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Flow
Positions Jamaica as Caribbean Leader in
Broadband Connectivity
Jamaica is now the only
country in the region with a direct
undersea fibre-optic connection to the
United States and South America as Flow
has completed its express, direct
network system to Boca Raton in Florida.
The island is now directly connected to
both North America via Boca Raton and
South America via Colombia. This
undersea system has moved Jamaica's data
connectivity on par with any first-world
country.
This is the latest in a series of moves
by Flow to improve commercial Data and
Internet connectivity to help foster
economic development on the island.
Flow's US$80M investment in this
undersea system affords the island
unprecedented capacity, resiliency,
redundancy and reliability for data
communications.
The implications for Jamaica are
staggering as the network provides the
island with a high performance, low
latency, direct route to the USA and
South America, resulting in data and
Internet connectivity that adds
resiliency and increased capacity.
This means that unlike the major
disruption after Hurricane Ivan, where
Jamaica was cut off from the rest of the
world due to significant damage to the
island's only undersea cable at the
time, there are now two other robust
undersea fibre optic connections.
Additionally, Flow recently announced a
significant increase in the capacity
offered to commercial customers,
allowing customers unprecedented
broadband access, a critical requirement
for effective business communications
and business management. In practical
terms the island is now more attractive
for investment and new business,
particularly for companies focusing on
data communications including call
centres and hotels.
In real terms, consumers who require
large bandwidth or direct international
links for effective communication, such
as hotels, banks and telecommunications
companies, can now access bandwidth at
much more cost effective rates, with
greater capacities and superior quality.
“We are living in an, information driven
global village and Jamaica must be at
the forefront of this digital reality in
order to remain competitive and spur
economic growth,” said Jean McPherson,
Director of Marketing at Flow. “Flow is
determined to make sure that Jamaica is
positioned as the most attractive place
to do business in the region, especially
when it comes to broadband
connectivity.”
Don Gittens, Senior Consultant Officer,
Knowledge Services at Jamaica Trade and
Invest (formerly JAMPRO) agrees with
McPherson. He notes, “as the Investment
Promotion Agency responsible for
bringing investments into the
Information Technology Centre, we can
now market Jamaica as having a major
telecoms infrastructure with high-speed
broadband.”
Gittens explained that usually when
there is prospective Foreign Direct
Investment, companies want at least two
significant players in the market
“Flow's entry in the competitive
telecommunications landscape has
resulted in increased redundancy and
lower tele-communications cost thereby
making Jamaica more attractive to
investors,” he said.
According to McPherson, “Through its
state-of-the-art infrastructure, Flow is
ensuring that all Jamaicans are not just
ready for the changes taking place
globally, but that they can position
themselves to become leaders in this
field. We do not just want investors to
benefit from our world-class
connectivity, we also want local
companies to thrive and excel” said
McPherson.
Edward “Teddy” Alexander, former CIO for
Grace Kennedy and now the CEO of tTech
Limited which provides managed IT
services, notes that Flow's presence in
the market spells good news for local
companies. “Flow has provided us with
very cost effective high-speed data
services. We have benefitted from
greater bandwidth at better prices,” he
stated. According to Alexander, “Flow
has also helped with providing the right
technology for my business as Flow has
allowed us to implement redundant links
which has improved availability and
uptime for users,” he said. Speaking
about Flow's services, Alexander notes
“Flow has been very responsive wherever
there are problems. In many cases Flow's
engineers have gone the extra mile in
trouble shooting. This service is very
important to us because there will be
failure on circuits from time to time,
so what is extremely important is how
the service provider responds.”
According to Alexander “We have no
hesitation in recommending Flow to our
clients.”
Flow’s vision is not only constructing
an infrastructure that will improve the
business climate in Jamaica, but the
Company is also investing heavily in a
broad-based, social education programme
to increase the skills base and
education foundation of the island. Flow
is currently rolling out a social
investment programme called “Building
Leaders Through Technology.” Through
this activity, Flow is providing schools
with free Internet, educational cable
and IT consultants as well as targeted
mentoring activities to help increase
the utilization of information
technology as a basis for learning and
accessing information. |
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Main Street Brown's
Town, St. Ann
Tel: 975-2637
Fax: 917-8195
santastic_net@yahoo.com
Chief Executive
Officer:
Mr. Herbert Riley
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