KINGSTON, JAMAICA – Jamaica’s first broadband network provider Flow has invested over $250 million (U.S.) in Jamaica’s ICT infrastructure to power a broadband network to deliver digital cable television, digital landline and high-speed Internet services to homes, hotels, schools, libraries and other public areas across the island.
Now, through a partnership with Capital Networks and its Audience information delivery platform, Flow has been able to build on its own core infrastructure to deliver new innovative products and services to the hotel market in Jamaica.
Leading hotels, including the Jamaica Pegasus Kingston, Secrets Resorts and The Courtleigh Hotel are providing guests with new hotel information channels in their rooms. Powered by Audience, they give hotel guests real-time flight information from local airports; live weather reports, as well as hotel event information.
Audience is also powering Barker Channels in homes across Jamaica. The single software solution ensures a low Total Cost of Ownership for Flow’s Columbus Business Solutions and its hotel customers.
A member of the Columbus Communications group of companies (as profiled here), Flow has made a significant commitment to Jamaica, investing over $250 million (U.S.) to date in developing human resources, and building an island-wide all-digital infrastructure. Jamaica is now the only country in the region with a direct undersea fibre-optic connection to the United States and South America.
When it launched in 2006, Flow became Jamaica’s first broadband network offering digital cable television, digital landline and high-speed Internet service with one connection. Today it provides service to over 300,000 residential homes, and Flow is also dedicated to building a “tech-savvy, digital, knowledge-based society through outreach and educational development programs to all Jamaicans.”
"As the country’s first all-digital supplier, we have a reputation for reliability, flexibility, speed, cost-effectiveness and the latest, best technology. Capital Networks and the Audience platform supports us on all these fronts,” said Michael Look Tong, director media services at Flow Jamaica.
The Audience-powered information channels allow hotels to broadcast:
• Airport flight alerts information – live feeds from local airports let guests know about delays and departures.
• Weather reports – live local and national weather reports are streamed into the channel
• News reports – live local, national and international news reports can be accessed and broadcast
• General tourist FAQs
"Flow currently commands around 70% of the hotel cable TV market in Jamaica. With Audience, we have a solid platform for the future that will allow us to move to HDTV and 3D when hotels choose to. And it’s not just the hotels’ business that will grow with AudienceT. Our residential customers can benefit from value added services through our barker channels, such as Video on Demand channels and community-based public access channels,” adds Tong.
