Executives from Sandals Resorts International (SRI) and Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) at the signing of a three-year agreement for provision of telecoms services to the hotel group. Seated (from left) are Wayne Cummings, SRI director of administration; Phil Green, C&WJ president and CEO; and standing (from left), are Lloyd Distant, C&WJ vice-president of corporate sales and solutions; and Shawn DaCosta, SRI director of operations. - Contributed

Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) has secured a three-year contract with Butch Stewart's Sandals Resort International (SRI) as primary provider of data transport and mobile services to the hotel group.

The new arrangement covers Sandals 17 properties spread throughout the region, and is valued at US$7 million (J$505 million), the companies announced Tuesday.

It's the second major contract for the Phil Green-led C&WJ in six weeks, and even more lucrative than the $400 million job that the telecoms, in partnership with Avaya, secured from Scotiabank Jamaica to upgrade its telephone systems.

Under the Sandals deal, C&WJ will provide the hotel company with 'bandwidth-on-demand' service that links into its core network.

Connectivity

The system will allow connectivity between Sandals' resorts in Jamaica and the region and its marketing representatives in the United States, while reducing the hotel group's telecommunications and call charges.

"As our group expands, it is critical that we upgrade to the most efficient, innovative telecoms system available," said SRI Chief Executive Officer Adam Stewart in the joint statement announcing the deal.

"Cable and Wireless provided us with the cutting-edge technology needed and a comprehensive package of services, and we are pleased to choose them as our primary providers going forward," regarding the agreement.

Stewart, who is Butch's son and his heir apparent, said that Sandals to now has used a variety of service providers to satisfy its mobile, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), fixed phone line and Internet service needs.

New business model

Green, who took over the management of C&WJ in August 2007, and has operational oversight of the British telecoms' regional business, is in the process of building out a new business model that positions the telecoms as a pan-Caribbean operation - one that retains its national operations but is centrally controlled by a corporate body.

Jamaica remains the largest of the regional operations but is currently weighed down by $2 billion of losses that Green is attempting to shake off through new products and deals like those just cobbled with Scotiabank and Sandals.

Indeed Green, who replaced Rodney Davis as CEO, was sent in by London to fix Jamaica, and having done some housecleaning in the last 10 months, is adding spit and polish through revised products and business contracts.

C&WJ will provide Sandals with a regional mobile closed user group service to allow unlimited calling across the Caribbean at one flat rate. The telecom provider will also introduce its Multi-Protocol Label Switching Technology (MPLS) to enhance connectivity for the hotel chain.

Sandals also gets a 24-hour monitored service and customer premises equipment (CPE) provided and managed by C&WJ.

C&WJ says it will roll out its MetroNet Service to the 17 Sandals properties across the region while MPLS will be deployed to Sandals in Antigua, St Lucia, and Jamaica and Beaches in Turks and Caicos.

MPLS allows for the management of network traffic, while MetroNet delivers ethernet connectivity between sites, enabling Local Area Network (LANs) to connect seamlessly.

The system's installation should be complete in four months.

Sandals will be billed monthly, allowing "the flexibility to pay as services are used," said

Rachel McLarty, Sandalsgroup director of corporate communications.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com