During
the first year of this project, December 2015 to November 2016, of the new
telephony installation, Government will pay nothing for the phone system. From
December 2016 and onwards, the cost of phones will be reduced to $90,000. When
other departments become connected, the [WAN] solution will observe savings of
up to 53 per cent”.
Barbados Prime Minister
Freundel Stuart commenting on their contract with Barbados Government for a WAN
Barbados
is truly a very, very small little island. No offense to Bajans reading my
article, as I love your Crop Over and I hope 2016 will be bangin'.
So
it's nice to see Digicel Barbados step up to the challenge of providing
internet access with a WAN (Wide area Network) as reported in the article “Digicel secures major
ICT contract with Barbados Government”, published Monday 21 December, 2015,
SKNVibes.
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The
WAN is the result of a 5 year contract with the Government of Barbados valued
at US$2.4M to provide Islandwide Internet access as well as DIA (Dedicated
Internet Access). Put simply, this is a really large Fiber Optic Network
specifically aimed at powering Barbados Government workers with Internet as
well as their e-Government initiative as detailed in Barbados e-Government
Program Status Update.
Barbados
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart announced the collaboration with the Telecom
Provider, citing the fact that it would reduce the cost of implement a
paper-free Government, quote: “When other departments become connected, the
[WAN] solution will observe savings of up to 53 per cent”.
The
Barbados Government has already paid over some US$776,800 of the contract to begin work on
the Barbados Government WAN, which is expected to reduce the cost of calling
within the Government Ministries as noted in the article “Digicel
wins Government contract”, published December 16, 2015 George Alleyne, Barbados Today.
So
who exactly is this WAN for in Barbados?
Barbados WAN – Reducing
the Telecoms cost of running the Barbados Government
Being
as the island isn't that large, this would probably be the equivalent of
setting up a Wi-Fi Network in the parish of Kingston. The Barbados Government
WAN will provide the following services:
1.
Email
2.
Internet
3.
Line of business applications
4.
Telephony
It's
expected to reduce communication across several ministries, particularly:
1.
Civil Aviation department
2.
Ministry of Energy
3.
Ministry of the Civil Service
4.
Personnel Administrative Department
5.
Telecoms Unit
When
constructed, it will but Barbados way ahead of many Government in the region,
as they'd be one of the first with their own private, secure WAN, built and
maintained under by Digicel on contract but using Internet capacity that they
would provision themselves.
So
is the Barbados Government WAN a truly unique concept in the Caribbean?
The Barbados Government
WAN - Government of Jamaica's GovNET with a 22% VAT
The
Barbados Government WAN is very similar in concept to Minister of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell's proposal for a GovNET (Government
Network) which I’d written about in October 2014 in my blog article
entitled “National
Work Agency building islandwide Public Emergency Network - Early indications of
GOVNet WAN and ITA-run Automated Traffic Ticketing System”.
Planning
for the GovNET
had started back in August 2011 with a consultancy team as part of a Public
Sector Transformation Project working out a suitable business model as well as
working out the cheapest way to build out the Network Infrastructure over the
next five (5) years up to 2017
The
Theory I've long held is that the Government of Jamaica, being as out island is
much larger, would opt to use private Fiber Optic connectivity to interconnect
the various Government ministries, most of which are located in Kingston.
They
would share this Fiber Optic capacity with the National Work Agency, who are
setting up a islandwide Public Emergency Network to monitor all Government
Agencies, not just ministries as well as have CCTV Cameras installed at Traffic
lights as predicted in my blog article
entitled “GOJ
to upgrade NWA's CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network to give Police more eyes in
Private Places - The Da Vinci Code for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and
1984”.
This
makes sense, as the level of traffic generated by the Government ministries and
their executive agencies isn't 24/7; the Government employees must go to sleep
at some point.
The
High School that will be connected to the CAP (Community Access Points) that
support the TIS (Tablet in Schools) Project, part of the E-Learning Project,
will also be using this GovNET as predicted in my blog article
entitled “TIS
Project a Success with Boys - JA$9000 Subsidized Tablets, 600,000 Students
getting e-books come September 2015”.
So
when that happens, at night-time the NWA (National Works Agency) and Jamaican
Police would use the GovNET to carry traffic from their network of CCTV Cameras
islandwide as further explained in my Geezam blog
article entitled “Jamaica’s
National Security Ministry plans CCTV Network and Automated Traffic Ticketing
System”.
It's
possible that GovNET will be built using Linux File Servers to provide an added
layer of security for their Databases as noted in my blog article
entitled “GOJ
securing Government Websites against Hackers - Linux-based GovNET to remove
Windows vulnerabilities and change Human Behaviour”.
The Barbados WAN with
CAP - Collecting 22% VAT, one Wi-Fi Connection at a Time
The
Government of Barbados may be taking this all into consideration.
Especially
the idea of extending Internet access to all Barbadians via setting up CAP
(Community Access Points) and then applying the 22% VAT (Value Added Tax) as
announced in my blog
article entitled “How
to Barbados 22% VAT will raise BDS$14 million to create University Scholarships
for Bajans” as the island is kinda small!
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General
Manager for Digicel Business, Martin Keogh, in commenting on their contract
with Barbados Government for a WAN, promises savings, quote: “Thanks to Digicel
Business, the Government will see substantial savings; but the benefits run
wider than cost savings alone”.
Quite
true, as they’ll pay nothing for phone calling in all of 2016 according to Barbados
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart!
Mr.
Martin Keogh also promises faster Internet speeds, hinting at the fact that the
Barbados WAN will be Fiber Optic and Triple Play, quote: “The operating
efficiency means every Government body connected to the WAN can transmit data
up to 100 hundred times faster than previously, and extends into voice, video,
mobility, messaging, conferencing, instant messaging and contact centre.
This
will put Barbados way ahead of even Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, who are
yet to set up their Government WAN, despite plans being announced in their
Parliaments, to quote Martin Keogh: “So this is a spectacular leap for Barbados
in becoming a knowledge-based economy and we salute the Government for aptly
leading this transformation”.
This
suggests that Digicel Play, not in Jamaica as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled How “Digicel
Play will spread the Gospel of Fiber Optic this Christmas” is slowly being
rolled out in Barbados.
Digicel
is currently in the process of setting up Digicel Play in Barbados, providing super
fast Internet to the 800 plus business on the island. As the five year
progress, the Barbados Government might also have CAP's in minds as a means of
increasing Internet Access across the island.
Bajans
could access the Internet either free or via using Voucher Credit with the 22%
VAT added.
All
in a bid to raise some BDS$14 million (JA$840 million) annually to fund
University scholarships as they built out their one-of-a-kind Barbados Government
WAN over the next five years....if it'll really take that long.
Here’s
the link:
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