Columbus Enters Barbados

With over $60MUS invested in Barbados, a promise to build out its advanced broadband infrastructure to serve 100% of homes in three years, Columbus Communications, operators of Flow and Columbus Business Solutions, also introduced a series of First to Barbados, the latest and fifth market for the broadband company.

“We anticipate that our network will be constructed over a 3 year period, with 30% of Barbados households being completed by the end of 2013,” said John Reid, president and coo of Columbus Communications speaking at the launch of Columbus Barbados at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Monday evening.

Reid also revealed that in addition to its full suite of digital HD and 3D programming as well as Video OnDemand and 100mbps internet to the home, Barbadians will also enjoy IP TV to the home and cloud based personal video recording service, a first for the region, as well as Flow ToGo, a product that will enable users to watch their Flow video service and use their Flow landline telephone service on any portable device anywhere that internet connectivity is available.

The response from Barbadian was very positive.  We are “quite happy that Columbus appears to be delivering on the promises that they made to me when they came to see me maybe a year or so ago,” said Senator The Honourable Darcy Boyce speaking at the launch event. The Senator who has portfolio responsibility for Energy, Telecommunications, Immigration and Invest Barbados in the Office of the Prime Minister highlighted the significance of Columbus to Barbados saying, “My goal is very simple. Barbados is to be the best place in the world to live, to work and to do business.  And for that we need to have telecommunications infrastructure that is among the very best in the world.”

  

Senator Boyce was very clear in his expectations as to the impact that the advent of Columbus’ technology will have in Barbados.  “That means for our businesses I expect the opportunity to reduce cost to compete more effectively around the world. But what it also means for our households is to have better quality service at affordable prices. What it means for visitors is that when they come here they can remain in touch with their homes, their businesses and their families wherever they come from.”

Columbus, through its brand Columbus Business Solutions, will facilitate the increasing demand for connectivity and ICT services by providing businesses with a comprehensive product portfolio including Dedicated Internet Access, Metro Ethernet, International Private Line Connectivity, MPLS, Data Centre services, Business Voice and a specifically designed Broadband, Video and Voice offering for Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) customers. Columbus’ suite of cloud-based produces will enable businesses to drive down their operational costs, improve efficiencies, and ensure business continuity and security.

The Columbus Barbados launch culminates with a Flow World, a unique, informative and entertaining 2-day event showcasing the products and services of the Columbus brands.  Patrons attending Flow World have the opportunity to interact with features of both brands to experience broadband Internet, digital cable TV and digital landline telephone services that Columbus will provide in Barbados.

Public invited to name Hope Zoo's new zebras in Flow Facebook Competition

The arrival of three zebras at the Hope Zoo has created quite a buzz since their release from confinement earlier this month. The zebras, two females and a male, all less than a year old, are the first and only to grace the island in history.

The Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation (HZPF) has teamed up with broadband provider Flow, to give two lucky Jamaicans the opportunity to name the newest additions to the Hope Zoo family.

Flow’s hosts the competition on its Flow Jamaica Facebook page until Friday, April 5. The persons who come up with the most creative names for the zebras will win the grand prize of Hope Zoo gift certificates for family of four, a one month Gymkhana gym membership and gift basket from Flow.  Runners Up who give creative names will also win prizes of Flow gift packages.  The winning names will be selected from a panel of judges representing the Hope Zoo preservation Foundation and Flow and  will be announced on Wednesday, April 10.

The HZPF successfully acquired the animals from Six Flags Great Adventure and Safari in New Jersey, as a part of its continued thrust to foster animal diversity in Jamaica under its biodiversity project.

“If we fail to action and support sustainable solutions to keep our animals safe, we'd be tragically failing ourselves and our future generations. I invite Jamaicans to participate in the revival of the Hope Zoo, which also involves our Facebook competition geared at the ‘Naming of the Zebras’. The zebras are the most recent addition to the animals at the zoo and I would like to personally invite everyone to participate in the Facebook competition and to visit the zoo to witness the first Zebras to be housed at a zoo facility on Jamaican soil,” said Kenny Benjamin, Executive Chairman of the HZPF.

Benjamin also added, “I would like to wholeheartedly thank Flow for its display of exemplary corporate and social responsibility, by coming aboard as the first corporate partner. Flow’s involvement has added to the first world standards at Hope Zoo.  Thanks to Flow, the entire zoo facility now has wireless internet connection.”

Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited, operators of Flow, are using the social media competition to bring awareness of the work being done to restore the zoo and encourage the public to visit by getting as many Jamaicans as possible to participate in the competition.

“Social media is a powerful outreach tool and we are using our technology to build awareness of the work being done to transform the beloved landmark into a world class facility and generate enthusiasm about the newest members of the Hope Zoo family,"  said Denise Williams,  director for corporate communications for  Columbus.
We are very proud to be a part of the work being done at the zoo and we encourage other  corporate companies to get involved and for schools to take advantage of the education opportunities the Hope Zoo provides.

This initiative is only one of several that the company will undertake as part of its $25 million partnership with the HZPF. The primary outcome of the partnership and investment will be a technology driven Learning and Resource Centre which will be the centre piece of the Zoo's education programme and will enable integration with the science curriculum in Jamaica's schools.