Firm bucks trend and offers hope of new jobs

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7: The expanding telecoms industry could offer a ray of hope for Bermuda amid the economic gloom.

The takeover of Cable and Wireless — rebranded this week as LinkBermuda — has led to a dozen new jobs, CEO Ann Petley-Jones said yesterday.

And she says there will be opportunity for further growth if regulatory reform of the industry goes ahead as planned, allowing one-stop shopping for phone, digital cable TV, wireless and Internet.

Ms Jones said her company had faith in Bermuda as a jurisdiction and was already investing in people and infrastructure.

Call centre

The company has moved its call centre from Guernsey back to Bermuda as part of the restructuring that followed the takeover.

Ms Jones said she believed it was important for ‘Bermudians to talk to Bermudians’ when they had complaints or concerns.

And she said the company was doing its bit to support the island’s economy.

“We are fully aware that we have been investing in Bermuda at a time of recession – the deepest recession in many decades.

“We are confident that at some point Bermuda will come out of this recession and we are building for future growth.”

She said the entire sector represented a growth opportunity for Bermuda — a positive sign amid increasing stories of economic decline.

“We feel there is significant potential for future growth for us here. We are very supportive of regulatory reform. We are looking forward to a level playing field.”

Eleven jobs

She said LinkBermuda had added eight jobs on the operations side and three in the executive side.

“We are preparing the foundations for future growth. When we bought the companies we indicated it was our intention to invest in people, infrastructure and processes. We have hired a number of Bermudians over the last several months. We’ve invested in infrastructure at the teleport and we’ve invested in bringing jobs back from the UK.

“We are committed to this as a long term investment. We are committed to Bermuda and we are here for the long haul.”

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