The Panamanian president, Ricardo Martinelli, has announced the launch of the country’s first free-of-charge internet access project Internet Para Todos, BNamericas reports. The government has revealed that on the completion of this first phase of work it has set up 328 access points in eleven cities across the country, offering average downlink speeds of 512kbps; the infrastructure has been deployed by Liberty Technologies, which has used a combination of Wi-Fi and WiMAX technologies. The access points will be located in public areas, including libraries, schools, museums and health centres. The state has also said that in the second phase of the scheme a further 300 access points will be added in another eleven cities. Commenting on the development Martinelli said: ‘Panama has become an example for many countries. The national internet network the government is promoting will benefit more than 2.3 million people when it is completed in April.’ (Source: www.telegeography.com)   

The provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro were virtually cut off on Friday January 1. Damage to equipment related to power distribution systems that feed the trunk and transmission backbone to David caused outages from 7:10 pm until 10:20 p.m. Due to the outage there was no Internet service from any provider, and cellular telephone services from Cable & Wireless Panama was also off line. (La Prensa)   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I don't know what's going on, but there seems to be some kind of a widespread problem with the Movistar cell phone network. I'm getting all kinds of weird responses from my cell phone, mostly related to network access errors, when I try to dial. However some calls are going through so it's not a 100% outage. In any case if you're having problems, you're not alone.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - In the past couple of weeks I've received several complaints from former customers of a guy named Rogelio Alvarado who owns a company in Panama City called biguphosting.com. And when I say I've received complaints, what I specifically mean in this case is that I have received a copy of a criminal complaint that has been filed against Rogelio Alvarado. The prosecutors of Panama's Public Ministry are investigating him for a series of alleged crimes, specifically "crimes against the judicial security of electronic media" and "crimes against information security," mostly related to his inappropriately taking information and data from a former employer. According to several of his unsatisfied (and now irate) former customers, many of whom are members of the English speaking expatriate community in Panama, apparently here is how this guy operates. First of all you hire him to build a website for you. He sets it all up, but then later you come to learn that in reality he actually owns the domain name, and not you. He didn't obtain the domain for you on your behalf, he obtained the domain name and registered it in his own name and for his own benefit, even though you actually hired him to do it for you. At some point in time he basically hijacks or kidnaps the domain name, and if you don't pay him a whole lot of money then you will never get it back. In many cases this can completely ruin a business. He also charges a lot of money up front and then (allegedly, according to the complaints) he doesn't follow through or deliver. Several attempts to contact Rogelio Alvarado with calls to his cell phone went unanswered. In any case - heads up. I will provide more information as it becomes available. Of course I invited Rogelio Alvarado to contact me directly, because I would like to hear his side of the story. In addition I would also like to hear from anyone else who might have had problems with this guy. At this point I have been contacted by three, one of which was pissed off enough to file a rather comprehensive criminal complaint against him. In any case, at this point - "heads up."

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

I need information on TV services in the city of Panama. While I am learning more Spanish I would like to watch TV in English. Who provides English Language programing? Can TV and Internet be bundled? Thanks for any information you can provide. Howard Price (Editor's Comment: Anyone want to answer his questions in the comments? Thanks)   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I finally picked up a Magic Jack while I was was up in New York on this most recent trip. Now, my parents can just dial a local call and presto - we're connected. It looks like this is even going to be cheaper than Skype, which is still pretty damn cheap. Anyway, if you want to call me my new Magic Jack number is (845) 514-9893 based in Kingston New York out of respect for our family's forefathers who landed in that area in about 1654 or so. I looks like I'm going to become a new fan of Magic Jack. Add me to the list.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - You might remember how earlier this year I finally got fed up with Cable Onda's absolutely unacceptable levels of customer service for Internet and basically threw them out on their ass. I switched to PaNETma and have been enjoying flawless high speed service ever since. I just recently spend abut a week and a half in New York. While I was there I got an email from the guys at PaNETma who were letting me know that apparently my service had gone down, and they wanted to see if there was anything they could do. I told them it would have to wait until I got back, and upon my return I quickly determined that my Internet connection was toast. While I was gone apparently a power surge or a lightening strike or something fried the antenna (my bad, no UPS or surge protection.) The guys from PaNETma came over as soon as I called them and I was up and running in minutes. Anyway, I'm still a highly satisfied PaNETma customer. Here's a few comments from others as well;

• "It is very difficult to get a stable internet connection with any kind of speed in Panama. I have probably tried them all at one time or the other. Panetma is my current provider and am recommending them to everyone i see. Speed, reliability and gringo customer service. I will never forget Cableonda's response to me when i was complaining that i was receiving only half the speed i was paying for. My spanish stinks, so I had my secretary/interpreter take over the phone to see if i was hearing the response right. It translated just as I thought: "Senor, you get what you get!!"
  
