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NETHERLANDS ANTILLES INTRODUCTION
- NETHERLANDS
ANTILLES OFFSHORE ACTIVITIES
- NETHERLANDS
ANTILLES CASE STUDIES
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Netherlands
Antilles E-Commerce Special Feature - Offshore
E-Commerce: Ready for Action?
Netherlands
Antilles Introduction
The
telecoms monopoly held by Antelecom officially
ended in October 2000 when competition was introduced
in the form of St Maarten International Telecommunications
Services Ltd (SMITCOM).
In
May, 2006, Digicel, the largest mobile telecommunications
firm in the Caribbean, announced the launch of
a revamped service on the Netherlands Antillean
island of Curacao.
Investment
has been focused on expansion and upgrading of
the network to Digicel’s "signature
quality and reliability", as well as supporting
a shared vision with the Curacao management team
to become the leading wireless telecommunications
provider on the island.
Since
the company entered the Curacao market through
its acquisition of Curaçao Telecom N.V.
last year, Digicel has invested in excess of US$10
million.
In
July 2006, Digicel
announced the launch of additional services in
the jurisdiction.
With
an initial investment of US$2 million in the island
of Bonaire, Digicel announced new offerings, such
as pre-paid roaming, 'Call Me' text messaging,
and multi-media messaging.
The
Caribbean company announced that it was focused
on becoming Bonaire’s number one mobile
provider of choice, and had recently opened three
retail stores and 110 top-up locations on the
island.
The
number of ISPs is growing and includes Bgate.net,
Carib-Online, InterNeeds NV (one of the largest
ISPs in Curacao), Smartnet and, most recently,
TerraNet Communications Systems Inc.
The
underwater optic glass-fibre cable 'Americas II',
running from North America via the Caribbean to
South America became operational for Curacao,
Netherlands Antilles in October 2000. In February
2001 another cable with vastly more capacity made
its landfall in Curacao with the arrival of the
cable-laying ship Manta during its deployment
of the optic glass-fibre cable 'Arcos'. Arcos
was the highest-capacity submarine cable yet laid,
and was the first to be 'self-healing' in the
event of physical damage.
Arcos
has a capacity of 960 gigabits in comparison to
the 25 gigabit capacity of Americas II. The cable
connects Curacao directly with several countries
in South America, the Caribbean and Miami. The
shareholders of Arcos decided to place their 'Network
Operation Center' (NOC) on Curacao, under the
control of United Telecom Services (UTS), the
local telecom holding company in Curacao.
The
Arcos cable's other NOC is in Miami. UTS is negotiating
with Siemens to use Curacao as their home port
for the maintenance-services of Arcos. Siemens
has a contract with Arcos for the repair and maintenance
of the cable worldwide.
In
February 2007, Global Crossing, the global IP
solutions provider, announced that it was working
with Global Caribbean Network (GCN), a subsea
cable operator headquartered in Guadeloupe, in
the French West Indies, to enhance global IP connectivity
to the Caribbean region.
Under
the terms of several agreements, GCN will interconnect
its voice and data traffic services arriving from
the Caribbean to Global Crossing's IP network
in St. Croix, via 10-Gigabit wavelengths, enabling
GCN to extend its services to North America, Europe
and Asia. Primarily based in the Caribbean, GCN's
customers thus gained access to Global Crossing's
state-of-the-art global network, so that they
can connect to any of the 600 cities in 60 countries
where Global Crossing delivers services.
GCN
began offering its commercial services in the
Caribbean in October 2006 through the official
launch of the first phase of its GCN-1 system,
which connects Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy,
San Juan and St. Croix.
According
to a 2006 Telecommunications Industry Review study,
the Caribbean is one of the fastest growing broadband
markets in the world. To accommodate this rapidly
expanding demand in Latin America and the Caribbean
region, Global Crossing recently announced that
it will upgrade its Mid-Atlantic Crossing (MAC)
system, which connects North America to Latin
America through the Caribbean.
Global
Caribbean Network (GCN) is a new cable operator
in the Caribbean region. It is a subsidiary of
Groupe Loret, one of the main players in the French
West Indies and Guiana economies, with sales of
EUR500 million (US$647 million) in 2005.
GCN
has been awarded a Public Service Delegation contract
by the Regional Council of Guadeloupe (FWI) to
build and operate a new submarine cable linking
Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, St.Croix, St. Martin
and St. Barthelemy to the rest of the world.
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Netherlands
Antilles Offshore Activities
As
a major offshore jurisdiction with tens of thousands
of offshore enterprises already installed, including
many trading companies, it is only a matter of
time before the Netherlands Antilles become a
centre of e-commerce activity. The islands' geographical
location, their good telecommunications links
and sophisticated business infrastructure add
to the inevitability of a significant e-future
for the Netherlands Antilles.
