Trinidad telco TSTT launches 4G LTE in 1900MHz band – Trinidad & Tobago
Caricel Joins Global Cyber Alliance – Jamaica
Google to provide faster internet in Cuba – Cuba
ICT tender: Costa Rica prepares to award more spectrum – Costa Rica
Yahoo: 1bn users affected by hack – Regional

Trinidad telco TSTT launches 4G LTE in 1900MHz band – Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago state-controlled telecoms operator TSTT has launched 4G LTE services in the 1900MHz frequency band, according to the Trinidad Guardian.
Coverage is limited to Port of Spain, San Fernando and Scarborough. To increase coverage nationwide the company will require spectrum in the 700MHz band.
Last week, the company was reported to have sealed a 2bn Trinidadian dollar (US$297mn) financing package to partially fund a 3.7bn Trinidadian dollar broadband network rollout over the next two years.

Caricel Joins Global Cyber Alliance – Jamaica
PRESS RELEASE
By Caricel
December 12, 2016
Caricel, Jamaica’s only superfast LTE broadband network is pleased to announce its partnership with the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), an international non-profit organization focused on addressing systemic cyber risks through delivery of concrete, measurable solutions.
Risks to consumers – government, businesses and individuals – are on the rise. Threats such as phishing, malware, spyware and other threats continue to be of high concern. As part of its ongoing commitment to be the best telecommunications provider in Jamaica, Caricel is working to reduce risk to its customers.
“Our partnership with the Global Cyber Alliance is part of our commitment to provide our customers with the best internet experience in the country and create a positive impact on our community. Caricel seeks to provide quality service with the added peace of mind that we are doing everything we can to protect our customer from harm,” said Lowell Lawrence, Director and CEO of Caricel.
“I am extremely pleased to welcome Caricel as a Global Cyber Alliance partner. GCA applauds Caricel’s efforts to provide a more secure Internet experience for the citizens and businesses of Jamaica,” said Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of GCA. “We look forward to working with Caricel and our other partners to enhance wireless security in the Caribbean, using GCA’s projects to help protect Caricel’s customers and Caricel’s capabilities and contributions to make the Internet safer for everyone.”
Caricel is a Jamaican owned telecommunications company providing mobile data services to businesses and residential customers in Jamaica. The company is among the first to provide 4G LTE service in Jamaica with mobile solutions and internet service on the go. Caricel has the distinction of being the only “Jamaican owned, facilities based telecommunications company” to survive the liberalization process since 2003 and enter the mobile telecommunications market.
The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) is an international, cross-sector effort dedicated to confronting cyber risk and improving our connected world. It is a catalyst to bring communities of interest and affiliations together in an environment that sparks innovation with concrete, measureable achievements. While most efforts at addressing cyber risk have been industry, sector, or geographically specific, GCA partners across borders and sectors. GCA’s mantra “Do Something. Measure It.” is a direct reflection of its mission to eradicate systemic cyber risks. GCA, a 501(c)3, was founded in September 2015 by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the City of London Police and the Center for Internet Security. Learn more at www.globalcyberalliance.org.

Google to provide faster internet in Cuba – Cuba
Technology giant Google and Cuba’s state-run telco Etecsa are set to sign an agreement in order to improve internet access on the island.
The agreement will give Cuba access to content delivery network infrastructure Google Global Cache, which stores content from popular and widely-used products such as Gmail and YouTube.
Since Cuba and the US began improving diplomatic relations, Etecsa has signed direct connection agreements for voice services with US telcos IDT Domestic Telecom, Sprint, Verizon and most recently with AT&T.
US President Barak Obama mentioned a possible technological agreement between Cuba and Google during his visit to the Caribbean country in March. That same month Google opened its first technology center in Havana in the studio of plastic artist Alexis Leyva. The center offers free access to Google’s latest products and internet at higher speeds than those offered on the rest of the island.
Domestic internet connections remain illegal for Cubans, forcing them to use public wi-fi spots that run at slow speeds. Nonetheless, Etecsa has already embarked on a domestic internet pilot program with Chinese tech company Huawei.
The agreement with Google will be signed less than a week after Cuba gave three US cruise companies permission to begin sailing to the island next year. Other deals, including one with GE, are in the works, according to several news outlets

ICT tender: Costa Rica prepares to award more spectrum – Costa Rica
Costa Rica’s telecom regulator Sutel has launched a public tender for seven blocks of spectrum in the 1800MHz and 1900/2100MHz bands, totaling 70MHz. These blocks are intended to provide mobile internet and telephony services.
The technical specifications and the objectives and structure of the tender have been published in the official government gazette. Interested parties must submit their proposals to Sutel before February 13 next year.
The regulator must publish a reference notice on its website to be reviewed by bidding companies. Once the proposals are presented, the regulator will devote time to both determining eligible parties and instructing them on the tender’s technical method.
According to Sutel, a minimum price will be set for each tendered block. Bidders will then inform how many blocks they are willing to obtain based on the established prices.
If the demand exceeds the offer, a subsequent round will be carried out increasing the price per block by up to 20%. This process will be repeated until the demand is equal to or lower than the amount of tendered spectrum.
Several entities participated in the consultation regarding this tendering mechanism, reported daily La Nación. These include telcos Telefónica, América Móvil and Millicom, as well as organizations such as Asiet and 5G Americas.
“The spectrum that will be made available in this tender will increase capacity in the country’s mobile telephony and internet networks or allow for the gradual incorporation of new operators in the market,” said Manuel Emilio Ruiz Gutiérrez, president of Sutel. He added that winning parties will have to comply with several objectives aimed at improving the quality of the services.
More information is available in Spanish on Sutel’s website.

Yahoo: 1bn users affected by hack – Regional
PRESS RELEASE
SUNNYVALE, California – Yahoo Inc. has identified data security issues concerning certain Yahoo user accounts. Yahoo has taken steps to secure user accounts and is working closely with law enforcement.
As Yahoo previously disclosed in November, law enforcement provided the company with data files that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data. The company analyzed this data with the assistance of outside forensic experts and found that it appears to be Yahoo user data. Based on further analysis of this data by the forensic experts, Yahoo believes an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts. The company has not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. Yahoo believes this incident is likely distinct from the incident the company disclosed on September 22, 2016.
For potentially affected accounts, the stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The investigation indicates that the stolen information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected.
Yahoo is notifying potentially affected users and has taken steps to secure their accounts, including requiring users to change their passwords. Yahoo has also invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account.
Separately, Yahoo previously disclosed that its outside forensic experts were investigating the creation of forged cookies that could allow an intruder to access users’ accounts without a password. Based on the ongoing investigation, the company believes an unauthorized third party accessed the company’s proprietary code to learn how to forge cookies. The outside forensic experts have identified user accounts for which they believe forged cookies were taken or used. Yahoo is notifying the affected account holders, and has invalidated the forged cookies. The company has connected some of this activity to the same state-sponsored actor believed to be responsible for the data theft the company disclosed on September 22, 2016.
Yahoo encourages users to review all of their online accounts for suspicious activity and to change their passwords and security questions and answers for any other accounts on which they use the same or similar information used for their Yahoo account. The company further recommends that users avoid clicking links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails and that they be cautious of unsolicited communications that ask for personal information. Additionally, Yahoo recommends using Yahoo Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password on Yahooaltogether.
Additional information is available on the Yahoo Account Security Issues FAQs page: https://yahoo.com/security-update.

Copyright 2015 Business News Americas
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