New mobile computer classrooms give Antigua's public school students access to computer technology and the island Wi-Fi network.
The Caribbean Island of Antigua & Barbuda is now live with an island Wi-Fi network service provided by the Antigua Computer Technology (A.C.T.) using Tropos Networks' MetroMesh Wi-Fi network solution. The wireless network, currently servicing more than 40% of the total population, is also being used to introduce computer-based curriculum and technology into the public schools through Mobile Computer classrooms and Fixed Internet Centers that have access to the network.
The Antigua Computer Technology Co. Ltd (A.C.T.), locally owned and based in Antigua and Barbuda, is the largest Wi-Fi Internet Service Provider in the Eastern Caribbean. According to A.C.T.'s managing director. Salomon Doumith, "There is a lot more we at A.C.T. have to offer to the public but it is the demand for mobilization and instant access to the Internet which has led us to the full scale deployment of a Wi-Fi network."
"This is a perfect way to reach out to the public; the technology used here on our network could not have worked better. When A.C.T. began this venture, it seemed impossible to most people at the time. That is, until we made the Wi-Fi mesh network available to the public," said Shervin Bruno, broadcast engineer (A.C.T).
The wireless network is available to residents and local businesses on a monthly subscription basis starting at US $50/month.
According to Andrea Joseph, network administrative assistant at A.C.T, "The redundancy of the mesh network and readily available backup battery power makes it ideal for providing reliable service to schools, government and corporate institutions where uninterrupted service is crucial."
"Although we are still a ways from reaching the coverage area mapped out for the island, the responses that we have received thus far indicate that we are pioneering economic growth and satisfying the pent up demand and needs of our citizens," said Eustace Phillip, telecom manager (A.C.T.).
The network is the latest project of the "Connect Antigua & Barbuda Initiative" introduced by the government of Antigua and Barbuda and spearheaded by the minister of Information, Broadcasting and Telecommunications, the Dr. Edmond A. Mansoor. The program is designed to upgrade the intellectual capital of the Nation and build an open and pluralistic society -- one in which all citizens and residents have access to information and knowledge.
