St. Maarten Institutions to Receive High-end Computer Labs, Schools to Receive New Computers, High-speed Internet Access
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (June 19, 2002)-A new e-learning network is to be established on St. Maarten, offering exciting new learning possibilities to a number of educational institutions on the island. The network will feature high-speed Internet access, teleconferencing and virtual exchange capabilities in the areas of medicine education, research and at high school and university level.
The project is being initiated by the St.Maarten Telephone Company (TelEm) and Nortel Networks* [NYSE/TSX: NT], a leading global provider of telecommunications solutions, which is donating the hardware necessary to develop the network. A formal announcement about the ambitious plans was made at a luncheon today, as one of the highlights of the 18th Annual CANTO Conference & Trade Exhibition, taking place this week at the Maho Convention Center in St. Maarten.
Nortel Networks is donating a number of computers, printers, software packages and networking equipment to be used in the project. “Nortel Networks has a long-standing commitment to education,” said Winston Estridge, president, Nortel Networks Caribbean and Latin America. “We want to reaffirm this commitment by providing the necessary tools for the development of the region’s future leaders. Celebrating our extensive business relationship with TelEm, we hope that this joint contribution will help to expand the educational opportunities on the island.”
The vision of TelEm is to develop a number of tele-learning computer labs at various institutions throughout St. Maarten, starting with a Tele-Medicine Computer Lab at the St. Maarten Medical Center; a Tele-Research Lab at the Philipsburg Jubilee Library; a Long-distance Learning Computer Lab at the University of St. Martin; and a Tele-Learning Computer Lab at the Milton Peters College high school.
“We have delivered on our promise to wire the community of St. Martin to the point where everyone can have easy access to each other through our telecommunications systems. Now it’s time for us to step up a gear, with the help of Nortel Networks, to bring our Internet services up to speed by bringing the benefits of e-learning and telecon-ferencing right here to St. Maarten,” said Dennis L. Richardson, president director of TelEm. He said the St. Maarten Telephone Company takes it as a duty to firmly put St. Maarten in touch with the rest of the world by giving the youth easy access to information tools.
The ISP (Internet Service Provider) for the project will be the St. Martin company, IDL, while TelNet, a subsidiary of the St. Maarten Telephone Company, will be setting up the teleconferencing and necessary network connections on the island between St. Maarten institutions and counterparts all over the world.
TelEm will additionally be investing in a number of computers for the following schools to establish their own computer labs for students. The schools to receive computers will be Oranje School in Phillipsburg; Sister Regina School in Simpson Bay; the After School Association Program run by the Lions Club; Leonard Connor School in Cole Bay, and the Sister Basilia Center for physically challenged clients.
The St Maarten Telephone Company consists of an incumbent local exchange carrier (TelEm), a mobile service provider (TelCell) and an Internet Service Provider (TelNet). The St. Maarten Telephone Group of Companies is a government-owned company with the Island Government of St. Maarten as sole shareholder. Also associated with the St. Maarten Telephone Group of Companies is Smitcoms, the international carrier and solely owned by the government of the island territory of St. Maarten.
Nortel Networks is an industry leader and innovator focused on transforming how the world communicates and exchanges information. The company is supplying its service provider and enterprise customers with communications technology and infrastructure to enable value-added IP data, voice and multimedia services spanning Metro and Enterprise Networks, Wireless Networks and Optical Long Haul Networks. As a global company, Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries. More information about Nortel Networks can be found at www.nortelnetworks.com.