From left are SRI's Director of Administration, Wayne Cummings; C&WJ's Vice President, Corporate Sales & Solutions, Lloyd Distant; C&WJ's President & CEO Phil Green and SRI's Director of Operations, Shawn DaCosta. Executives from Sandals Resorts International (SRI) and Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) are seen here signing a three-year agreement under which C&WJ will be the chief provider of data transport and mobile services for SRI.

Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) and Sandals Resorts International (SRI) have signed a three-year multi-products and services telecommunications agreement valued at US$7 million, which makes C&WJ the chief provider of data transport and mobile services to the hospitality industry giant.

The Sandals deal comes as Cable & Wireless is transforming its individual businesses across the region into a single Pan-Caribbean company and SRI will have the full benefit of C&WJ's extensive suite of telecommunications solutions, including the regional Multi-Protocol Label Switching technology (MPLS), which will greatly enhance connectivity between SRI's offices in Jamaica and resorts across the Caribbean. The MPLS technology will also greatly improve the hotel chain's connectivity with its worldwide marketing representatives in the United States.

Cable & Wireless has also leveraged its regional position to provide Sandals with a regional mobile closed user group service to allow unlimited calling across the Caribbean for the Sandals Group at one flat rate with a single rate for roaming within the region.

"As our team at Sandals implements our business strategies to consistently exceed the expectations of the hospitality industry and at the same time efficiently handle our business' growth, we need to have the most comprehensive telecommunications package to meet our rapidly growing needs," said SRI CEO Adam Stewart of the deal.

"We analysed all our current telecoms services and providers, and what was needed to move forward. In the past, we have used different service providers for our mobile, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), fixed lines and Internet services, based on our needs, pricing and the ongoing services we received. As our Group expands, it is critical that we upgrade to the most efficient, innovative telecoms system available. Cable & Wireless provided us with the cutting- edge technology needed and a comprehensive package of services, and we are pleased to choose them as our primary provider going forward," he added.

To begin the service upgrades, C&WJ's MetroNet Service will be rolled out to 17 Sandals properties across the Caribbean & MPLS (multi-protocol label switching) technology will be deployed to five of the chain's properties within the region - Sandals in Antigua, St Lucia, and Jamaica and Beaches in Turks and Caicos. C&WJ will use multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) technology to provide services that are fast, secure, scalable and flexible - routing traffic around failures, congestion and bottlenecks.

MPLS provides management intelligence to ensure that network traffic is classified, prioritised, and scheduled in an optimal way, efficiently servicing bandwidth hungry, time-sensitive applications. It also simplifies network operations significantly, and is based on industry-wide standards. MetroNet delivers efficient and secure managed Ethernet connectivity between sites, enabling Local Area Network (LANs) to connect seamlessly.

Cable & Wireless' Business VOIP product will allow the properties to realise major cost reductions in their international traffic by providing them with a solution that will provide several options with one low monthly cost for international calls.

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