Telecoms merger good for customers
(CNS Business): Two billion-dollar telecommunication companies have joined forces to take technology and customer service to the next level. Cable and Wireless Communications, which operates as LIME throughout the Caribbean, announced the company has complete its US$1.85 billion acquisition of all of the equity of Columbus International Inc.
Columbus International is a private telecommunications company based in Barbados. LIME’s Director of product and process, Eugene Nolan, said the merged company would create opportunities for more development and the introduction of new products.
“We are now full steam ahead and the companies are now fully merged. It’s a really exciting merger. Cable and Wireless has been operating around the world in nearly 40 countries. We made the decision a couple of years ago to divest our holdings outside of the Latin American-Caribbean region and to focus our energy solely on this region, and as part of that this opportunity came along to merge with Columbia Communications,” he explained to CNS Business.
Chief Executive Officer, Phil Bentley said, “This is a transformational deal for Cable & Wireless Communications. Columbus Communications is an outstanding business; not only do we add significant fibre optic submarine backhaul and terrestrial broadband and TV capability to our leading mobile and legacy copper networks in the Caribbean, but our complementary B2B divisions can now offer geographical focus and a wider product offering in the faster-growing Latin American markets.”
Nolan said the company entered the first stage of the transformational deal in November of last year. Since then, he explained, a team has been working around the clock to complete the merger in just five months. He told CNS Business, Columbus Communications Inc., once a competitor of LIME, is a new fairly new company that brings a lot to the table. However, Nolan emphasized the most important thing about this merger is what it means for their customers.
“Part of this merger is we will continue to expand our broadband offerings, we will enhance our TV offerings, so we’re a true full service provider to all of our consumers, offering the best in TV, the best in entertainment, the best in broadband, the best mobile,” he explained.
Bentley added, “Most of the markets we operate in have approved our integration plans and therefore today we can start to release some of the US$1.5bn investment monies we have set aside to provide our customers with an unrivalled telecommunications experience, improving coverage, reliability, products and speeds, and providing a welcome boost to both jobs and the economy in the countries in which we operate. In a small number of markets where we have yet to receive all the necessary approvals required, we cannot commence our integration and investment plans. We will therefore continue to support the local regulatory due process until we have the green light to move forward in those markets.”
Nolan said that in Cayman, LIME has invested 30 million dollars in the last 18 months upgrading the network across all three islands, and with the integration of Columbus International, there’s no where to go but up.
“This merger really helps us because we’re going to bring the best of the Columbus group, who are a relatively new group, but the best of their processes and technologies and our existing processes and technologies. We’ll merge those together to deliver an unrivaled and unparalleled customer experience,” he said.
Bentley explained, “There has been an extensive and professional regulatory review, with appropriate remedies. We are pleased we now have the necessary government support to conclude this important transaction and to start making the financial commitments required to deliver an outstanding customer experience and to enhance the telecommunications infrastructure and economic development of the communities we serve.”
Category: Featured, ICT, Local Business, Media, Technology
So… will this mean they can finally introduce reliable service East of George Town??
In spite of all the upgrades and laughable ad campaign claiming LIME is about YOU,, this company has established for anyone who has to deal with their 611-Help desk, of any telecom in the Western Hemisphere. Like many others who live east of George itself in Cayman as the premier business model for the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE of any telecom in the Western Hemisphere for anyone who has a problem with landline or internet.
Like many others who live east of George Town, we have suffered from repeated outages or glitches in our landline and internet for the past two years. Every time, we have spent many frustrating hours on the phone, repeatedly pleading for assistance from a call center located in…EL SALVADOR?? The agents can barely speak or understand English, obviously read from a script and have no idea about the geography of this country. Today even simple repairs seem to require repeated calls, and at least 10 days to a month to reach the person in Grand Cayman responsible for dispatching the technicians.
Mr. McCabe, you are CEO of this company— PLEASE DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM!! Bring the 611 call desk home to Grand Cayman. We need jobs for our own people, and there is plenty of vacant space available for such a center. The LIME employees we finally get to interact with here at home are talented, efficient and outstanding employees–especially the ones in Customer Service at Galleria. But this outsourcing idiocy of making your customers deal with incompetent agents in a distant country is appalling.