Mr Phil Bentley, who took over as CEO of Cable and Wireless Communications at the beginning of the year, and is based in Miami, now that the London Office is closing, has spoken about a new and big investment in the Caribbean including Anguilla.
“Very much the action is going to be here in the Caribbean and Central America,” he told media representatives in Anguilla on Tuesday, August 19. “We are investing a billion US dollars over the next three years in the market and we are going to do that in some targeted areas,” he continued. “One is to make sure that our mobile networks are the fastest, extensive, and the most reliable; the second is to make sure that our broadband speeds are absolutely the best in the market – and we have started to roll out superfast fibre-optic cables in a number of our islands; thirdly, we want to be more active in TV because, increasingly, our customers are demanding a high quality TV product, delivered over fibre networks along with the broadband package and fixed lines. The fourth element is to give our business customers the source of products that really speak of their requirements whether you are a bank or an insurance company or a hotel.”
A press release issued by LIME Anguilla in connection with the planned investment and Mr Bentley’s visit to the island, stated as follows:
“LIME, one of the region’s biggest investors and employers has continued its investment thrust across the region under a major US$1.05b capital investment programme, called Project Marlin. The company will be investing an additional US$7.4M on network upgrade to advance the economic development of Anguilla, help change the lives of people and the fortunes of businesses.
Since the beginning of the year, LIME has already invested over US$2M to upgrade the mobile network to 4G. A further investment of US$1.6M will be spent later in the year, in new television service, while an additional US$3.8M is earmarked to bring high speed fibre broadband to the island.
Group CEO, Phil Bentley said, “The people of Anguilla deserve to have the technology that will enable them to advance and compete globally.” The CEO who is currently visiting a number of islands in the Caribbean, including Anguilla, noted, that there is a direct correlation between broadband penetration and the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), productivity and employment.
“One of the key goals of your government is better broadband penetration and LIME’s mission is to work with them toward this shared national vision. We know that better connectivity is a catalyst for the economic empowerment of the people of Anguilla,” the CEO noted.
In addition to this network upgrade investment LIME has been the backbone of Anguilla through sponsorships and various other forms of community development. The company’s contributions to national development include investments in education, culture, sports and entertainment. Over the years, LIME has been the local sponsors of Anguilla Summer Festival, Anguilla Community College, Festival Del Mar, Secondary School Sports Programme, John T. Memorial Cycling, the Annual Spelling Bee among many other activities.
