TELECOMMUNICATIONS provider LIME has been pumping tens of millions of dollars into Portmore, St Catherine, over the past few months in an effort to gain a foothold in the densely populated municipality.

According to LIME Jamaica chairman Chris Dehring, among the initiatives spearheaded by the company there over the period are:

* An investment of US$30 million in upgrading the telecommunications infrastructure in Portmore, including upgrade and expansion of its 3G broadband network and the building out of a mobile TV network that will allow citizens of Portmore to access cable TV channels on their mobile phones;

* The staging of a massive ‘back to school’ fair – Skool Aid 2010 — with over 55,000 people attending over two days, where LIME distributed some 20,000 school bags and other essential back to school material;

* Reconstruction of the Hellshire Beach;

* Reconstruction of the Naggo-Head Bus Park; and

* The sponsorship of the St Catherine Football Association and the Portmore football leagues; the Portmore Marching Band; Blaise nightclub and several other popular entertainment venues in Portmore.

“The rationale stems from our vision that LIME, as a Jamaican company run entirely by Jamaicans, a workforce of 1,200 Jamaicans and an ownership base of 25,000 Jamaicans, should always be striving to improve life in our country,” Dehring told the Business Observer last week.

“Sometimes it is easier to solve a problem if you take it on in bite sized chunks – in this case, focusing on just one community at a time. So we have decided to start with trying to improve the lives of the people of Portmore,” he said.

What’s more is that the firm intends to expand activities in the areas of health, education and security in Portmore, said Dehring.

It’s a part of a broad strategy by LIME to raise brand awareness and penetrate the national telecom market in Jamaica it once dominated. It makes good business sense to start with Portmore which, located about 10 miles outside of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, is the fastest growing urban centre in the Caribbean with a population close to 300,000.

“Our choice of Portmore was a very natural fit and an easy one. A large number of our employees live or have family there – so we have a special bond with that community anyway. So in one go, we can demonstrate our vision to our fellow Jamaicans in Portmore and our own members of staff,” said Dehring.

“Essentially then, we will be trying to improve life for ‘ourselves’. Of course, one of the indicators of success in achieving our vision, is if or when other communities see what we have done in Portmore and invite us to come and do the same thing for their communities,” he added.

LIME — formerly Cable & Wireless Jamaica — enjoyed a telecommunications monopoly in Jamaica for decades up until 2001, when the market was liberalised with the birth of rival Digicel. The firm has since experienced a reversal of fortunes in Jamaica, with Digicel emerging as the leading cell provider and the likes of Flow continuing to gnaw market share away in areas such as Internet and commercial telecom services.

In fact, it appears that Portmore has also caught the eye of Digicel, which has recently stepped up its promotional activities in the city. Digicel will sponsor an annual Christmas Tree-Lighting Ceremony that takes place this year on Sunday, December 12 at the Edgewater Roundabout in Portmore. Digicel said it will also sponsor an additional 10 mini-treats in communities across that municipality that will include tree-lighting exercises and family fun days.

“We pointed out, many months ago, to the Portmore municipality that our goal was to make Portmore the model city of the Caribbean and we knew that this could not be achieved by just LIME’s investment. But we predicted then, that because of our initiative, other corporate entities – especially our competitors – would take notice and would try to emulate,” said Dehring.

“This has indeed started to happen — just as we predicted — and we are equally proud of our competitors’ reactionary interest in investing in Portmore,” said the LIME Jamaica chairman.

For the year ending March 31, 2010, LIME Jamaica suffered losses of $3.4 billion, though revenues did increase marginally to $21.9 billion. However, the company directors anticipate an improvement in the firm’s performance over the current financial year, behind a very aggressive network expansion for both Internet and mobile segments and a more ‘uptempo’ marketing programme.