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.