Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

Jean McPherson stands beside a marketing poster for Flow Communications in this January 18 file photo. - File

Michael Lee Chin's Columbus Communications, operating as Flow in Jamaica, has invested $14 billion (US$200 million) to establish the brand, buy up rivals and roll out service since its launch two years ago.

The company said all the funds were spent on building out its infrastructure.

Flow projects it will need to pump another $15 billion to $21 billion, or an average of $18 billion, of capital into the network over the next three years to complete its set-up in the island.

"Our budget is between $5 billion and $7 billion per year," marketing manager Jean McPherson told the Financial Gleaner, explaining that the figures related to the cost of equipment and labour.

The company, which has snapped up three local cable operators and is finalising a fourth deal, has not revealed the cost of the acquisitions.

McPherson said the figures were included in the $14 billion.

Using fibre optic link technology, Flow offers high-speed Internet, digital landline telephone service and cable television through a single line.

All-island digital licence

The company was recently awarded an all-island digital licence through Merit Communications to offer subscriber television in all zones.

Flow currently supplies cable television service in Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Ann and St. Mary.

The build out of the infrastructure is broken down into fibre building, the laying of cable, and building the backbone infrastructure to allow Flow's Internet service to be deployed across cable regions.

McPherson says it will take Flow another three years to blanket Jamaica.

"I would say we would have completed our project in 2010, 2011," she advised the Financial Gleaner.

Currently, Flow has roughly 450 permanent employees, 50 per cent more than the 300 jobs the company had said it would have created at market entry.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com