Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

Jean McPherson, director of marketing, Flow Communications, says Allied adds 35,000 customers to the company's subscriber base. - File

Flow Communications, the fast-growing telecommunications company in which billionaire investor Michael Lee Chin has substantial ownership, has acquired another cable company, Kingston-based Allied Cablevision Limited.

The acquisition last Friday was Flow's seventh in 18 months, for an average two and a half months per purchase.

But this seventh acquisition is also considered one of the largest for Flow, based on Allied's coverage and customer base.

Large subscriber base

Allied, formerly owned and run by outgoing CEO Howard Webber, had a subscriber base of some 35,000, with coverage of Duhaney Park and Riverton City, as well as Washington Boulevard, Red Hills Road, Molynes Road and their offshoot communities.

Overall, Allied operated across 13 zones but while its coverage was 13 zones, less than Flow's first acquisition, SAUCE, Jean McPherson, the director of marketing at Flow, said Allied brought to the group a larger customer base.

"This is a great end to 2007 for Flow and its thousands of valued customers," McPherson.

She declined to give details on the acquisition price.

Flow says that by early 2008, all the new customers would have access to its triple-play offerings of Internet, telephone and cable services.

McPherson said Allied had already rolled out its own triple-play service in at least eight of its 13 zones.

"This acquisition is in the best interests of our subscribers and employees," said Webber.

Allied, whose offices are located at the Boulevard Super Centre shopping mall, at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Auburn Terrace, is a 15-year-old company.

Its coverage also extends into the St. Andrew hills as far as Rock Hall.

McPherson said she anticipated that most of the 50 employees of Allied would accept job offers with Flow.

Those accepting will undergo two to three months of training.

Asked if these acquisitions usually involve major restructuring and equipment upgrades, McPherson said: "Some companies are in better positions than others."

Flow entered the Jamaican market in 2004 at an early phase in the cable sector's transition from unsophisticated businesses with limited technology and poor reception to one backed by more sophisticated equipment.

Flow, a Caribbean operation owned by the Columbus Communications Group - whose principals are Lee Chin and John Risley - offered on entry to Jamaica to buy up existing players.

Several cable operators continue to resist being taken over.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com