Anguilla was left without communication over two days last weekend (see Wednesday paper). Could the same thing happen in St. Maarten?
A yacht’s anchor reportedly cut the main sea cable on Saturday morning, leaving both telecom companies Flow and Digicel unable to provide Internet, phone or television service. A team of divers and technicians arrived from St. Maarten Sunday and by Monday morning services could gradually be restored, a process completed in the afternoon.
It was good to see this regional cooperation work. Large nations can usually rely on assistance from neighbouring areas within the country in emergencies, but especially small islands need to help each other.
For residents and visitors alike, it must have been quite an ordeal. Businesses also suffered, especially because credit and debit card payments could not be made.
In general, the world has become extremely dependent on voice and data communication. That was notable after the devastating passage of Hurricane Irma in September 2017, when the concern over lack of connectivity in some way appeared bigger than about the availability of electricity and tap water as under similar circumstances in the past.
The Dutch side has more than one main cable and undoubtedly greater capacity than Anguilla, but what happened there can still serve as wakeup call regarding the level of resilience in this field. While local outages in the past have never been that long or widespread, it might be worthwhile to review current contingencies and make improvements where needed.
With TelEm group’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kendall Dupersoy now on the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisation (CANTO) board, continuation of important work done in this regional body by his predecessor as such, retiring Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Helma Etnel, in any case seems assured. After all, there is strength in numbers.
