Cable and Wireless plc Chief Executive Francesco Caio gestures with his mobile phone as he makes a point to journalists in a rap session at the Terra Nova hotel yesterday. The C&W chief, who was appointed in April, was in Jamaica for a brief visit -- his first to the island.
THE CHIEF executive of Cable and Wireless plc, Francesco Caio, has re-emphasised the importance of Jamaica and the Caribbean to the Cable & Wireless World Wide Group.
The C&W chief executive, who is on a brief visit to Jamaica, was speaking to journalists last night at the Terra Nova Hotel. Mr. Caio said that Cable & Wireless had been in Jamaica for more than 100 years and it is one of the places in which the company plans to be operational for a long time into the future.
The chief executive emphasised that despite the advent of competition, Cable & Wireless Jamaica with its full service provider profile remains the technological engine that drives Jamaica and keeps it linked to the rest of the world.
Mr. Caio said that despite criticism from some quarters, Cable & Wireless Jamaica owes no apology for being a profitable company. "That's what companies are in business for. That's what allows us to be able to continue to invest. That's what allows us to be a major employer of Jamaicans.
"Furthermore the success of Cable & Wireless is not only about the success of the company. Ultimately, it must redound to the overall benefit of Jamaica."
While making the point that companies in the position of Cable and Wireless Jamaica needs to be less arrogant, Mr. Caio commended CWJ for the progress it had made in the area of customer service and promised it would only get better.
The C&W Chief executive sounded a note of warning, however, by saying that the Telecommunications Industry is transforming itself almost every six months and Cable & Wireless Jamaica needs to rapidly increase the pace of its own transformation if it is to continue to be the industry leader in Jamaica.
Making reference to other countries and companies, including Cable & Wireless in the United Kingdom, Mr. Caio said that regrettably the transformation had caused significant downsizing in those companies. This, he said, was unfortunately, the result of improved technology, processes and systems.
While he expects that there will be further reductions in the staff numbers at CWJ, he said he could not predict how many and when as "...cost adjustments are an ongoing part of doing business in today's environment."
