Cayman Net
News, Friday, November 10, 2000
Cable & Wireless opens communications station at School-House Road
by Linda Rutherford
Amidst a profusion of balloons and tassels in the sobering blues and white favoured by the company, Cable and Wireless on Monday, October 30 commissioned its second Annex Communication Station (ACS) - in essence a bank of 14 telephone kiosks in more palatable surroundings than is customary - in an area on the periphery of George Town that is popularly referred to as ‘School-House Road’.
The first such facility is located on Cardinal Avenue, catering mainly to the cruise ship passengers. This location is being operated by the jewelry firm, Colombian Emeralds.
This, Cable & Wireless’ latest ACS, is located in a neighbourhood that is regarded as lower-income and has a high immigrant population.
The venture is being partnered on this occasion by NACE (National Alliance of Cayman Islands Employees), a fledgling trade union headquartered in the area. The station is, in fact, housed on the ground floor of the same two-storied building which is the headquarters of NACE.
Said Company Indirect Sales Channel Manager, Mr. Alee Fa-amoe: “We saw the need to provide more accessible telecommunications in this area. Rather than have people standing out in the rain in a phone booth, or trying to get to someplace before it closes to buy a phone card, we decided to provide this environment with a lot of people access to the phones and the cards.”
The rationale in this, he said, is that Cable & Wireless had come to realise that there were clusters of communities in Cayman where people do not necessarily have any access to regular telephone service. “We wanted to be able to serve those communities with better pay-phone stations that were enclosed, air conditioned and not outdoors. We also wanted to have an outlet to those communities for our products and services,” Mr. Fa-Amoe said.
The facility opens at 8:00am and closes at 12:00pm and is being manned by NACE on a profit-sharing basis. The opening hours, it is said, were agreed upon during consultations between Cable & Wireless and the community. Plans are also in train, Mr. Fa-Amoe said, to convert a back room now being used for storage into an internet café.
Asked whether the initiative was NACE’s or the telephone company’s, Mr. Fa-amoe said it was rather uncanny in the sense that just as Cable & Wireless was casting around for an opportunity to do just what it has done, NACE Secretary Dr. Frank McField called with the very same proposal. This was about a month ago, he said.
Said Dr. McField about NACE’s involvement in the project: “What we’ve been trying to do is to control and manage the resources in the community based upon a spirit of unity and co-operation, which is one of the principles on which the union is founded.”
“We’re just bringing that particular concept to the community as well, in order to allow them to be able to begin to create things for themselves rather than depend upon people to create it for them.
“It also gives them a good idea of what a business is all about because it’s where they work. We believe it is also the desire of each employee to become an employer and this is teaching people how to become an employer by owning business,” Dr. McField said.
“What we’re doing is basically taking telephones off the streets and putting them in a building where it's air-conditioned; where people can sit down; where they can be comfortable; and where the dignity of the person can be preserved,” he concluded.
To NACE President, Ms. Dorline Welcome, it is a bit overwhelming that the organisation could have accomplished so much in its one short year in existence. “It just goes to show how much you can accomplish when you pull together,” she said.
Meanwhile, the phones at Megatron were said to be ‘ringing off the hook’ no sooner than the first advertisement announcing C&W’s exciting new offer of a spanking new, multi-media, Internet-ready Dell Personal Computer (PC) all for CI$64 a month over the next three years was aired on Radio Cayman on Friday October 27.
The deal, which comes with the added monthly bonus of 30 hours of access to the Internet free of charge, is a result of what in business parlance is called a strategic alliance involving Cable & Wireless, US-based Dell Computer Corporation and its local distributor, Megatron Ltd., and Barclays Bank, PLC. There is, however, a CI$99 cost attached to having the unit professionally installed, but delivery, on the other hand, is free.
Said C&W General Manager Mr. Timothy Adam at a press conference on Friday October 27 to launch the package: “Through the PC package, we are enabling more people to access the Internet from the convenience of their own homes.” Noting that research conducted by C&W has shown that not too many families in Cayman can afford to buy a PC at today’s going prices, Mr. Adam said: “It is a reality that a large percentage of people do not have the ability to purchase a PC because of the high up-front costs.” He said that over 50 per cent of the people surveyed said they could not afford it.
Noting further that the Internet is undoubtedly the fastest growing area of communications today, so much so that it is now becoming an essential part of both business and home life in the Cayman Islands, Mr. Adam said: “Cable & Wireless is determined to open up the potential of the Internet to as many people as possible with this new, simple and low-cost package.”
Besides a 15-inch monitor, CD-ROM drive, speakers, modem among other attractive features, he said, the package also includes service by way of a three-year warranty from the manufacturer. This aspect of the deal, he said, will be handled directly by Megatron and will cover all parts and labour.
He said that while Barclays will be providing the financing, the completed application forms are to be submitted to Cable & Wireless, which will then further them to the Bank for approval. Cable & Wireless will inform the customer of the Bank’s decision, which is estimated to be within four days.
It is anticipated that delivery will be within four weeks of approval. Said Barclay’s Managing Director Mr. Peter Hinson about the Bank’s interest in the deal: “One of the key reasons we were keen on joining in was because it furthers the development of the Internet on the island. That is the future of communications so we are delighted to be there helping.”
Asked whether upgrading the system was part of the warranty, given the rate at which technology is changing today, Megatron’s Managing Director Mr. Chris Lopez said: “... we’ll have to deal directly with factory on that because this package was put together as a complete package at this point in time.”
He said, somewhat cryptically, however, that given Megatron’s relationship with Dell over the years and the latter’s known flexible nature, there were any number of possibilities that might be available.
But, at this juncture, he said: “I can’t commit right now exactly what they would be, but we’re going to be dealing with Dell going down the road to see what type of options are available to people in time as the technology increases.”
He anticipates, however, “that within a month or two of talking with the factory that we will be able to come back with some specifics regarding what can be done and when.”
Based on market research, C&W projects selling 800 units locally. It has also introduced the package in Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands.