Vandals chop Flow cables in St Ann, hotels among 5,000 customers affected

Vandals have allegedly chopped Flow Jamaica's fibre optic cables in St. Ann disrupting the communication company's services to over 5,000 customers in sections of Ocho Rios, St. Ann's Bay, Runaway Bay, Discovery Bay and its environs.

The incidents occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m, today. 

Flow says its its broadband, video and fixed voice services to customers including financial institutions and hotels have been impacted. 

It says it has redirected network traffic, where possible, to alternate routes. Restoration work is ongoing. 

"This is the third consecutive week that our customers have had their services disrupted as a result of theft and vandalism. These incidents are the latest in a longstanding series of theft and vandalism activities that have continued to plague our business and tens of thousands of our customers, despite comprehensive security measures," said Kayon Mitchell, communications director, at Flow. 

“Such deliberate action and blatant disregard by vandals of the impact of the activities on critical areas such as national security, online learning, e-commerce and economic growth is greatly troubling,” she said. 

According to Flow, the latest acts of vandalism will cost it approximately $1.5 million to restore services and that's in addition to lost revenue for which it did not disclose a figure.  

Mitchell says Flow has recorded 250 incidents of vandalism so far this year. There were 590 cases in 2021. 

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