CHIEF operations officer of Digicel Jamaica, Seamus Lynch, said the company, which officially began operations in the island just under a month ago, has already employed some 200 persons and would be adding another 50 or so workers to its payroll within the coming weeks.He also said the company was planning to increase its investment in the mobile telephone operation and was planning to become a long-term player in the island's telecommunications market.
Mr. Lynch was addressing members of the board of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) at their monthly meeting at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, on Tuesday.
Speaking against the background of the decision by the Ireland-based Mossel to invest in Jamaica, Mr. Lynch said that among the positives were that Jamaica has a large pool of young labour, local businesses wanted foreign direct investors to succeed, there was a need as well as a demand for new telephone services, and there was ease of access to high-level Government officials.
Among the negatives, he said, were the poor telecommunications infrastructure
(which he said was changing), service in-dustries were only just developing, local banks were averse to high risk and foreign banks were not positive.
Mr. Lynch said Mossel also decided to invest in Jamaica because of its size relative to other English-speaking Caribbean territories, the telecommunications market was relatively underdeveloped, and Jamaica was seen as a must if investors were serious about being a pan-Caribbean player.
Digicel's strategy, he said, was to roll-out global systems of mobiles (GSM) cellular networks across the Caribbean, establish a pan-Caribbean brand, and look for pan-Caribbean economies of scale.
Mr. Lynch said that so far the response to the new cellular service has been very positive, but he declined to disclose their level of customer base since the company was launched in April.
Speaking at the same meeting, JCC president Anthony Chang encouraged members to take a keener interest in international agreements such as that on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
"We cannot deny that Jamaica is a small island economy, hence many factors outside our island will and can affect your business," he said.
Mr. Chang also urged them to carry out vulnerability analysis of their businesses and not just competitive analysis. "Determine whether or not your industry is more or less vulnerable to new trade regimes such as FTAA. "What we are talking about are inflection points, a change in legislation, a change in technology, a change in trade agreements that may render your industry, business model or your firm more at risk," he said.
