C&W working to ensure network resilience while managing COVID-19 challenges in advance of the hurricane season
Philipsburg – June 2, 2020: The start of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season on June 1st naturally brings increased anxiety as Caribbean residents brace for the unpredictability of natural disasters across the region. This year, however, tensions are even higher as Caribbean countries are battling against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
C&W Communications, a Liberty Latin America company and operator of the Flow, BTC and UTS brands in the Caribbean, wants to assure the customers and communities it serves of the comprehensive preparation measures being put in place for what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) have predicted will be a fairly active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Already on May 17th, the first named sub-tropical storm, Arthur, jumped ahead of the official season start, though fortunately it did not gain sufficient strength to pose a threat to the region.
Inge Smidts, CEO, C&W Communications, said, “Connectivity has never been more critical in this region. Our networks are enabling millions of customers to stay connected at a time when physical distancing has become the ‘new normal’. Our regional governments, healthcare systems and educational facilities are all relying on our services to manage their operations in a new world of e-government, virtual meetings and online learning. We too, have had to adapt our operations to embrace the challenges of COVID-19 to keep our employees safe and employed and enable our customers to stay connected.”
Smidts continued, “At the same time, we are focused on preparing our world-class networks for the 2020 hurricane season. Our teams have already begun their rigorous checks on our hurricane- tested network, which our business and residential customers rely on for their day-today operations. We continue to invest in important redundancy capabilities across our vast subsea network and in data centers located outside of the ‘hurricane belt’, which provide an additional layer of protection for connectivity in the region. The ability to stay in contact with loved ones throughout natural disasters has always been important to our customers in the region and we are very proud to play this vital role.”
Across its markets, the company has already completed a number of rigorous hurricane drills and has launched its awareness campaigns encouraging customers to be vigilant and make their preparations for the 2020 season.
