BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-Jamaica’s cellular market could be engaged in a fierce competition for the consumer soon. A new provider, Centennial Digital Jamaica Ltd., is set to become the third operator by year-end 2001, with promises of bringing newer technology options and service to this Western Caribbean island nation. The company will be employing CDMA technology, with equipment manufactured by its partner, Lucent Technologies.
Centennial’s Chief Operating Officer James Beneda says the company will be offering short messaging service (SMS) and Internet access, via either mobile phones or some other device, such as the Palm or a similar handheld personal digital assistant (PDA).
Describing the Jamaica market as “very viable,” Centennial pledged to invest between US$60 million and US$80 during its first two years of operation.
The start-up date for the first competitor, Digicel, owned by Irish mobile-phone company, Mossel, in April, coincided with a public-relations nightmare and a drop in market share by the incumbent, Cable & Wireless. The British company has been the dominant force in telecommunications and the telephone service provider for many of the Caribbean islands for a decade.
Digicel brought a GSM network to the island with clear digital signals. Backed by some smart and appealing advertising, it promises Jamaicans better service and prices. Digicel says it has invested more than US$177 million since it began operations and provided cell sites and cellular service in areas where there was no landline telephone service before.
Thousands have signed up with the Irish subsidiary, some switching from Cable & Wireless. Initially, the incumbent had benefited from a rush in subscribers, but the inability of the network to accommodate the huge demand and subsequent poor service quality provided Digicel with an ideal batting strip on which to launch a glitzy marketing campaign. Harry Smith, marketing director at Digicel, indicated that the company had to “double our capacity to protect the quality of service to our existing clientele as we think our existing customers are more important than potential customers.”
Cable & Wireless added 200,000 new customers between April 2000 and January 2001, pushing its base to 355,000-an unprecedented achievement.
Cable & Wireless had been converting its analog network to a digital system and despite an investment of millions of U.S. dollars, it proved incapable of keeping pace with the thousands of new customers.
The company, faced with a nationwide outcry, apparently compounded its difficulties by offering free service to disaffected customers in a bid to keep them on board while they tackled the network problems.
The additional customers using the service led to further burdens on the network’s capacity.
Cable & Wireless responded to its dilemma by announcing a major upgrade plan and firing a senior executive responsible for mobile communications. More than 100 new cell sites are being built under the construction plan that commenced February 2001, with a price tag of US$17 million.
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), responding to customer criticism, issued the Cable & Wireless a stern warning saying that the company could lose its license if service did not improve by August.
Centennial is jumping into this setting with a promise to build a business based on the most advanced technology.
One of the largest Caribbean islands, with a population of 2.6 million people, Jamaica is also one of the most mountainous. The Blue Mountains range, where the island’s world-class Blue Mountain coffee beans are harvested, provides a major challenge for any company establishing a nationwide network. The Jamaican government plans to fully liberalize its telecommunications market in 2003 with wireless competition leading the way.
