JAMAICA IS set to leapfrog several countries in the region in technology this year, according to Phillip Paulwell, the Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce.
"Later this year we intend to roll out with a number of private sector companies, a dramatic increase in wireless broadband technology, the likes of which this hemisphere would not have seen," Mr. Paulwell said during the Central Information Technology Office (CITO) breakfast held yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
The Technology Minister revealed that Government's plan is to create a system that will allow every 'nook and cranny' in Jamaica to become a veritable hot spot.
"When you travel from Kingston to Montego Bay, you can be entirely on the Net, doing your work, fully logged on," he said.
Mr. Paulwell noted that the facility being created will initially provide over 300 gigabytes per second of capacity bandwidth.
BENEFITS OF LIBERALISATION
Making mention of the elimination of monopoly in 1999, the Technology Minister argued that the aim then was to not only improve voice technology, but enable Jamaica to embrace a knowledge-based world. He added that the aim was also to establish an infrastructure that would support knowledge-based society.
The Technology Minister remarked that Jamaica's placement at fifth last year, in the World Information Technology Report, will be significantly improved based on the new broadband capacity in the country. In that report, Jamaica finished behind the United States, Canada, Chile and Brazil.
