Miller CABLE & WIRELESS Jamaica's (C&WJ) gross operating revenue rose by 8 per cent over the same period last year to $9.53 billion in the first six months of the year ended September 2000. Net profit rose 23 per cent compared with the same period last year to $1.99 billion.
The increase reflects modest growth in revenues and the $479 million redundancy costs paid in the previous period to September 30, 1999.
Earnings per stock unit were also on the up coming in at 18.12 cents on 1999's 14.69 for the same period.
In the six months ended September 30 2000, the company invested $2.46 billion to expand its telecommunications network in line with its strategic objectives and commitments to the Government. The telecom giant's president and chief executive officer Errald Miller, told Wednesday Business that the company will be placing more emphasis on customer service and will be adopting a three-pronged approach in the face of liberalisation and other players, namely Mossel and Centennial, competing in the wireless phone market.
Mr. Miller outlined the strategy at C&W's Annual General Meeting held at the Hilton Kingston hotel last week saying: "We are not afraid of the competition and indeed we are preparing ourselves for it. We have been reorganising the company, we have been tight on cost, managing it down and pushing our revenue growth through new products and services and we have been emphasising our customer service. We feel that this three-pronged approach should get us through before the market becomes fully liberalised."
Mr. Miller made it clear that as far as he is concerned the differentiator in the competitive telecommunication environment in Jamaica is going to be customer service. To this end, he said he was particularly proud of improvements made to Cable & Wireless's call centre in readiness to deal with an improved approach to customer service.
"We are not there yet, but we are on that continuum to world class customer service," he further added. The company has plans to launch a number of services in light of networks becoming digital from December 1 of this year. Cable & Wireless has plans to introduce the" roaming" concept to its cellular customers. This allows cellular customers to go to North America and the rest of the Caribbean region and use their hand sets as normal.
"So someone calling you while you are in Miami will call your regular cellular number and it will ring while you are out there," explained Mr. Miller. There will be a roaming charge which will be in line with what is currently in place in the modern world.
Mr. Miller said that the agreement struck with the Government in accordance with the new Telecommunications Act in which 217,000 land lines would be distributed over the next three years was on schedule.
"You will recall our agreement with the Government concerning land lines. From March of this year, the date of the Telecommunications Act until February of next year we are expected to complete 100,000 lines with the remaining 117,000 done over the following two years. We are on stream to meet the 100,000 this year," said the Cable & Wireless(Jamaica) boss.
The company has now built 55,258 lines of the 100,000 lines it promised the Government would be completed by February 2001. Of the 55,258 lines, 14,448 are for new customers in rural communities.
He made the point that the company was spending close to $200 million a year on telephone equipment.
