With the upgrading, Telegens, the broadband wireless company the business duo formed some time ago, will become the only network in Jamaica to offer speed of seven-megabit per second, and island-wide coverage.

With the upgrade, client companies will have the capability to undertake a series of expanded.  Among them: high definition video conferencing, and other full multi-media communications such as remote video surveillance.

With the investment, Telegens' corporate clients will have island-wide coverage for their various services including Internet, instead of a limited area as is now the case.

"To my certain knowledge, we are the only company that provides coverage to 80 per cent of the island," said Mitchell in confirming the investment.  "When I say 80 per cent, I mean not just a few main towns, but literally every nook and cranny on the island.  The only two places they we don't have coverage are the cockpit country, and the extreme eastern tip of the island between Manchioneal and Morant Bay."

Telegens is not an Internet service provider, though it provides connectivity to ISPs.  Its biggest competitor is Cable & Wireless which uses, principally, wired telephony.

Mitchell, however, claims that broad-band wireless technology that his company employs is the least costly of the four options for transmitting data and information - Telegens' service "is up to 70 per cent cheaper" than that offered by the competitors.

The other two means of transmission - satellite and wired fibre-optic transmission - are costly to establish and maintain, especially given Jamaica's topography.

Among Telegens' corporate clients: Grace, Kennedy Remittance Service, Jamaica National Group, RBTT, Supreme Ventures, J Wray & Nephew, Jamaica Broilers, Tara Couriers, and Dehring Bunting & Golding.

Mitchell and Chang partnered in the venture after the Jamaica Lottery Company in which Mitchell was an investor was sold to Supreme Ventures.  Chang's funds management CI Funds has over Can$50 billion under its management.

Chang, the brother of Island Grill managing director, Thalia Lyn and who emigrated to Canada in the early 1970s, has over the past several years been quietly investing in Jamaica.  His investments include Walkerswood Caribbean Foods and Island Village mall in Ocho Rios.  He has also expressed interest in the Harmony Cove, St Ann hotel/housing development being spearheaded by the government.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20050111T210000-0500_73047_OBS_CHANG__MITCHELL_PUMP______M_IN_TECH_FIRM.asp