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TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES PROMOTE JAMAICAN COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL
Broadband technology the driving force behind telecommunications revolution
RODNEY DAVIS
RODNEY DAVIS
 President and CEO of Cable and Wireless

Cable and Wireless Jamaica is leading the island’s surge in wireless technology and helping to create a regional flagship for modern communications systems.

JAMAICA’S teledensity has soared from 30 per cent to over 80 per cent since the liberalization of the sector in 2001, and telecommunications investment is driving Jamaica’s new growth, according to Minister of Commerce, Technology and Science Phillip Paulwell. Today there are 1.8 million cellular users in Jamaica, two new fiber networks are on the way and the government is looking to convert the island into a hub for all of Latin America.

“The infrastructure here is going to create a very positive image of Jamaica,” states Mr. Paulwell. The government has established the Caribbean Institute of Technology with Microsoft, there is a focus on wireless technology, and a new e-learning project will roll out broadband service in secondary schools. Efforts are also underway to increase the current 10 per cent penetration rate to 40 per cent within the next three years.

Jamaica’s largest integrated telecommunications company, Cable & Wireless Jamaica (CWJ), is streamlining its image and looking to broadband technology and the Internet to continue to drive growth. A Jamaican tradition, CWJ has been operating for over a hundred years, is one of the country’s largest employers and has its own foundation, responsible for contributing to social issues like health and education. CWJ also provided Jamaica with its first world telecoms infrastructure, opening up access to global markets.

Maintaining a monopoly in the telecommunications sector until liberalization five years ago, CWJ has restructured to face the new competition and has emerged stronger. CEO Rodney Davis comments, “As we move forward, you will find a much more crisp, clear and direct Cable & Wireless, coming back into the marketplace with the relevant products needed by consumers and deploying the leading-edge technology that leads consumers to where they need to be.”