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Parliamentarians and Senior Government Officials to receive iPad and 4G LTE Connectivity
Posted On: September 21, 2012

Before the end of this year all members of parliament on both sides of the divide will receive an iPad with 4G LTE connectivity.

The announcement came on Thursday, from Minister of Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Science and Technology Dr. Hon. Edmond Mansoor during the launch of the 2012 ICTFEST. The Minister noted that Permanent Secretaries and other senior public servants will also recieve an iPad and 4G LTE connectivity at a later date.

 “Before the end of this year all members of parliament on both sides of the divide will receive an iPad with 4G LTE connectivity.  All Permanent Secretaries and Principal Assistant Secretaries across all Ministries will receive an iPad and 4G LTE connectivity and in the second phase very senior public servants will also receive an iPad and 4G LTE connectivity.” Dr. Mansoor said.

On July 12th, Government announced its newest ICT initiative, the Government Assisted Technology Endeavour (GATE), which will see the deployment of computer tablets and 4G LTE broadband Internet to thousands of secondary school students. 

The Minister said that under GATE one thousand public servants will receive dongles to connect to the 4G LTE platform.

“Those public servants who obviously have a laptop will be able to leverage on the LTE platform.” Dr. Mansoor said.

According to Dr. Mansoor, 4G LTE will give Antigua and Barbuda an ICT commercial advantage since the 4G LTE platform will reposition the country as the technology leader in the Caribbean, drive GDP upwards, enhance job creation and encourage inward investment.

The announcement is timely as Antigua and Barbuda has joined other public sector organizations across the Caribbean that are embracing the concept of e-Government to better respond to the new challenges and opportunities in the digital age. 

“I am confident that 4G LTE technology will change the face of Antigua and Barbuda forever and empower everybody especially those young people who are going to have go out into the real world and compete in the real world in an era where telecommunications is the order of the day.” Dr. Mansoor said.