"Jamaica is going to be far more attractive than ever before in getting call centres to operate here.  The year ahead is expected to be our strongest year to date," said Patrick Casserly, chief executive officer of Sitel and E-Services Group, the biggest ICT company in the island.

PROBLEMS SELLING KINGSTON

"Our challenge is that we still have problems selling Kingston.  Although everyone loves the quality of staff we provide there, issues of security keep coming up."

Kingston is the largest English-speaking city south of Miami, which is an incentive for prospective clients from North America.  But Commerce Science and Technology Minister, Phillip Paulwell, said that selling the capital city as a call centre destination has been challenging, due to the violence associated with it.

"We are trying to deal with the image of Kingston and Portmore, because we are seeing growth now taking place especially in Portmore," Minister Paulwell said.  "There is no longer any space at the two facilities that the government provided at the (Portmore) Informatics Park."

And concern is growing about the availability of space in Montego Bay required to accommodate the expected increase in business there.

"We are out of space in Montego Bay, and we are appealing for greater private sector participation in terms of the creation of office space there," said Mr. Paulwell.

GROWING NEED

To cope with the growing need, plans are now being revived to redevelop the former Goodyear plant in St. Thomas for call centre operations.  This is to be done in collaboration with Upliftment Jamaica.

The minister stated that Jamaica's estimated $6.2 billion ICT sector will soon witness a tremendous fall in telecom rates in and out of the island due to an increase in broadband capacity stemming from the additional fibre optic cable link that will be established by the end of January.

Director general in the Office of the Prime Minister, Dennis Morrison, said Fibralink Jamaica and Trans-Caribbean Cable Company will invest US$80 million in submarine fibre optiuc links.  He said this is expected to cut rates by 70 per cent in the next fiscal year.

MORE VIABLE AND EFFICIENT

"The provisions will make call centre operations far more viable and efficient in Jamaica, than ever before," said Mr. Paulwell.  "We are seeing companies like Verizon, E-Services and West in an expansion mode, and despite the recent failure of Touch Point, there are already a number of overseas-based companies that are looking to establish facilities in Jamaica."

LESSONS LEARNT

Minister Paulwell said that lessons have been learnt over the last four to five years from the first wave of new call centre operations in Jamaica, and that the government and industry players are focused on in-bound call centres, which deal primarily with customer service and debt collection.

With payroll contributions amounting to more than $4.5 billion, Jamaica's ICT sector is expected to maintain its current posture as a Caribbean leader, ahead of the Dominican Republic and Panama.  Minister Paulwell said he has been urging the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) to move swiftly to take note of the level of employment or employees in the industry, noting that cellular service provider Digicel now hosts its entire Caribbean call centre facility in Jamaica.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060104/business/business1.html