Stephen Price has presided as Flow Jamaica’s country manager since 2017 and during that time has overseen many operational and technological changes.

He has been able to put in place a management team that has seen to it that the vertically integrated telecommunications company remains the country’s pre-eminent service provider and, according to its parent, Liberty Global, the leading performer in the Caribbean region.

During his tenure, he has seen Flow’s main competitor, Digicel, go through four CEOs – namely David Butler, Justin Morin, Allison Philbert and now the former VEON executive Jabbon Kayumov, who comes from Ukraine.

Price remains a steadying hand, guiding the company’s positive performances and vehemently believing in and backing his local management team. Management is about confidence and Price has earned the confidence of his bosses.

For the first quarter (Q1) 2021, Liberty Latin America reported revenues of US$1.20 billion, a growth of 25 per cent year on year. Operating income came in at US$178 million, registering a 65 per cent increase with total customers increasing marginally to 3.2 million.

Flow Jamaica contributed to this performance, adding 10,000 mobile subscribers with 22,000 Revenue Generating Units (RGUs). The Jamaican operation now has 1.2 million mobile subscribers and continues to see an uptick with this business line.

According to CEO of Liberty Latin America (under which Flow Jamaica falls), Balan Nair, “Cable& Wireless Caribbean & Networks put in strong operating and improving sequential financial results. There were record Q1 additions of 28,000 RGUs up 12 per cent year on year, driven by broadband. Continued mobile recovery with Q1 additions higher year on year, led by Jamaica.”

Most big corporate CEOs are happy with a benign environment which allows them to put in creditable performances – calm seas with no storms ahead. This was not the scenario before Price last year. The COVID pandemic saw him having to rise to the challenge of meeting demand while the economy shrank by 12 per cent and at the same time having to recalibrate Flow’s operations while reassuring personnel. Bouncer after bouncer on an uneven wicket.

Speaking with Our Today, Price explained: “We met demand head on. We had to recognise this wasn’t a situation that affected Jamaica alone. This was a global challenge faced by telecommunication operators everywhere. It saw operators seeing a 57 per cent increase in demand in the space of two weeks after the lockdown which was incredible.

“For us, we knew that we had to be the backbone of the country and we started accelerating investments that we were going to make anyway in terms of increasing capacity. We went up by 200 gigs and were determined to build out as much as possible during this period. What that saw over 2020, was us building out 350 communities with fibre-fast internet. At the same time, we increased our mobile sites by over 100 to ensure mobile broadband was available across the country.

“One of the key things to understand is that the demand is there. But you know our GDP numbers, with most people living on US$12 a day on average. Food and shelter are the priorities for most Jamaicans and there is not a lot of disposable spend available. The question is how do we address that in these times? That will really determine how this country rebounds. I think we have met it head on in terms of trying to continue to grow.”

To his point, last year Flow connected almost 70,000 homes to fibre and will continue with that thrust this year. The fact is Flow is not in a bad place. When one thinks about it, there are about 870,00 homes in Jamaica with power and Flow covers at least 690,000 of them.

Flow is the only operator building in unserved areas right now and Price is proud of that.

The way he sees it, both the company and the country are at a crossroad right now with the question being how do they both embark on private/public initiatives?

Here Price said: “The Government is set on building its emergency backbone and we are trying to help them with that in terms of partnership, ensuring that we get that in place. As a result of that we hopefully will get more into the hinterlands of Jamaica so that our people will benefit.”

MORE THAN J$40 BILLION SPENT ON FIBRE NETWORK

Flow Jamaica has spent over J$40 billion on its fibre network thus signaling its intent. Here Price says Flow drew a line in the sand about three years ago, realising that its copper network was ageing.

After the Columbus/ Cable& Wireless merger, what transpired was a better network on the Columbus side but it wasn’t everywhere in terms of HFC, so there was a need to continue to build fibre. This has remained Flow’s mission- to build fibre across the length and breadth of the country. Price maintains that Flow remains the most capable operator to do so, given its level of fibre backbone investment into every nook and cranny of Jamaica.

Flow now has a fibre ring around the island which is subsea going to various landing points, therefore bolstering resilience and creating better redundancy for the network.

There is an incessant cry for better internet in Jamaica with people wanting faster speeds. So how will Flow respond? 

“I think it is not a tough ask and it is a path that we are on. The reality is that both the Government’s and our objectives are in tune. We want to get to GIG speeds by 2025. Actually, we would love to do it earlier.

“There are limitations to the copper technology. We are never going to get more than 75 Megabits down on copper technology and that is the reason why we have to move away from it. On the HFC side, we have an end plus zero network which means we can increase speeds. You don’t have to overkill based on what the market is ready for. We need to deliver GIG speeds to every school and every business in Jamaica. We have a solely dedicated network for businesses only that can deliver that kind of speed.

“In the process of overbuilding old technology, the migration of customers from the older to newer technology is a path that we are on. We currently have our Fibre Fast campaign and are also ensuring that we migrate customers forward, even as we add new customers. Customers who never had internet connectivity in their neighbourhood are now getting that. We are proud of the work done by our teams and how fast they are moving.

“In the first quarter we built out 10,000 homes and that is significant. We will build a record number of homes by the end of this year which has never been done before in the history of this country,” said the Flow Jamaica boss.

INVESTING IN ISLANDWIDE BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY

The Government has declared that it will attain islandwide broadband connectivity by 2025. Does Price believe this is realistic or even possible?

“I think it is possible. For us at Flow it is not a 2025 plan but rather a 2023 plan. We are going to do the necessary investments to make that happen. One of the key things to note here is that throughout all of Liberty Latin America, Jamaica has been the best performing market over the last two to three years.

“That has engendered a level of confidence in the Jamaican market and the leadership of Flow Jamaica which will ensure those investments are made. We will continue to build on that and see to it that we deliver for the people of Jamaica.

“Yes, we are a business built for profit, but we know we are embedded in the fabric of Jamaica. We know that each percentage of internet penetration spells an almost equivalent percentage increase in GDP. We know the vital role that we play, and we will continue to drive in that direction,” Price declared.