"We would be the landing hub for the cable," Mark Reid, JNAP's chief operating officer, said yesterday. "It would enter the island in Portmore or Bull Bay then go underground to the landing point at JNAP."

JNAP was chosen for the hub, Reid said, because it was the "most convenient location, being a carrier-neutral facility". The concept behind a carrier-neutral facility is that several carriers can be housed in the same location and interconnected at that facility.

In February Digicel officials disclosed that they wanted to form a consortium, with two or more foreign partners, to lay down the fibre-optic line, to allow carriers to move large numbers of calls and amounts of data into and out of Jamaica and costs lower than what now prevails.

Apparently, substantial progress has been made on that idea, although all the partners in the deal could not be immediately confirmed. Senior Digicel officials were not available for comment.

But said Reid of the project: "They will be signing off on the memorandum of understanding next week in Curacao."
He expected that a build-out could take place by early next year.

There is only one fiber-optic ring that leaves Jamaica - and that is controlled by Cable & Wireless, the telecommunications services provider that includes among its menu of products, fixed and mobile telephones and data movement.

At present, companies that offer Internet services and other data intensive services almost always go through the C&W network to leave Jamaica.

The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), the government regulator, has in the past had qualms over Cable & Wireless' pricing of its fibre-optic gateway.

Last July, for instance, the OUR said that the cost of US$6,000 per month paid by Internet service providers (ISP) for fibre-optic connections between Jamaica and Florida was one of highest in the world. It compared to between US$5,000 and US$7,000 per month charged between Colombia and Florida.

But one telecom provider said that C&W USA - prior to its December exit from the US - charged as low as US$500 per month.

JNAP plans to use the fiber to link to the Caribbean, but it will take about two years for the consortium to build the fibre ring. In the interim, JNAP plans to connect to the region before year-end by satellite. It will also have islandwide interconnection in 60 days.

JNAP was launched with a reported capital of US$1 million.
It is also banding with five cable TV companies to offer high speed Internet.

"A pilot project will be launched in 60 days on 200 homes offering Internet through the cable," Reid said.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20040608T230000-0500_60943_OBS_MOU_NEXT_WEEK_ON_FIBRE_OPTIC_LINE_PROPOSED__BY_DIGICEL.asp