Flow reports significant progress in post hurricane restoration

Telecoms firm Flow has revealed that 84 per cent of its mobile sites have been re-engaged following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

According to the company, only 22 per cent of its sites were online immediately after the passage of the hurricane.

Stephen Price, General Manager of Flow Jamaica, said on Friday that the teams are working to have as many of the remaining sites as possible back on line before Christmas.

“We’ve employed some additional technology in terms of partnering with Starlink… on some 250 of our sites,” he revealed, adding that, the Starlink technology will remain available as a back-up option even after the company’s fibre connections are restored.

He added that the restoration of the fixed-line network is somewhat behind, “currently at 67 per cent of our customers back online,” with the parishes of St. James and Hanover having the lowest levels of restoration.

Regarding the St. James situation, he said the company has made the decision to move more of its network underground to enhance its resilience.

Mr Price, who was speaking on Radio Jamaica’s Beyond the Headlines, said the pace of restoration of the pole routes, in collaboration with the Jamaica Public Service, the country’s electricity supplier, is a major factor in the timeline for restoration.