Though we do not have hard data on this trend, the improvement in broadband Internet plans \u2013 in terms of advertised download speeds and price, which we reported in our Snapshot<\/a><\/em><\/strong> \u2013 would provide consumers with better online streaming experiences. Most of the major carriers that offer subscriber TV services, have been bundling it with other services, such as with fixed-line telephony and broadband Internet, with may help to reduce the loss of subscriber TV customers generally.<\/p>\n
Ransomware made its presence felt in the Caribbean in 2016, having affected several government ministries, departments and agencies across the region. Other types of breaches were also reported, including major incidents at some of the largest banks in the region.<\/p>\n
To varying degrees, it appears that regional governments are beginning to give network and cyber security the attention it deserves. Over the past year, there have been calls for a regional approach to tackle cybercrime, and a number of meetings have been held to foster strengthening of cybersecurity efforts.<\/p>\n
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Is there anything we missed? What topics or issues do you think were big in 2016?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
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Image credit: \u00a0digitalart (FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n
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