Business Byte: Flow rebuilding stronger & better post Hurricane Maria   

Dominica’s premier telecommunications provider Flow is on course to revolutionise the telecommunications industry with the roll-out of superfast broadband referred to as Fibre to the Home (FTTH), 4G LTE, and the introduction of a superior IP-TV product in the not too distant future.

The company reported major devastation to its network infrastructure following the passage of one of the most destructive hurricanes to impact the island in history. Both the mobile and fixed voice and data infrastructure were severely damaged while a more severe fate was experienced by Marpin 2K4’s television network. Flow had purchased the TV Company in May of the same year.

Determined to facilitate critical communication between customers as well as the outside world, Flow sprung into recovery mode immediately following the all clear, focusing primarily on the restoration of its mobile network. Seven months later, the company has been successful in restoring 46 of its 49 mobile sites which existed prior to the passage of hurricane Maria. In some instances temporary fixes had to be made to facilitate the process, however these fixes are now being replaced with the optimization of the mobile network and rebuild of several new cell towers which can be seen at Belles, Jimmit and Moore Park providing an improved mobile experience to customers in these communities and surrounding areas.

The restoration plan includes allocations for additional new towers to be erected over the next few months, as well as co-location options with the competitor. Grenadian, Edmund Burke who leads the restoration efforts in Dominica says the goal is to return customers to an even better and stronger mobile network than existed prior to the hurricane. “Our focus is to rebuild a resilient network which can not only better serve the needs and demands of our customers, but a network which will be better placed to withstand the ferocity of storms and hurricanes” stated Burke.

Another exciting component of the mobile rebuild post hurricane Maria is the launch of 4G LTE in market. Flow is currently testing the advanced technology which will give customers a major boost in their mobile experience with superfast download and upload speeds. Customers are encouraged to be LTE-ready by obtaining handsets and sims that are equipped for this technology.

With the mobile network on a solid footing, Flow is now focused on fixed voice and data services. Post hurricane Maria, efforts have been made to restore service to customers on the existing copper network where possible, while the foundation is being laid for the rebuild of a new network centred on the roll-out of Fibre to the Home. Fibre to the Home will provide customers with Superfast Broadband (internet) and will be the foundation for Flow’s IP-TV product. Phase one of the FTTH product roll-out has started in Goodwill, Stockfarm and Canefield. Customers in these areas are expected to begin enjoying FTTH by the end of June. The rollout of the product will continue across the island in a phased process into 2019.

Flow’s General Manager Jeffrey Baptiste says customers’ patience will be rewarded with the best suite of products to be launched here over the next few months. “Our customers have been patient and we are grateful to them for that. What we can promise our customers is a television product that is going to be superior than anything existing in market with a great line-up of channels in high definition; video on demand; and the ability to record, rewind and fast forward live television” noted Baptiste. “Our superfast broadband service with the launch of FTTH will provide customers with the fast speeds required to surf the internet similar to the incredible experience to come from 4G LTE”, stated Baptiste.

Flow is currently testing the television product among employees, customers and at various businesses and popular hang-out spots to include Fort Young Hotel Lobby, The Lounge in Picard, JR’s Bar, Greenhouse Bar & Grill, Escape Bar & Grill, One Pot and more.

With the hurricane season fast approaching, Flow is committing best effort to the rebuilding of a resilient network and to continue to provide customers with value for money products and propositions.

 

 

About C&W Communications

C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.

C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network – the most extensive in the region.

Learn more at www.cwc.com, or follow C&W on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

 

About Liberty Latin America

Liberty Latin America is a leading telecommunications company operating in over 20 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. The communications and entertainment services that we offer to our residential and business customers in the region increasingly include combinations of services comprised of digital video, broadband internet, telephony and mobile services. Our business products and services include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions with customers ranging from small and medium enterprises to international companies and governmental agencies. In addition, Liberty Latin America operates a sub-sea and terrestrial fiber optic cable network that connects over 40 markets in the region.

 

For more information, please visit www.lla.com.

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9 Comments

  1. Annon
    May 20, 2018

    Upgrade to ultrafast is a good thing. However the article says 4G LTE is coming, yet Flow employees are telling us that we have 4G. It shows up on the phone as H+. ..Hey H+ is not 4G, it’s slow as molasses. I would like to encourage Flow to research other countries (except the U.S thieves) that offer reduced rates to the public and make much of their huge profits from advertisers. Also STOP offering Megabytes of anything and move on to gigabytes. You boast fibre under the sea, cheap and mostly free to you as Caricom countries absorbed those costs, now is Flow turn to give back in reduced rates and watch profits roll in. Don’t go back to the dog old days of monopoly, let Digi in. And for those who did not know they ran cables underground in many of our villages. Give us reduced rates we will spend it back on your products and in the economy, you still win and we all become better for it.

  2. UDOHREADYET
    May 19, 2018

    This is really great news!

  3. Looking
    May 18, 2018

    We appreciate the efforts of all service providers in Dominica at the moment. The only concern i have though, as long as you have cables running along roads and throughout the island, these can never be climate resilience. The better and more robust mobile services will be closer and i mean closer to being climate resilient. Nowhere in the world is climate resilient by the way.

  4. MadeInDa
    May 18, 2018

    You know flow have a lot of cables underground right?? they use the post after to get to your house. also You can’t place cell phone towers underground.

  5. Frank Talker
    May 17, 2018

    Nothing more than “shock news!”

  6. derp
    May 17, 2018

    Fibre to the Home hmm anything below 100 Mbit/s I gon tell them come out there with their nonsense

  7. marie-claire R Skerrit
    May 17, 2018

    Great Job flow. Leading the way..

  8. May 17, 2018

    Until the next storm or hurricane and the posts fall, it time to put the cables underground

  9. moi
    May 17, 2018

    “The rollout of the product will continue across the island in a phased process into 2019”

    ok,, so basically depends on where I live I may have to wait till 2019 to get Internet at my home while mobile data continues to run me broke?

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