Indeed
the Netherlands Antilles has already made a significant
start with the opening of a new E-Commerce Park
project on Curacao with a multifunctional datacentre
which was operational from November 1, 2001.
The
key element of the E-Commerce Park is its location.
The Park is situated next door to the UTS building
with its direct connection to the backbone of
the most important telecom cables resulting in
high-quality, continuous 24/7 service from its
Network Operating Centre.
The
E-Commerce Park provides facilities for global
offshore internet companies that re-locate their
activities to Curacao. A company that establishes
in the E-Commerce Park building will be awarded
vital tax incentives under legislation implemented
which provides for the establishment of tax-privileged
E-Zone areas.
As
of April 1, 2001, special tax legislation for
international Internet companies on Curacao came
into force to act as an incentive to persuade
e-commerce companies to relocate their activities
to the Island. The new law replaces the old Free
Zone law and governs 'E-Zones' which are areas
within the Netherlands Antilles where international
trade and trade supportive services may be carried
out by electronic communication and electronic
commerce.
Only
companies with a capital divided into shares may
perform activities in the e-zones including trading
or providing services to companies located outside
the Netherlands Antilles.
A
company may be allowed to conduct business with
other firms located in an e-zone but the company
has to apply to the local authority before doing
so. If given the go ahead the company must meet
a certain criteria of conditions relating to price
setting, quality of the goods and services on
offer and the distribution of goods. The turnover
generated through local business may not exceed
25% of the total turnover.
In
terms of profit tax the profit of companies within
the e-zones will be taxed at 2% - including surtax
- until January 1, 2026. This rate is not applicable
on the profit of an e-zone company if it is generated
by the sale of goods or services to companies
located in the Netherlands Antilles or generated
through the rendering of services to affiliated
companies located in the country. In addition
there is no import duty or turnover tax charged
on goods entering the e-zones.
Finally,
employees who have lived in excess of five years
outside the Netherlands Antilles before starting
work in an e-zone can qualify for expatriate status,
with certain tax-free benefits - providing certain
conditions are met. An e-zone company can calculate
the wage tax on the net salary of the employee
without being required to 'gross up' the salary.
In
Feb 2003 Providence, Rhode Island-based Polar
Cove, an enterprise information security consultant,
established a security monitoring center in Curacao,
Netherlands Antilles, from where it offers security
protection to on-line gaming companies.
Polar
Cove’s Gaming Security Package includes:
- 24
x 7 x 365 Intrusion Prevention and Intrusion
monitoring. Polar Cove provides around-the-clock,
real-time surveillance of gaming systems from
the state-of-the-art control center, responding
to security breaches and internal network abuse
before your gaming system can be compromised.
-
24 X 7 x 365 Managed Firewall and VPN. Polar
Cove's managed security services include managed
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), logical restricted-use
networks that make it possible to communicate
securely over the Internet from anywhere in
the world; and managed Internet security, a
Checkpoint Firewall-1 gateway service that restricts
data communication to and from a gaming network
and includes firewall monitoring, maintenance,
and response.
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24 x 7 x 365 Business Continuity Management
& Monitoring. Polar Cove offers: daily data
backups, backup power, 24x7 hardware and software
monitoring and maintenance, and uptime monitoring.
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Technical Environment Engineered for Security
and eBusiness Continuity. Depending on need,
there are Windows 2000, Windows.NET and UNIX
servers, all with a secure "hardened" OS to
provide a high level of security and reliability.
Polar Cove engineers can propose eBusiness environments
with the appropriate level of redundancies based
on stated needs to mitigate risk and support
the availability of mission-critical gaming
applications.
-
Class A Data Center Located in Curacao, N.V.
This service provides multiple redundancies
in order to minimize potential single points
of failure. The center has a high level of physical
security.
-
Robust Network Connectivity. Redundant switches,
routers, and links provide a robust connection
to the Internet. The data center is connected
via multiple major backbone providers to deliver
fast, reliable service.
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Security Assurance Testing and Reporting. Polar
Cove conducts periodic vulnerability assessments
to validate and ensure that online gaming applications
are not at risk.
For information about the impact of e-commerce
on a number of the main offshore activities which
take place in the Netherlands Antilles, click
on a link below to go to our specialist E-commerce
site Offshore-e-com.com
Sales and Distribution of Physical Products
Sales
and Distribution of Digital Products
Banking
and Financial Services (including Investment
Funds)
Corporate
Support Functions
To
see an analysis of the current state of legal
and tax issues surrounding offshore e-commerce,
click
here.
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Netherlands Antilles Case Studies
This section will contain case studies of e-commerce
solutions applied to offshore business activities
carried out from the Netherlands Antilles.To be
kept updated as to our progress click
here.
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