Gov’t and Cisco create WiFi hotspots across islands
(CNS): The Ministry of Commerce has partnered with IT company Cisco to provide free public wireless internet access at ten community sites across all three islands. As the three-month lockdown comes to an end, the service has been launched to help people connect with family, friends and online resources, officials said in a release. The infrastructure and equipment was donated by Cisco to help bridge the digital divide.
The hotpots, which are primarily located at government operated civic centres and facilities, will be accessible to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They include the District Administration Building on Cayman Brac and Government House on Little Cayman. The other eight locations are on Grand Cayman at the George Town and West Bay public libraries, the James M. Bodden, North Side, William Allen McLaughlin and South Sound community centres, as well as the Seafarer’s Association Meeting Hall and the UCCI Campus.
Commerce Minister Joey Hew said during Tuesday’s COVID-19 briefing that while some of these locations already have open WiFi, the internet service had been upgraded and the WiFi was now outside the buildings, allowing for greater access. He said they would offer stronger and more dependable connectivity, and as government facilities they would be easy for residents to find.
OfReg was responsible for coordinating the project, while the installation was managed by local IT company, Unified Technologies, while the bandwidth for the hotspots was provided by Flow.
Hew thanked those involved for working together to get all the necessary infrastructure in place and the project off the ground within a short time-frame.
“This is a fantastic project that will serve a great purpose for many people – students, families and even young entrepreneurs,” he said. “We recognise that some people may not have access to the internet so I feel sure that these hotspots will be welcomed across our islands, especially at this time.”
Shari Slate, VP and Chief Inclusion and Collaboration Officer for Cisco, said internet access is more critical than ever. “Now is the time for business and government leaders to step up and work together to close the digital divide so we can create a digital and inclusive future where no one is left behind,” she added.
The project was funded through Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration initiative.
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Category: Local News
10? Haha. And they should be at public beaches…
These should be all over the island. 10 is nothing to announce.
Well done CISCO and Minister Hew but … really OfReg?!!
When it comes to quality internet access in Cayman, the COVID-19 crisis has clearly shown the haves and have nots. The so-called “digital divide”. This is inexcusable given the geographic size and GDP of Cayman. 100% unjustified! 100% inexcusable!
Pursuant to the ICT Law (s.59), OfReg may create a Universal Service fund to ensure reasonably priced and quality internet access in certain areas of Cayman. It can then charge telecoms companies a universal service levy to fund it.
Can CNS ask OfReg under Freedom of Information rules:
1. is a universal service levy levied on telecoms companies in Cayman?
2. how much is levied on each company?
3. how has the fund been used to date?
4. If no universal service levy is levied, why not?
CNS: Anyone can make an FOI request and you can do so anonymously via email. However, the FOI law does not say you can ask any questions you like and the government entity has to answer, it says you can ask for documents. So you have to think about what documents the information you seek might be on, such as contracts, receipts, etc.
Why such a big deal? There many cities which offer free basic WiFi (which adds up to hundreds of millions in India)
OfREg / Min. Hew – Missing the Point, Again.
HotSpots are not what is needed. Fair and reliable internet throughout the country is. This is a bandaid. It has not solved any problems.
Is the ongoing internet cost being donated as well or has this merely created a recurring cost for CIG without solving the problem?
Be less proud of yourselves for providing WiFi at places that already had it. Claiming ‘its better now’ just highlights your existing inadequacy.
Imagine if the minister of commerce spoke to the minister of education and coordinated this project in poor neighborhoods where families that cannot afford internet service. If Joey Hew doesn’t know where those neighborhoods are located tell him to ask NAU and the minister for social services. Wouldn’t this have been great at the beginning of 2020. Imagine if poor kids and families were assisted with being given laptops to help the remote learning project school.
Thank you CISCO but this is another half assed project by Joey Hew hoping to be praised as a savior. It’s a good step in the right direction but not well thought out for the people that really need access to public internet in their neighborhoods.
More damage than good.
Cancer causing wifi waves all around us now with no choice not jusf at work or homes…much bigger plans coming without people input too. Sadly.
The sun hits you with ionizing radiation which can penetrate your skin and cause actual cancer.. yet you go outside with no worries.
Radiowaves, including 5G, are non-ionzining radiation. Like microwaves, the most that will happen is slight heating of the surface of the skin by a fraction of a fraction of a degree.
A lightbulb emits higher frequency radiation at a higher wattage than a wifi router. Try to keep your hand 1cm from a lightbulb for a minute, then try it with your wifi box. Relax.
Dude, your getting a Dell!
This is a wonderful thing but hidden in this is a pain worth mentioning… let’s be clear when it states “managed by local IT company, Unified Technologies’. Unified Technologies is far from a local company in the grass roots sense.. they are a large multinational firm with headquarters in Miami, that keeps a token staff in Cayman in order to fulfill its requirements to access the IT projects and service opportunities here. They challenge the true local outfits that work day in and out and have hired Caymanians and toil here with. Those in the IT service industry here often are at odds with their predatory practices as they swoop in with prices that local firms cannot compete with.
So yes, great stuff that his civic centers and campuses now have WifI, but it’s a sad day when local IT firms aren’t given a chance to bid on this type of work.
It was donated. There was no bid. There is nothing stopping you donating IT services for the greater good and getting the same or better recognition.
Interestingly, it is my understanding that a significant number of local companies in the IT community were approached and they were the only one to step up – and do so quickly. The equipment was donated, the labour donated, the internet services donated and a bunch of extra investment made to print collateral to ensure the word got to the people who needed it most. No small investment! We should appreciate this – perhaps other local companies can also step up?
Publish It.
Lets see how much work really went into this. And by who. Or who didn’t.
So at the Seafarers’ location who the hell is going to benefit besides them? Ridiculous…
Actually, Prospect Park is a fairly dense/defined residential neighbourhood with a fair number of lower income households in easy driving/riding/walking distance so as a hot spot it makes as much sense as anything else in this project.
I think this is wonderful! Now if Flow could get the equipment it needs to provide decent WiFi service to its PAYING customers on Cayman Brac that would be nice!
And c3 is down or slow nearly every Friday / Saturday for the past 4-6 weeks in South Sound.
We had to apply for a refund, after filling out details online, including giving them the router id #’s (what they couldn’t automatically credit the accounts they bill? SMH). To add insult to injury we’ve been advised we’ve got a $5 credit!! Whoop. Whoop.
Meanwhile I’ve gone over my data allowance (my phone is with Flow) at a cost of almost $25.
Could OfReg spend their time following up on making sure we are getting the services we pay for at a fair price? If not them close them down and distribute the salary savings to every resident Caymanian. That would be more than $5 each!!!