BARBADOS TODAY 25.07.2011
by Alicia Austin
As of November 11 this year, everyone in Barbados
whether visiting or residing will have free Wi-Fi access to the
Internet.
This was confirmed at a press conference by the Barbados
Entrepreneurship Foundation at McKinney Rogers, Woodland
Plantation, St. George. Functioning with the slogan, 11.11.11.
ON to emphasize the venture, Chief Executive Officer of
McKinney Rogers, and an associate of BEF, Damian McKinney,
said it was the desire of the organization for people in the
country to have free access to the Internet — “from bus stop
to rum shop”.
McKinney said the Wi-Fi proposal was an initiative propelled
by the current economic recession and the turmoil that some
countries had been facing.
“You need to have something that really launches the
challenge. There were many who had this similar dream and
what we did was take that dream and make it a reality by
saying that we would deliver it by November 11, 2011 —
we were referring to this as 11.11.11.ON. It’s an absolute
commitment that we will provide, free Wi-Fi access to every
person in this country by that date,” McKinney said.
He noted that the achievement could make Barbados the
first completely wireless island in the Caribbean and the first
country in the world to achieve 100 per cent wireless access
across its territory.
He added that the venture was an opportunity for Barbados
to be at the “centre of the world” by giving people access
to what the world has to offer via free Internet. “Whether
you are a young student doing your geography or history, or
a project, [you will have] access to information on the web.
Frankly, I wish when I was a young person I had access... It will
provide entrepreneurs the opportunity not only for business
ideas, or thoughts, but simply the ability to interrogate lessons
learnt. To old age pensioners who are looking forward to
their next chapter in life, to unions, to all of us, we’ll benefit
massively from this opportunity,” McKinney said.
To pursue this project, McKinney said the organization
engaged in talks with the Government, and telecommunications
companies to create what he described as a “seamless
infrastructure” for citizens, tourists and businesses to
participate with the liberty of not having to apply a password.
McKinney said he believed Barbados could be a world
leader, despite its relatively small size.
He warned, however, that the access would not extend to
people being able to download a movie or upload a clip but
rather to allow Internet access at sufficient speed to facilitate
connection and manipulation of e-mail, access text-based
information and make simple on-line transactions such as
banking and bill payment.
He also stated the recent advertisements aimed at
persuaded people to secure their Internet connections was not
a hindrance to the project.
aliciaaustin@barbadostoday
