Ashford W. Meikle, Business Reporter

Trans-CaribbeanCable Company Jamaica Limited (TCCC Jamaica) has applied for an expansion of its licence to construct fibre-optic links to Jamaica, but with the matter still under review by regulators, its principals were cagey about their plans.

TCCC Jamaica, one of three companies licensed to construct and operate an international sub-sea fibre-optic cable facility to Jamaica, wants to build another link from Cuba, and has asked the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to amend its licence accordingly.

OUR, in a published notice, said Trans-Caribbean wanted "additional authority to construct, operate and maintain land telecommunications undersea fibre-optic cable between Kingston ... and Santiago, Cuba."

TCCC Jamaica is a joint venture between Jamaica Network Access Point Limited (JNAP) and Trans-Caribbean Cable Company LLC (TCCC), a New Jersey, US-based company.

No comment

Brian Crawford, TCCC president, directed queries to the local representative for JNAP, who in turn declined to comment.

In December 2004, Jamaica awarded two separate licences to Trans-Caribbean and FibraLink Jamaica (a partnership between Merit Communications and Caribbean Crossing) to construct and operate fibre-optic cables linking Jamaica to North America and the rest of the world.

Another company, Digicel, was unsuccessful in its go-it-alone bid, and later pulled out of the TCCC Jamaica consortium, which had over 30 partners.

Cable and Wireless Jamaica, prior to that point, was the only company with a fibre-optic facility to link the country internationally.

Original licence

Trans-Continental's original licence (TCCN-S1) allowed it to construct its undersea cable from Kingston to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, connecting to additional facilities that extended to Puerto Rico - which in January 2005 was an estimated US$32 million investment.

TCCC, in its proposal, said that the existing cables in Puerto Rico would provide further connectivity to North America and the rest of the world.

"What they applied for and whatever commitments they have under the existing licence still stands. It's just an addition," said OUR deputy director Courtney Jackson.

"The original licence provided for a link between Dominican Republic and Jamaica. They now have an additional link between Jamaica and Cuba."

Based on the restrictions of the original licence, Trans Continental cannot deploy its network before December this year.