CARMEL, Westmoreland — Almost two years after Hurricane Beryl caused it to lose connectivity provided by a local service provider, Carmel Primary School and Infant School is set to receive long-awaited access to satellite Internet.

The announcement was made Tuesday by minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for Science, Technology and Special Projects Dr Andrew Wheatley during an Infrastructure Repairs and School Reopening Tour with Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon.

Wheatley said the Hispasat satellite system, which was provided by the European Union, is to be installed within a week by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), which was trained to carry out installations.

The news was welcomed by principal of the rural school Ushae Daley-Bromfield. She noted that following the loss of Internet service in 2024, she and her teachers had to share their phones’ Internet via hot spot to help students and educators with the teaching and learning process.

“Yours truly is a postpaid customer. I would hot-spot all the teachers so that they are able to utilise the technology to infuse it in teaching and learning. But technology is always a part of teaching and learning here,” stated Daley-Bromfield.

Meanwhile, Wheatley said other Government institutions will also benefit from the initiative.

“We got 60 satellites and we have earmarked them for critical institutions. [These will include] the JDF, who are all over the country in remote areas assisting with the relief effort and response effort; a number of Government entities such as the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), health centres and hospitals that are in remote areas that need connectivity and, of course, schools like Carmel,” revealed Wheatley.

He said this satellite is more resilient and secure in comparison to others.

“It is outside of the Earth’s sphere. It is those big satellites that are very robust. It is more for security purposes. They are very secure satellites. A lot of law enforcement agencies and security agencies use that satellite system,” stated Wheatley.

Hispasat is a Spanish satellite telecommunications operator whose range of services include broadband Internet, TV, and mobile connectivity across the Americas, Europe, and North Africa from a geostationary orbit in space.

This is unlike relatively newer start-up services such as Amazon LEO and SpaceX Starlink that are positioned in a Low Earth Orbit which is comparatively closer to earth and allows for high-speed, low-latency communication.

Wheatley assured that slow speed is not an issue for the system at Carmel.

“They have realigned these satellites so that the latency is significantly reduced with this particular satellite system that they have given us for six months in the first instance to ensure that we smooth out the whole connectivity issues,” he explained in response to queries from the Jamaica Observer.

“Special interventions were made to ensure that the satellites are so aligned so that wherever they are in Jamaica, you have optimal connectivity,” Wheatley added.