Thursday May 25^th 2011 – Kingston Jamaica: Digicel, the best value mobile operator in the Caribbean, joined the world in celebrating World Telecommunications and Information Society Day (WTISD) on Tuesday May 17^th under the theme ‘Better life in rural communities with ICT’.

Since its launch in Jamaica ten years ago, Digicel has successfully met the challenge of providing reliable telecommunications solutions that aid in the development of its markets. The company has been a major player in the in the ICT sector across the Caribbean starting in 2006 with corporate technologies such as GPS Tracking, WiMAX and most recently through its acquisition of Nextar, the regional systems integrator, in February and the launch of Cloud Services in Jamaica on Wednesday May 11^th. The company also received Tier III Design Certification from Uptime Institute for its Jamaica-based data centre which signifies an important endorsement of its ability to provide cloud services and the only data centre with such a high certification in the Caribbean.

Digicel has now leveraged its technical power to develop its markets, and in further commitment to the enhancement of emerging nations through technology, Digicel undertook programmes that seek to bridge the digital divide and bring greater awareness of advancements in telecommunications in its Caribbean markets.

Antigua and Barbuda, for instance, received the fifth of 12 Digicel Internet Access Centres on Tuesday May 17^th as part of Digicel’s partnership with the Government on a ‘Technology for Communication, Education and Empowerment’ initiative.

This project will significantly increase the number of individuals and households with access to the internet as many schools, homes and villages across the country get connected for the first time. In fact, more than 5,000 secondary school students and residents of over 3,000 homes in the rural communities of Grays-Green, Yorks and Lower Gambles will gain exposure to the internet as each centre presents students and community members with the opportunity to empower themselves through the use of the internet.

This fifth Digicel Internet Access Centre will be based at the Clare Hall Secondary School and will benefit not only the students but the wider rural community of Cassada Gardens, bringing a modern state-of-the-art internet facility to an area that previously had limited and unreliable internet services. 

Boasting new computers powered for free by Digicel’s Broadband service and equipped with a ramp for wheel chair accessibility, each Digicel Internet Access Centre is based at a central secondary school in rural communities across Antigua and Barbuda and will help bridge the digital divide while better preparing young people for a technologically-driven world.

Other Digicel Internet Access Centres so far launched in the twin-island nation are located at the All Saints Secondary School, Glanvilles Secondary School, Jennings Secondary School and St. Mary’s Secondary School.

In addition to this activity in Antigua, Digicel has powered several other pan-Caribbean community-related initiatives in several areas that have positively changed lives.

Presently, Digicel is also helping to drive the Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s media-advocacy campaign on chronic diseases by providing a technical platform that includes an SMS text petition in several of its Caribbean markets and via its social media pages.