Dear Editor,
It dawned on me today that some of our business leaders are either terribly out of touch with reality or go out of their way to paint pretty pictures on a bad canvas. My concern is sparked by nonsensical comments made by Yoni Epstein, the head of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, in response to the American Chamber of Commerce President Ron McKay's valid concerns about the CWC/Flow merger. Both were quoted in articles carried in the Business Observer and news pages over last week.
Epstein came out in favour of the merger, saying: "A monopoly is a thing of the past," and that "the merger gives CWC/Flow an edge as a service provider that can add the greatest value to its customers in the region, but it doesn't eradicate competition." He also stated: "We were assured (by the telecommunications ministry and CWC/Flow) that the current provisions will still be in place such as redundancy, fair pricing, and business continuity; upon this basis we supported the merger from day one."
The merger gives them very significant control of the telecommunications sector, especially for those relying on specialised services, like the BPO sector. It harms competition and puts Jamaica firmly back on course towards a monopoly, where higher prices, poor customer service and reduced options become the order of the day. Already, without the ink even drying, cable consumers have been slammed with price increases. Frankly, for Epstein to celebrate "assurances" from a government ministry and the new monopoly is naïve.
As a business owner myself, I absolutely support the initial statements made by American Chamber of Commerce President Ron McKay who pointed to the potentially dangerous situation that Jamaica faces following the merger. He added: "There are plenty of places around the world that you can open up a call centre operation, they don't have to come here."
I suspect that Epstein is keen on not scaring potential investors; that I somewhat understand, but continuing to think that burying one's head in the sand will lead to increased investment in a still fairly stagnant sector is equally ridiculous. Most investors aren't naïve and do their research no matter the musings of others. They will do their cost-benefit analysis and will take a very critical look at the telecommunications infrastructure and the options that exist. They couldn't give one hoot about 'assurances' from the Government and a monopoly-like company.
Kadian Moore
Beverly Hills
Kingston 6
iamkadianmoore@outlook.com
A monopoly can never be a good thing!
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It dawned on me today that some of our business leaders are either terribly out of touch with reality or go out of their way to paint pretty pictures on a bad canvas. My concern is sparked by nonsensical comments made by Yoni Epstein, the head of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, in response to the American Chamber of Commerce President Ron McKay's valid concerns about the CWC/Flow merger. Both were quoted in articles carried in the Business Observer and news pages over last week.
Epstein came out in favour of the merger, saying: "A monopoly is a thing of the past," and that "the merger gives CWC/Flow an edge as a service provider that can add the greatest value to its customers in the region, but it doesn't eradicate competition." He also stated: "We were assured (by the telecommunications ministry and CWC/Flow) that the current provisions will still be in place such as redundancy, fair pricing, and business continuity; upon this basis we supported the merger from day one."
The merger gives them very significant control of the telecommunications sector, especially for those relying on specialised services, like the BPO sector. It harms competition and puts Jamaica firmly back on course towards a monopoly, where higher prices, poor customer service and reduced options become the order of the day. Already, without the ink even drying, cable consumers have been slammed with price increases. Frankly, for Epstein to celebrate "assurances" from a government ministry and the new monopoly is naïve.
As a business owner myself, I absolutely support the initial statements made by American Chamber of Commerce President Ron McKay who pointed to the potentially dangerous situation that Jamaica faces following the merger. He added: "There are plenty of places around the world that you can open up a call centre operation, they don't have to come here."
I suspect that Epstein is keen on not scaring potential investors; that I somewhat understand, but continuing to think that burying one's head in the sand will lead to increased investment in a still fairly stagnant sector is equally ridiculous. Most investors aren't naïve and do their research no matter the musings of others. They will do their cost-benefit analysis and will take a very critical look at the telecommunications infrastructure and the options that exist. They couldn't give one hoot about 'assurances' from the Government and a monopoly-like company.
Kadian Moore
Beverly Hills
Kingston 6
iamkadianmoore@outlook.com
A monopoly can never be a good thing!
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