When Cable & Wireless rebranded in 2008 to reflect a company that offers more than just traditional telephone service, it chose the abbreviation LIME — landline, Internet, mobile and entertainment — to represent its product offerings. Each of those services will benefit from the $7 million that the company is planning to invest in the Virgin Islands, company representatives said yesterday morning.
“That’s an uptick of probably at least 15 percent from what we used to spend here,” Phil Bentley, the CEO of LIME (BVI) parent company Cable & Wireless, told reporters during a press conference held at Maria’s by the Sea.
The investment will upgrade the company’s “4G” network for mobile phones and introduce fibre optic cable to replace copper lines, which will result in much faster Internet speeds, he said. Nearly $5 million will be spent to install the cable, he added.
“I think you know as well as I do that the island has suffered from slow broadband speeds,” he said, promising the investment will bring customers a “huge increase” in speed and reliability.
Additionally, the company plans to introduce high-definition television to the VI using the fibre optics.
“Why is TV important to us? It’s because increasingly it’s sold as a package, with broadband, fixed-line and TV sold as a package, and that’s why we’re committed to increasing our TV products,” he said.
The company also plans to enhance its custom telecommunications solutions for financial services providers, large resorts and governments. The investment is needed to ensure that customers are happy, he added.
“The biggest complaint customers have around the region is the quality of the networks and the speed of the networks. Once we fix that we’ll continue to give great service in attractive stores with a broad range of telecommunications products,” he said.
Companywide, Cable & Wireless plans to upgrade its infrastructure using a $1 billion investment over the next three years, Mr. Bentley said. The company, which pioneered telecommunication services in many markets across the globe, has shed many assets in recent years to focus on the region.
“Today we just focus on Central America and the Caribbean,” Mr. Bentley said. “Those are the only markets we are active in today.”
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