DIGICEL’S $600-million data centre has received ‘Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility’ from the Uptime Institute.

It comes one year after the facility was awarded the prerequisite ‘Tier III Certification of Design Documents’. The development means that the site is now a fully Tier III Certified data centre and the only one of its kind in the Caribbean, says telecommunication provider Digicel.

In a testimonial from the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), Rohan Williams, manager for technical services information, communication and technology, shared that “We as an Agency are very pleased with the professionalism that is expected from Digicel as well as their relentless efforts to upgrade their infrastructure at the data centre to ensure uptime and the security of their customer’s data being hosted at the location.

“PICA decided to host its disaster recovery site at the Digicel Data Centre in Caymanas because it presented us with a viable, flexible and cost-effective option to secure our data away from the Kingston metropolitan area,” Williams said, adding “I recall visiting the site for the first time. It was very impressive and in fact, it reminded me of Fort Knox. Security is paramount in our operation, so naturally, this made our decision to use Digicel’s data centre even easier.”

Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility is recognizable around the world. The Tier system allows comparison and recognition of data centre strength and sophistication that transcend borders or time zones. In Jamaica and the other 42 countries where the Uptime Institute is awarding Tier Certifications to data centres, there is no conflict between code, regulation, or law and the Uptime Institute’s Standards, notes Digicel.

Julian Kudritzki, vicepresident for the Uptime Institute, commented that, “Increasingly, companies are choosing to get out of the data centre business and invest their capital in business growth (and satisfying shareholder expectations). In Jamaica and the Caribbean, Digicel is the first to alleviate this quandary of high-performance data centre versus tying up company capital for an extended period of time.

“Digicel has made a significant investment, not just in a new data centre, but one capable of delivering continuous availability — never shutting down IT to maintain, replace or upgrade facilities equipment,” Kudritzki said.

• Digicel Group acquired Haitian mobile operator Voila from its parent company, USbased Trilogy International Partners, on Friday for an undisclosed sum.

The two companies will continue to be run separately. Voila has been offering services in Haiti since September 1999 and currently serves nearly a million customers. Digicel, which launched in Haiti in 2005, will now have over 3.5 million customers there.

Digicel Group Limited boasts over 11 million customers across its 31 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific.