Centennial to invest $millions in Jamaica BETWEEN THE launch period and the first year of operations, Cent-ennial Digital Jamaica is to invest some US$130 million into the country's growing telecoms industry. Company executives would have projected that another US$60 to $80 million would be invested over the next two years, so outlined the company's Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Jim Beneda. Mr. Beneda was responding to questions from the audience and the media at a public forum on "Cellular Communications Expansion - Impact on Jamaica," held at the Farquharson Hall, University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) last week. The discussion was organised by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and hosted by UTech, to educate consumers on the technological and economic issues surrounding the nation's growing mobile telephony industry. The Centennial executive also said that the company would be employing approximately 300 local people to help build the company wireless network, with an additional 170 permanent staff as evidence of gains to the local economy as a direct result of its investment in the cellular service industry. Speaking on the technological aspects of that company's mobile phone service, Chief Technical Officer, Lou Olsen, said that the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology being employed by Centennial would result in "more efficient use of available spectrum." He said that the company will be available in the start-up phase, to 144 kbps, in short order, to enable Centennial subscribers to access applications such as email, MP3 and "limited" e-commerce via their handsets and personal data assistances (PDAs). CDMA facilitates "faster and cheaper evolution to high speed data," he maintained. Mr. Olsen stated that the CDMA platform is "a revolutionary technology. It means that the system is always on.. and unlike other systems, it uses the sound bouncing off surrounding buildings and other infrastructure to the benefit of mobile phone users." He also told the audience that with the move towards Third Generation (3G) mobile technology, the CDMA system would require "no change-out of equipment." Asked about the cost of Centennial's cellular service, and the prospects for success in Jamaican market, Mr. Beneda told the forum that the natural cost-efficiency of CDMA technology should result in cost savings to subscribers; and expressed confidence that Centennial would be successful in the local market over the long term. In addition to the J$8 billion in-vested to date, the "sizeable dealer channel" for handsets, as well as the adoption of a GSM platform as tangible evidence of economic gains since the fairly recent growth in the cellular phone sector said Digicel's Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Donel Miller. He noted that his company's handsets are sold through private-owned retail outlets, which must meet the prescribed standards set by Digicel. "It is only the access and user charges that go to Digicel. All other revenue go straight to the business operators, Mr. Miller explained. The decision to introduce Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology into the Jamaican market represents "direct knowledge transfer, and improved recognition of local technology expertise. This was not so during the monopolistic cellular phase in Jamaica," Mr. Miller emphasised. "This means that continual training will be always necessary, as we increasingly embrace mobile phone service locally", he added. Mr. Miller's slide presentation showed that, to date, some 168 countries, representing some 70 per cent of the global mobile telephony market, have adopted GSM technology. The adoption rate was achieved over 12 years following the agreement on standards for GSM specifications in 1989. It was only in 1993 that the subscriber base reached the 1 million mark. Executives from Digicel and Centennial, however, agreed, that consumers would benefit from improved telecom services and wider geographic coverage in the new advent of cellular phone service in Jamaica. Mr. Courtney Jackson, Deputy Executive Director, Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) and Mrs. Camella Rhone, Director General, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Technology, also gave presentations at the forum.
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