Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications, Marcia Forbes, flashes her trademark smile with CEO of Claro, Alejandro Gutierrez, at the companys launch. - photos by Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
Get the name MiPhone out of your head; its now Claro.
Spanish for clear, it is clear that when AmĂ©rica MĂvil took over Jamaicas third cellphone provider, it meant business. Claro was unveiled and warmly welcomed by Jamaicans at a reception last Wednesday night in the penthouse of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica building.
The organisers said they would be painting the town red, and they did, with live music and great food as part of the package. Young women clad in red (Claros colour) added to the warmth of a mid-October evening (sigh).
But back to the phones! Claros parent company is coming to an English-speaking country for the first time, and Claro CEO Alejandro Gutierrez indicated that Jamaica would be the launch pad for the United States and United Kingdom. Colin Webster, Claros chief operating officer promised, that the latest and greatest in technology would be brought to Jamaica. Three brands Ericsson, Alcatel and Huawei will be initially carried by Claro.
The buzz in the crowd was all about the promises (Claro executives call them guarantees), such as DSL-esque web speed on the phones, better voice quality, video calls (see em and talk to em at the same time) and the real eyebrow raiser: lower rates! Sounds like the competition should be getting nervous.
Among those out were: Chris Reckord, Garth Walker, Brian Chung, Natalie St Louis, Michael Edwards, Rae Barrett, Kenny Benjamin, Philip Paulwell, Dr Andrew Wheatley, Andrew Gallimore, Ricardo James, Mikael Phillips and Robert Gregory.
Helen Minott, training and development manager Claro, and Courtney Grant, engineering manager, enjoy each others company at the Claro launch.
Alejandro Gutierrez (left), chief executive officer of Claro, shows off some of the features of one of the handsets to (from left) his wife Mayte, Mexican Ambassador Leonora Rueda and Horace Bogues, at the companys launch at the PCJ Auditorium on Wednesday, October 15.
Now, that seems funny, as (from left) Mayte Gutierrez, Mexican Ambassador Leonora Rueda and Horace Bogues have a hearty laugh as the jokes were told during the launch.
