The local telecommunication landscape has been further broadened with the recent launch of Call The Planet (CTP), the Internet phone company incorporated in British Columbia, Canada in 2003. In setting up its operation here, the VoIP company has so far invested over US$1.5 million.

"We happily came to Jamaica to offer a new communication service," president and chief executive officer John Eitel told Sunday Finance.
"We're saying that one of the things that we found that pleases us more than anything is the fact that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Jamaica," the Canadian said.

Eitel. part of our plan in Jamaica is to expand everybody's knowledge about Internet presence. If you look at it like electricity, you can do anything with that power

For the past year and a half, CTP, which services about 70 countries around the world, has been studying the Jamaican market and the management is upbeat about what the local business environment has to offer.

"As we travel the world, we get an opportunity to see a lot of different cultures and a lot of different environments. But here (in Jamaica) we know that there is a ton of energy and of course a ton of pride. And we love to watch Jamaicans grow in this new world because there is one coming, and we set our sights to go to the world from the shores of Jamaica. For Calling The Planet certainly believes in the effort here in Jamaica and we had to find a place here but we come as students. We come listening, come learning, asking what it takes to make sure that Jamaica is served in the manner that it wants to be served.

"We don't believe that Jamaica needs anybody from the outside coming and telling it what to do. What we think Jamaica needs is lots of information so it can decide on what it wants to take for itself. And use in its own development," added Eitel.

With branches in South America, the United States, China, Malaysia, England and the Caribbean, the VoIP company had its local launch on February 17, featuring veteran reggae artistes Toots Hibbert and Abijah, at the Oakton Park Entertainment Complex.
"We're up and running now," oozes a confident Eitel as he goes on to explain, "Our services are being provided here through the cable operators, and you can go online and find us, so we're in business right now in Jamaica.

"We mostly operate through our partners here. We have the cable companies and we have some interest coming from a lot of retail outlets that want to handle the product. Because the globalisation is at their doorstep if they have to partner with us. So it's a big job, but an exciting one, and one that is easier to accomplish here just because of the great effort that is here in the entrepreneurial spirit."
Marketing co-ordinator Carolyn Williams, who is based at the company's Caribbean head office in Barbados, stated in a press release that Jamaica is a very important offshore destination for CTP. And this was corroborated by her CEO.

"So while we're based in Barbados, we're really working to help support the local businessman here. basically we're the system behind the business here. And to do that properly they really do have to rise to a new level of understanding and globalised education.

"Part of our plan in Jamaica is to expand everybody's knowledge about Internet presence. If you look at it like electricity, you can do anything with that power. And what we're planning to do, we want to go to the schools here in Jamaica and we want to put on job fairs so that they will understand the power of this new wonder in terms of the Internet and we got the best technology people in the world that understand this type of technology.

We going to show it at the high school level and the college level, the jobs and opportunities that are available and these are all globalised jobs. So this is exactly the kind of thing that we want to promote here in Jamaica. The largesse of the quality and the ability of the Internet and its services," said Eitel in an interview with the Sunday Finance.

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