Sandra Glasgow, Chief Executive Officer, Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) accepts a cheque for the Y.U.T.E programme valued at J$ 1 Million from Sharon Roper, Flow’s Vice President, Marketing. The cheque was presented at Flow’s 5th Anniversary Celebration on the East Lawns of Devon House, last Thursday. The donation signifies Flow’s on-going commitment to the development of the nation’s youth.
Last Thursday July 21, the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) Youth Upliftment through Employment (Y.U.T.E) project welcomed a J$1M cash donation from Flow; a symbolic move to further cement the organization’s commitment to the participants of the Y.U.T.E programme.
Sandra Glasgow, Chief Executive Officer, PSOJ who accepted the donation on behalf of Y.U.T.E, said that she was “Ecstatic about [the] partnership with Flow, a valued member of the PSOJ.” She also continued by saying that, “The support already received from Flow by airing Y.U.T.E ads on its cable channels is helping to spread the word about this important project.
The staff of Flow is also ‘stepping up’ to act as Mentors for Y.U.T.E. participants and we expect further support for our training programmes as we roll out the project over the next eighteen months. Flow is demonstrating, in an unequivocal manner, its strong commitment to helping to make the future brighter for young people in Kingston’s inner-cities.”
THIS week, telecoms service provider Flow celebrates its fifth anniversary in Jamaica. During that time, Flow has managed to redefine the way Jamaicans employ digital broadband technology. The company has introduced high speed Internet and delivered cable television packages that to date can not be equalled.
Back in 2004, just after Hurricane Ivan, lead principals of Flow's parent company, Columbus Communications, Brendan Paddick and Michael Lee Chin flew into Jamaica to evaluate investing in the country. They were confronted by uprooted infrastructure, chaos and devastation. They made their way to Gordon House to inform then Minister of Commerce and Technology Philip Paulwell that they wanted to build a triple-play fibre optic network and the first objective was to lay a subsea link offshore Jamaica that would hook into a greater subsea network that services the Caribbean. They vowed that never again would Jamaica's telecommunications capabilities be incapacitated in such a manner.
They proceeded to put together an RFP that would have people bid on building that subsea network off the island. Two licenses were awarded and the network was delivered expeditiously, in fact, in less than 12 months and was in service in March 2006. In April of that year, Flow had its official launch.
Building a network
It started offering its services to just around 25 customers in the New Kingston area. When Michele English, who is now the President and Chief Operating Officer of Flow, arrived in Jamaica, in April 2006 she was the 92nd employee. By then, many construction professionals were engaged in building the network. Initially she was the general manager and was mandated to build a new business with less than a hundred employees. Today Flow has 550 employees comprising specialised expertise.
English points to the number of returning residents who have joined Flow, lending it their considerable expertise garnered from First World telecoms companies like Comcast, Time Warner and Rogers. She adds that many of these overseas professionals were impressed with what Flow was attempting to accomplish and got on board.
Carlton Baxter returned to Jamaica to visit his mother back in 2006. He recognised the infrastructure going up around Kingston and was curious. He went to visit Flow's offices, knocked on Michele English's door and told her he was an engineer with Comcast and was impressed with what he saw in Jamaica. He expressed an interest in returning home and started with Flow as a design manager. Today he is VP of Engineering at Flow responsible for its infrastructure roll out across the island.
Great efforts were made to train the local contractors. Today, English proudly proclaims they work full time for Flow and are very successful as a result of being equipped with the right tools. She credits the team of local contractors with Flow's ability to deliver a good product.
"We spent the first couple of years in construction mode and I had to do practically everything. One minute I was recruiting customer service representatives, the next, designing the products and coming up with how we were going to sell them. Then hub sites had to be built. There was a phenomenal amount of activity in those first couple of years, but five years on that hasn't really stopped but is now more focused on operational practices.
"We delivered to our first residential customers in the summer of 2006. Back then we only had a licence to deliver Internet and voice services both locally and internationally. We did apply for a cable license but we began with a double-play offering," recalls Flow's chief operating officer.
Delivering a stellar service
This goes some way in explaining why Flow went into acquisition mode, snapping up cable operators aggressively. The first company Flow acquired was Sauce in the Kingston area thus allowing it to offer a triple-play service (Internet, voice and cable). Flow had arrived, and the question was could it manage expectations?
Today Flow has about 5000 kilometres of fibre in its network, then another 4000 kilometres of cable, a 1000 kilometres of subsea cable and a dozen hub sites built. When Flow first got started it could only deliver its service to 10,000 homes. Five years later it can deliver to 50 per cent of the homes in the country and almost 100 per cent of all businesses operating in Jamaica in terms of an enterprise level fibre service.
Title-hungry Majesty Legends outmuscled Tivoli Wizards, 88-83, in Game One of the Flow/National Basketball League best-of-three final at the National Stadium Courts on Thursday night.
Majesty led by as much as 21 points near the end of the third quarter and it appeared they were trying to kill the clock in the last quarter which worked, but in favour of the defending champions Tivoli.
After trailing Majesty by 14 points (76-62) with under five minutes to go, Omar Barnes put metal to pedal to close the gap, 76-68, with Anthony Farquharson pushing the score 76-70.
According to Majesty coach Ludlow Barker, the team was showing complacency at that time.
A three-pointer from Baldon Todd of Majesty and two free throws from Barnes pushed the score to 79-73.
Tivoli Wizards’ Anthony Farquharson (left) moves in to challenge Majesty Legends’ Baldon Todd during third quarter action in the Flow NBL at the Stadium Courts on Thursday night. (Photo: Jermaine Barnaby)
Majesty eventually held on for victory, with Todd finishing with a game-high 29 points and Kemar McLeish contributing 21 points and 11 rebounds.
For Tivoli, Farquharson led with 24 points and 15 assists, supported by Andrew Whilby 16 points.
The first quarter ended 19-19, before Majesty pulled away for 39-32 in the second quarter and 64-46 in the third quarter.
Majesty coach Barker said the team had been working on "some things", including rebounding and working the ball. "We matched the tempo of Tivoli and took care of business," he said.
Tivoli coach Edward Marshall, in his post-match analysis, said: "Basically we missed a lot of free throws, but big up to Majesty because they really fought. They had a big lead and it was going to be hard to catch up," said Marshall.
Game Two will take place at the National Indoor Sports Complex tomorrow at 7:00 pm, after Urban Knights and the Jamaica Defence Force battle for the third place at 5:00 pm.
