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U.S. Collects Vast Data Trove
The National Security Agency’s monitoring of Americans includes customer records from the three major phone networks as well as emails and Web searches, and the agency also has cataloged credit-card transactions, said people familiar with the agency’s activities.
The disclosure this week of an order by a secret U.S. court for Verizon Communications Inc.’s phone records set off the latest public discussion of the program. But people familiar with the NSA’s operations said the initiative also encompasses phone-call data from AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp., records from Internet-service providers and purchase information from credit-card providers.
Cable Bahamas doubles international Internet capacity to meet increasing usage
Cable Bahamas Ltd. has implemented a major increase in its international connectivity to the rest of the world as part of its ongoing network optimization plans. On Monday, May 13 it boosted its capacity between The Bahamas and its primary and secondary connection points to the global Internet in the United States by over 220 per cent, or a more than six-fold increase since its undersea fiber was launched over ten years ago.
On April 22, Cable Bahamas formally launched an increase in subscriber bandwidth speed between 500 and 1,000 per cent, moving its former speed levels of 3, 6 and 9 megabits per second for residential subscribers to 15, 30 and 50 megabits per second respectively. It also introduced a new speed level of 70 megabits per second for residential customers, and up to 500 megabits per second for commercial establishments. This was the first time broadband speeds of these levels have been available in The Bahamas.
Since that launch, Cable Bahamas has seen an increase in Internet data usage of 20 per cent. "We expected that our subscribers would begin to place greater demands on our network as we opened up new speeds to them," said Cable Bahamas Director of Network Operations Oswald Dean. "And that is exactly what has happened. Our customers have had such a great experience with their new speeds that we saw a 20 per cent jump in Internet data usage in the first three weeks. They love being able to more quickly and reliably access services that need more speed, like video streaming, video chat and more demanding business applications," Dean said.
According to Head of Marketing and Product Manager for the REVON Internet product David Burrows, "Cable Bahamas is in the forefront of enabling and maintaining our country's vital links for commerce and trade." He continued, "Over the last year we have been delivering an average 23 terabytes of data per month through our network. Since the launch of our new speeds this has increased to over 28 terabytes per month. That increasing demand for traffic throughput was the motivating factor behind the move to increase the international bandwidth."
Burrows explained that The Bahamas' communication link to the rest of the world is as important to the country's existence as is air and sea travel. "Ships bring us food and commodities that we need to survive, while planes bring visitors that boost our tourist economy. Today, so much of our lives are now dependent on how we connect to the rest of the world that our economy would be severely hindered without that robust communications link."
He further emphasized that, while many residents are focused on their own home and personal Internet uses, a reliable data connection is the foundation of local commerce, enabling everything we do from education, international finance, hospitality, healthcare, emergency services, retail, travel and shipping. "Data and information is the 'new currency,'" Burrows said. "As such, we must ensure that the networks that facilitate these critical services are designed, engineered, sufficiently scaled and reliable to meet present and, more importantly, future demands."
Burrows referred to a report by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union), which highlighted the importance of fast, reliable connectivity for any country's economy. "We know that broadband connectivity is now considered basic infrastructure, and this delivers important economic and social benefits," Burrows said. "In every country in the world, these networks are now just as important as transport, power or water networks. I n fact, a broadband network like ours is the lifeline of almost every area of our economy. It is vital for The Bahamas to have this infrastructure as an island nation in the 21st century to stay ahead of our regional competitors."
Dean explained that the off-island bandwidth boost was a strategic progression in the company's network evolution plans. "This increase in our international 'pipe' will ensure that we are always ahead of the demands of our consumers," he said.
The work required to put the necessary infrastructure in place began almost six months ago, and included upgrading key transport equipment and new training for more than eight engineers and technicians on the team responsible for the network.
Vice President of Information and Telecom Systems Blaine Schafer explained, "This is the result of what we call 'capacity planning'. We project our subscribers needs and plan accordingly. As people rely more and more on the broadband speeds we provide, they will start to consume more capacity. Our job is to anticipate and respond to that demand."
Internet traffic management company Sandvine has been assisting Cable Bahamas in its efforts to monitor, manage and respond to the constantly changing demands on its network.
"As the communications market and Internet usage have evolved, service providers such as Cable Bahamas look for ways to improving the subscriber experience," said Tom Donnelly, Sandvine's chief operating officer. "Cable Bahamas' management team has been dedicated to the optimization of the Internet experience for their subscribers, and has deployed Sandvine's Business Intelligence solutions to help understand and respond to how subscribers are experiencing the network, usage trends, and what service tiers may be attractive in the future."
Donnelly continued, "this gives Cable Bahamas the ability to benchmark themselves against global Internet phenomena trends." Sandvine's Business Intelligence products forecast long-term trends in consumer experience and resource utilization so that operators can proactively decide where to allocate resources and spending. Sandvine's Traffic Management uses network data to apply business rules in real-time, protecting subscribers' quality of experience under all network conditions.
Cable Bahamas Doubles International Internet Capacity To Meet Increasing Usage
Cable Bahamas Ltd announced today that it is implementing a major increase in its international connectivity to the rest of the world as part of its ongoing network optimisation plans. On Monday, May 13 it will boost its capacity between The Bahamas and its primary and secondary connection points to the global Internet in the United States by over 220 per cent, or a more than six-fold increase since its undersea fibre was launched over ten years ago. On April 22, Cable Bahamas formally launched an increase in subscriber bandwidth speed between 500 and 1,000 per cent, moving its former speed levels of 3, 6 and 9 megabits per second for residential subscribers to 15, 30 and 50 megabits per second respectively.
Many Upset Over Proposed Cable Price Hike
Dozens of New Providence residents, many of whom are Cable Bahamas Limited (CBL) customers, expressed strong concerns about the company's proposed rate increase at a public consultation meeting at Holy Cross Anglican Church Tuesday night.
Poor Customer Service
Late on Thursday afternoon, October 18, 2012, Cable Bahamas suffered severe damage to its fiber optic cable infrastructure that delivers video and data to its customers.
URCA Investigating 'Decrease' In BTC Service Quality
Even as the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) investigates that network outage that resulted in the loss of service to thousands of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) customers earlier this year, it is also looking into a recent "decrease" in the quality of service offered by the telecoms company.
Education Minister supports Communications Act 2009
Contribution to Debate on the Communications Act 2009 by Education Minister, the Hon. Carl W. Bethel, M.P., 4th May 2009
Fair is fair
For several hours last Monday, we were forcefully reminded exactly what is meant by an essential service and what it feels like to go about our daily lives without not just one essential service, but minus a pair of them. Today, we would like to Consider This ... what do we have a right to demand from those who provide us with these important services and what should we do if those providers don't live up to their end of the bargain?
Each of us enters into contracts during our lives - contracts with our bank, our employer, even our spouse. Those contracts have very definite parameters, giving us things in exchange for our promise to give something in return. After receiving what we have contracted for, whether it is money, employment or a faithful, loving spouse, if we fail to live up to our end of the bargain, loans get called, jobs are lost and sometimes, marriages wind up on the rocks.
Then, there are the other kinds of contracts where those with whom you have the contract must continue to provide that for which you have contracted as you agree to fulfill your part of the agreement, also on an ongoing basis. These contracts are the kind we have with our essential service providers: The companies from whom we get electricity, water and telephone and, to some degree, cable television and Internet providers, although some would argue the latter are not essential services. However, after being prevented from using ATMs all over the island last Monday because of Internet related problems, many would unquestionably classify them as essential services.
So we innocently sign up for these services, being duly informed about what will happen to us as customers should we breach our part of the agreement but never asking what compensation we could expect should the service provider fail to deliver the contracted services. It rarely occurs to many of us to ask "what happens if the lights go off?" or "what do we get back if the phones fail to work?" or "what can we expect if we have to do without water?" It is almost unthinkable that things like that would happen on a protracted basis. At least it used to be.
We are now a different kind of people. We have shown that we have little patience for politicians who do not live up to their promises. We are becoming a people whose patience is wearing very thin.
We are beginning to awaken to the fact that we do have rights and that an agreement should be taken seriously - by both parties. We are embracing the idea that we do not have to settle for whatever service we happen to get, whether it is good, mediocre or downright absent, as it was on Monday past. We are starting to ask about the fairness of having to pay the same charges whether we get what we pay for or merely a pale shadow of the promised service.
Why, for example, do we have to pay the same price for rusty water coming through the taps into our sinks and washing machines that we agreed to pay for what we were assured was a clear, clean, potable product that would not ruin our clothes and force us to buy bottled water to use for what tap water is supposed to provide? Moreover, when we signed up for water, we did not expect to have good pressure sometimes and dribbles or nothing at other times.
Yes, things happen. Emergencies occur. But emergencies are becoming so commonplace that having a good steady stream of water from your tap for some areas of the nation is now the exception, not the rule. Most just suck it up, so to speak, and pay the full water bill for the less than full service they have received.
And then we have the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC). While we are growing, we were used to power failures because of "generation problems", this past week's massive outage was caused by a "surge on its system", as BEC said in its press release on the event that crippled the capital for hours on Monday past.
But, month after month, consumers who are being asked to pay astronomical bills in return for what is anticipated to be a steady supply of current are being shut off because of non-payment. Business growth is severely handicapped by the cost of electricity as well as its unreliability, caught between going broke paying for it and going broke because you can't open your business because of a power failure - a real example of being damned if you do and damned if you don't.
And what are you offered when their part of the bargain is not fulfilled and the lights kept on? True, we only pay for the power we use, but the problem is much more complex than that. We have contracted for a 24/7 supply. We construct our lives around that understanding. Our business hours rely on that. We buy our food and plan our day around the belief that we will have power. If the contract told us we would have 12 hours of electricity every day, we would plan differently. But it doesn't. And we should have a reasonable expectation when entering into a contract that it will be carried out, just as the other party expects payment. Fair is fair and it's time for BEC to level with its customers, tell us what that contract really means in terms of supply and, instead of charging us for a reliable supply of electricity, bring down the rate for the UN-reliable supply of electricity accordingly.
And then there is BTC. Today it seems as though we are held together and linked to the world beyond with our landlines, cell phones and smart phones. We conduct business, parent our children, sustain our relationships and expand our social life within and outside our communities, all via the miracle of telephony. Without it, the nurtured networks of our lives crumble. We experienced that on Monday as everything ground to a halt when, for reasons that have yet to be discovered, our telephone system failed.
Before Monday, we have been experiencing less than stellar service with our phones. Cell phone systems are being upgraded, we are told, so we are becoming used to large gaps in our connectivity. Our landline system, when it has problems, is now subjected to a new and much more rigid repair protocol that results in a longer wait-time to be resolved. Once again, we did not sign up for this when we entered into an agreement for telephone service. And we certainly did not agree to pay for mediocrity and a constantly evolving system, subject as it seems to be to a trial-and-error kind of level of service.
BTC has provided financial consideration for those who suffered through Monday's debacle but very little reassurance that things will get better as they continue to charge for connections that often do not connect. Fair is fair. As long as BTC is in the upgrade mode, tinkering with systems and fixing platforms, the rate charged the consumer - who really is becoming more of a BETA testing participant - should be adjusted accordingly - and not just for 24 or 48 hours. As with Water and Sewerage and BEC, we are paying BTC for something we are not getting, so that payment structure needs to be addressed in the name of fairness.
Until we can get what we are paying for where our utilities are concerned, being a First World nation will continue to be an elusive dream. But once we are treated fairly by those we contract to provide these services, the sky is the limit and our admission to the First World and the 21st century will be assured.
o Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.
Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham On the Sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless Communications, Plc. (CWC)
Communication by Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham On the Sale of 51% of Bahamas Telecommunications Company To Cable & Wireless Communications, Plc. (CWC)
Mr. Speaker,
At the conclusion of my communication I will table the following documents related to the privatization of The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) and the sale of 51% of the shares in BTC to Cable and Wireless Communications, Plc
Consumer Protection in The Bahamas
An educated consumer is our best customer. - Sy Syms In the 1980s, in an effort to educate TV viewers, clothier Sy Syms frequently reminded his audience that, "An educated consumer is our best customer." He was a pioneer in consumer education and empowerment and persons like...
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