RICHARD Pardy, chief executive officer of Columbus Communications which operates in Jamaica under the brand name Flow, has dismissed accusations that his firm, through its aggressive acquisition of competitors, is attempting to monopolise the cable television market in Jamaica.

After Flow announced just over a week ago that it had acquired Entertainment Systems Limited, one of the largest cable providers in the Corporate Area, several persons have expressed fear that the heavily-funded firm, backed by billionaire Michael Lee-Chin, would take over the entire industry. This is rooted in the fact that the transaction positions Flow as the largest cable operator in the lucrative Kingston/St Andrew and St Catherine markets, after a string of acquisitions in those parishes.

Pardy, however, described the claims as nonsensical, telling the Observer that Flow currently controls a mere one-tenth of the market and is only aiming to procure 25 per cent.

“This monopoly thing is just so far-based, it’s not even sensible; it’s just not based on facts,” said Pardy. “There are 44 cable operators in Jamaica; there are 750,000 homes; 600,000 homes are watching television from cable operators today and we serve 10 per cent of that. If we get 20 to 25 per cent of the market, we will be a huge success.”

A lot of the public’s suspicion stems from the fact that Flow possesses an all-island cable licence, granted to the telecommunications firm last year by the former Government, in agreement that it would roll-out its digital cable network across the entire island by 2011.

This means that Flow is the only cable operator with access to all the subscriber cable zones in Jamaica, while the other players in the market are limited to just a few.

Flow’s competitors have publicly expressed anger over the Government’s granting of the all-island licence to the company, with cable providers such as Telstar and Logic One charging that they had found it difficult to get small regional expansion licences from the state, while Flow was granted a licence for the entire country with perceived ease.

Pardy refused to comment on the other companies’ complaints, but said that it was very difficult for Flow to acquire an all-island licence, and added that the country will benefit from the development which the firm is undertaking.

“In March 2005, we submitted a very comprehensive application,” he said. “It took us two-and-a-half years. the (Broadcasting) Commission recommended it and I think it’s a great thing for Jamaica.”

He said that Flow has so far invested US$150 million and will invest a further US$85 million this year to roll out its network.

“The vast majority of that goes into the building of the network. You see our trucks going all around town, and all around the country constructing buildings, building central offices, putting in digital services, running wires down every street in Kingston and St Andrew,” he said. “That is where the money is going, and we have 600 people working for our company today, either building the network or delivering the services.”

After implementing a 16 per cent increase in its cable services on February 1, there have been complaints about Flow’s charges, with some of the same persons crying monopolisation accusing the firm of forcing expensive services onto subscribers. Pardy said that the increases were the first since the launch of the company in 2006 and were necessary due to the sliding foreign exchange rate and rising production costs.

“The biggest impact is that the Jamaican dollar has dropped by around nine per cent since we initially launched, and many of our costs are in US dollars,” noted Pardy. “Our energy cost has gone through the roof, both for fuel and electricity for our buildings, programming costs are going up double digits every year, and most of those are US dollar based. Our staff also expect raises because inflation is eight or nine per cent per year. So we have increased prices by 16 per cent. We wish we didn’t have to do it. The reality is that many businesses in Jamaica are feeling the squeeze from the sliding Jamaican dollar, other operating costs, and in the many price increases; it’s just something we had to do.”

The Entertainment Systems Ltd acquisition, which would be Flow’s eighth since its launch, was put on hold, however, after the Broadcasting Commission was granted a 14-day injunction against Flow and Entertainment Systems Ltd.

The commission is arguing that the deal is in breach of Section 28 of the Television and Sound Broadcasting Regulation, which states that there should be no change in ownership or control of cable businesses without the prior approval of the Broadcasting Commission.

Pardy refused to comment on the injunction, saying, “We are not going to respond about matters that are in the courts.”

On Friday, Flow’s marketing manager, Jean McPherson, told the Observer that the company “is currently in negotiations with a couple other cable operators and may seek to acquire”.