The number of customers has grown from about 3,000 last year to just over 23,000, Magnus Johansson, vice-president of broadband services at C&WJ, said in October.  This growth has provided a substantial boost to the company's Internet revenues.

Broadband is the term for the evolving digital technology that provides consumers with integra-ted access to voice, high-speed data, video on demand services and interactive delivery services.  Those on the system can use the Internet at speeds as much as 30 times faster than the regular dial-up format.

Mr. Richards said subscription to the broadband service has exceeded the company's expectations, and the aim is to convert those customers who are still using the old dial-up Internet service to using the new broadband service.

COMPANY REVENUES GO UP

Broadband revenues continue to experience significant growth with the company's average monthly subscriber base increasing 67 per cent over the previous quarter and 511 per cent for the same quarter last year, Cable & Wireless Jamaica Limited directors, Hon.  Patrick Rousseau and Andrew Cocking, said in their September 30 quarterly report.  Overall company revenues grew by one per cent.

Cable and Wireless Jamaica plans to roll out several value-added services that will support e-learning and edu-tainment programmes and virtual Internet games as it improves its new broadband Internet service.  Mr. Richards said the company intends to introduce the new services as early as January in the new year.

He said the new services will be particularly attractive to educational institutions such as the University of the West Indies (UWI), Northern Caribbean University (NCU) and the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) which will be able to offer learning programmes via the Internet.  He said further that it will enable companies to develop and deliver training programmes for their employees via the Internet.

"It will allow businesses to improve and expand their e-commerce and web capabilities.  It will allow Jamaican businesses access to markets outside of Jamaica, enabled by this infrastructure and it allows better communication between businesses," Mr. Richards explained from his sixth floor office at the C&WJ corporate headquarters off Half-Way Tree Road, St. Andrew.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051221/business/business6.html