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06/14/2004
Lessons from the Jamaica Internet Forum
By Steven Williams
A few weeks ago I was given the honor of being a panelist
for the Information Society of Barbados (ISB) at the 2 nd Annual
Jamaica Internet Forum held in Ocho Rios from May 26-28, 2004. The
invitation was extended to the I.S.B. by C-TRADECOM a USAID program
to improve trade and competitiveness in the Caribbean.
The main objective of the forum was to advance implementation strategies
for universal Internet access in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean.
There were many interesting areas of debate including discussion
on “Challenges to small Island Business Internet Access”, “The Development
of a Competitive Physical Infrastructure for Access”, as well as
“The role of the Telecoms Providers in Realizing the Opportunities
from this new era of Information Communications Technology (ICT).”
To my mind the most impressive realization was the spirited expression
on how the Jamaican contingent viewed technology development as
key to the advancement of Jamaica as nation and a people. This fact
has been even more underscored by the new levels of entrepreneurship
that have mushroomed since the allowance of full telecoms deregulation.
Areas such as call centres, network access centres and alternative
international telecommunications providers have given some ailing
areas of the Jamaica business sector a new financial lease on life.
The organisation created to play utilities referee in Jamaica's
new era of telecoms uncertainty was none other than the host of
the Conference, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). Their
role is to contribute to national development by creating an environment
for the efficient delivery of utility services to customers and
ensuring that service providers have the opportunity to make a reasonable
return on investment.
There was much spirited debate about the role of the OUR since
many of the service providers represented felt that the OUR wasn't
doing enough to ensure the viability of their investment. The frustration
came from the age-old sentiment that Cable & Wireless (C&W)
was the bane causing profitability to elude investors.
My curiosity peaked. I like many individuals in Barbados believed
that once full competition is realised within the market that we
wouldn't have any more problems concerning the current issues relating
to profitability and the C&W monopoly.
Boy was I wrong. From the looks of it we can expect more C&W
not less. It also gives me cause to think that the reason why C&W
hasn't shut down any of its operations in the Caribbean is because
it knows something about its ability to truly compete that they
aren't really sharing. Many consumers may sooner or later realize
that C&W hasn't separated its services but quite the opposite,
which was a condition of the North American deregulation exercise
for ensuring true competition. C&W right now is the dominate
player in the cell phone, fixed line, Internet and international
telecoms and will continue to be so simply because they can plan
strategies across many service areas that new entrants into the
market are not able to financially support. In other words no body
is going to build another infrastructure comparable to C&W's
so other entrants will be unable to have any services to bundle/negotiate
and leverage their position in the market.
And if you think I'm crying wolf ask what happened to the 17 VoIP
Calling Card companies who sprung over night in Jamaica and in less
than six months later only six of them are left.
I talked with a new Jamaican long distance carrier reseller who
said that his company has a license to provide just long distance
service but that C&W was short circuiting his ability to retain
customers by bundling everything from the PBAX service to cell phone
service to long distance services thereby making it quite impractical
for customers to do business with his company.
From time to time I will explore more challenges such as telecoms
“choke points” and how they will affect the quality and cost of
service.
What came through strongly, though, was that despite the lack of
a real level playing field, there were some persistent entrepreneurs
not willing to operate strictly on C&W's terms.
One particular entrepreneurial venture is Jamaica Network Access
Point (JNAP) a new type of network business; two very enthusiastic
businessmen who now want to bring their service to the wider Caribbean.
Their business model is one based on Switzerland where they consider
themselves a neutral interconnection party allowing service between
various telecoms players to flow seamlessly. This service has proved
to be a hit in Jamaica and the guys have their eyes set on the regional
market. I must admit I'm proud to be associated with these two entrepreneurs.
(This article first appeared in the Business Monday)
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