  
• "WOW for Panetma. If you need high speed (2mb and above) they have so far been head and shoulders above the others. Gringo-like customer service and the up time has been 100%. The speed consistently measures right on and sometimes above the mark. In fact, it has been nothing short of amazing. I am in Obarrio by the way." Mike B., Obarrio
  
  
• "I have panetma hooked up right now. These guys showed up to hook me up the day I called, arriving an hour before they anticipated (they called to make certain it was ok). They were throrough and professional and have answered and worked with my difficult schedule since. The service works quite well, seems as fast as my business service in Cincinnati, Ohio. This enables me to run almost 70% of my stateside job duties from PC, so I am thrilled. I highly recommend Panetma." Stephen M., El Cangrejo
  
  
• "Hi roman, first your internet service is great – thanks – so much so friends of ours from Ontario are wanting to move to panama, buy a place in cerro azul and hope that you provide service in that area as they know how much we enjoy it – do you offer service there? Can you? " Thomas D., Costa del Este

I'm Sold: As far as I'm concerned, for high speed Internet service in Panama, there's PaNETma, and then there's everyone else. Having a stable and high speed connection to the Internet is absolutely critical for me because my business depends on that connectivity. PaNETma works for me.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By Enrique L. Brathwaite for Mi Diario - With a new promise - to start 2010 the assembly of computers in Panama and to provide a laptop computer to all Panamanians, Panama's president Ricardo Martinelli yesterday inaugurated the new National Wireless Internet Network system. The official inauguration ceremony was held at the Orlando Winter gymnasium in San Miguelito, which was packed with students from the Instituto Dr. Alfredo Cantón, Martinelli activated the system that puts Panama as a world leaders when it comes to Internet access. Accompanied by the Secretary of the Presidency for Government Innovation, Eduardo Jaén; the National Secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation, Rubén Berrocal; and Panama's Minister of Education Lucy Molinar, president Martinelli asked students to use this new important tool to get the best use of it. "The Internet has everything - it's a mobile library," he said. On the national network program, Jaén explained that this started program started officially yesterday and that the first phase of implementation should be completed during the month of November which will cover eleven cities at a cost of $6.9 million dollars in equipment and $340,000 dollars per month in maintenance and operation. In this first phase a total of 572 connection points will be established in the cities of Penonomé, Colón, David, Chitré, Pesé, Las Tablas, Panamá, Arraiján, Santiago, La Chorerra and Soná. The second phase will be ready in 2010 and will cover another eleven cities in the country. It is expected that in the next five years the government will have invested $40 million dollars in this project. The places where you can connect will be marked with the logo of the National Internet Network.   

Optimized Computer Services (OCS) provide a bi-lingual, professional integrated solution to your computer system requirements in Panama: Computer Repair and Technical Support, Website Design and Internet Marketing, Cell Phone Repair and Mobile applications Installation, Internet Accessible Security Camera Solutions. Our president, Michael Price, has been developing and supporting key computer systems for 25 years and instills the need in our team to deliver quality solutions within timeframe and budget to the customer. Computer Repair and Technical Support. OCS is based in Plaza Paitilla which is in a central location with ample parking if you which to drop off your broken or damaged computer for repair. Alternatively, if you do not have time or the equipment is too bulky for you to transport we will come to you for the same price. For businesses the cost of lost productivity is normally higher than the cost of the repair so we provide a low cost preventative maintenance contract solution. Results Based Website Design and Internet Marketing - Most Websites in Panama are like remote deserted islands -they have no visitors and no easy way of finding them. Some of them look nice but they are missing the key ingredients needed to be found be search engines such as google, yahoo, etc We build custom websites from $300 that are customer maintainable and we provide hosting and website promotion services that get your website recognized – and you only pay us on success. Cell Phone Repair and Mobile applications installation - We realize that the customer requires a place to repair their expensive mobile phones that provide a fast, reliable service that they can trust. We specialize in 24 hour repair of Smartphones such as Blackberry and iPhone devices. Internet Accessible Security Camera Solutions - We are the Panama distributors for the high quality, cost-effective Mace products. All our solutions enable you to monitor your home or business security on-line or using your Smartphone so that you get early warning of any problems Please visit www.optimized-computer-services.com to see our full range of services and prices.