Cable &Wireless Communications (C&WC) has been busy in recent months as the company, that uses the LIME brand name seeks to recover declining market share in key markets and build a growth strategy.

In its first financial results since demerging from UK-based parent company Cable and Wireless (C&W), C&WC, posted a net profit of US$443mn for the fiscal year ended March 31, up 12% compared to US$397mn the previous year. However revenues declined 4% to US$2.35bn from US$2.45bn.

C&WC, which has operations in the Caribbean, Panama, Macau and Monaco, said the Caribbean is facing its most difficult economic conditions in a generation, and this has been reflected in the results and the near-term economic outlook is still uncertain.

However, determined to turn around its fortunes the company is planning to launch triple play packages in a matter of months.

Jamaica, LIME's largest market, already has triple play from the Columbus Communications unit Flow, and mobile competitor Digicel is expected to roll out triple play and quad play even, over the mobile WiMax offering that is scheduled for imminent launch.

C&WC also said it is installing an additional submarine cable, dubbed the "east-west" cable, from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands to the British Virgin Islands, with a link to the Dominican Republic. LIME, has already started to install the cable, which will be operational in early 2011.

A total 23 Caribbean countries are linked by the company's cable system. With this addition, C&WC hopes to create a network ring in the region which will serve as a main data route from Latin America to the US.

In other news, Canto said it hopes to seal financing by mid-year for certain projects of its Connect the Caribbean (CTC) digital inclusion initiative.

Previously expecting to obtain direct funding from the European Union (EU) for up to 86% of the cost of the first two years of CTC, the financing options have changed, and it now looks more likely the EU would hold an auction in which Canto could apply to different EU-approved funding agencies.

To date, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has expressed interest in funding some components of the initiative.

The roadmap for CTC includes proposals for three main projects: establishing regional internet exchange points (IXPs); setting up a regional e-business marketplace; and establishing a regional community content creation and youth project.

The first Internet Exchange Point (IXP) will go live at the end of this month, based in the British Virgin Islands. The region already has IXPs in St Martin, Curaçao, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, but is working towards installing IXPs in every nation.

An IXP offers benefits such as network efficiency, reduced latency and cost reduction.

Canto is also working with Canadian IP-based broadband wireless network solutions provider Wire IE which is supplying HP laptops to primary schools in Grenada. Wire IE is also in discussions with Grenada's education ministry to set up a private WiMax network that would be financed through a Canadian grant agency.

Also in the news

-US international development agency USAID's foreign disaster office OFDA is preparing to provide emergency response supplies to Latin America and the Caribbean - including ready-to-use telecommunications equipment - throughout the severe hurricane season forecast for the region.

-As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will be staging a regional Caribbean ICT roadshow to raise awareness of the innovative approaches necessary for the effective use of ICT in government. The Jamaica leg of the road show will culminate in a two-day conference, June 28-29 in New Kingston.

-Vietnam's largest mobile operator, Viettel won a tender to enter a public-private partnership with Haitian state telco Teleco to expand telecommunications services in the Caribbean country.

In the deal with Teleco, which the International Finance Corporation (IFC) helped to structure, Viettel will provide an initial investment of US$59mn to create a new company in which the Asian operator will have a 60% stake.

-The Dominican Republic's telecoms regulator Indotel is preparing to kick off a tender to lay a fiber optic network for unconnected areas, which will require an investment of 119mn pesos (US$3.23mn) and take 18 months to complete.

-The Dominican Republic's telecoms incumbent Codetel plans to invest US$300mn this year in the development of the country's 3G network, national deployment of a fiber optic infrastructure and the strengthening of IP technology.

-US telecoms access equipment specialist Calix has launched IPTV services for Trinidad and Tobago's state-controlled incumbent telco TSTT. The service is currently available over fiber and copper cables in 15 communities in the islands, using GPON, DSL and 10 gigabit per second Ethernet transport technologies.