Digicel, Flow report major service disruptions after cables vandalised

By Kimone Witter    

 

Vandals have caused significant disruption to Flow and Digicel customers across the island after they damaged fibre optic cables in Kingston on Tuesday morning.

 

Digicel Jamaica says the disruptions have been caused by multiple major fibre breaks at the international landing stations, which is impacting home and mobile data services.

 

The company says its technical teams have started to restore services.

 

Speaking with Radio Jamaica News, Chief Executive Officer at Digicel Jamaica, Stephen Murad, said the company was alerted to the disruption about 5 a.m. through its Global Network Operating teams based in the country. 

 

"What has actually transpired is that there is a severe vandalism, multiple fibre cuts at the connectivity partners - basically the housing station - if we can just call it that for now," he explained. 

 

Mr. Murad said the issue will take a few hours to be restored. 

 

"Our estimated full restoration currently is somewhere around two o'clock this afternoon, but let's say around three to four hours for full restoration.... From a data perspective, which is what people are obviously most interested in, it's basically congesting all of the data. So rather than being dead completely, it's slowing everything down to either a full halt or a crawl."

 

The disruption is also impacting Flow customers, Mr. Murad noted, as he explained the shared connectivity between the telecommunication companies which has resulted in the widespread impact. 

 

"That infrastructure is...housed amid Flow's infrastructure. Then once it gets passed that, it's passed through to Digicel and we then put it on our own transport network across the island. But to get into the country, it has to come through Flow's sub-sea fibre cables into the country and then it's handed off to Digicel." 

 

He said a report has been sent to the relevant ministers, including Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness and the police. 

 

Vice President and Country Manager of Flow Jamaica, Stephen Price, has condemned the act of vandalism that has affected its services and those of its partners.

 

Mr. Price lamented the continued preying on the telecoms industry. 

 

"In a growing economy like ours, uninterrupted telecoms are vital for Jamaica's continued growth and development. We really, really strongly encourage the public to respect our critical infrastructure as such acts of vandalism not only disrupt our operations, but also impact the broader community that depends on these services," he outlined. 

 

He said Flow's technical teams are working assiduously to restore services as quickly as possible.