Michelle English, First lady of telecoms
Published:Sunday | May 8, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Lovelette Brooks, News Editor
IF HER Friday afternoon attire is anything to go by, Michelle English, president and chief operating officer of Flow, is an easy-going, open-door type manager. Clad in relaxed-wear jeans, a white tee and sport jacket, she steps into her corporate New Kingston boardroom completely at ease.
After all, this has been her playground for the better part of two decades.
English, Canadian-born, has been holding her own in the fiercely competitive telecommunications market in Jamaica since April 2006. At 40-plus, she has a long way to go "accomplishing my mission here in Jamaica".
At the top of her list is covering the entire island with fibre-optic cables, powering up businesses and homes with fast-speed Internet service, while expanding the company's digital cable television and broadband services.
She tackles these undauntingly with the right blend of knowledge and experience. Fresh out of university with a master's in business administration, the Flow boss has held senior positions in human resources management.
The move into telecommunications represented a shift in gear and she became immersed in the operational side of business working in the insurance industry. That was shortly before joining Persona Communications in Newfoundland, a telecommunications outfit which in 2005 morphed into Flow Jamaica.
English had found her niche grounding cables. "I truly love the telecommunications business - the business component, the training, everything," she blushes. And she learnt how to become triple-play provider - cable, Internet and phone.
Transferring those skills to Jamaica in 2006 was not that hard. The challenging part was "with construction of the cable networks. We were using a new method to run the cables with very specific requirements so we had problems with contractors. Now we have moved way beyond that and have a network of about 200," says English.
Cable licences
Another hurdle was acquiring cable licences. "It took us three years. What we did was to acquire existing companies which had licences, and this gave us the right to deliver," she adds, revealing that come next year, Flow's channel offerings will double.
Apart from new product offerings, English is in overdrive fine-tuning Flow's high-definition TV to include regional and local content, and its Flow On Demand service. Included in the mix will be local roots play productions.
For her business clientele, she will soon be launching 'Columbus Solutions Brand' which will connect business to business internationally through video conferencing.
She is excited about her pet project, tele-medicine. "We are working with the Government to set this up," she reveals. What it will mean, essentially, is that patients will be able to interface with doctors online.
"Can you imagine, a patient anywhere in Jamaica not having to travel outside of his or her home to see a doctor? To me, this is extremely exciting," says the acclimatised Jamaican who enjoys spicy jerk dishes and homestyle breakfast of ackee and salt fish, dumplings and callaoo.
Also dear to her is the company's "continued support of education through the Building Readers Programme, the arts and jazz and reggae festivals", declaring her love for Bob Marley music.
Under her rudder, Flow has commandeered a market share of over half a million customers, extending its reach across the island.
"We have covered about 50 per cent of the island. Of course, our goal is 100 per cent, which we should reach realistically in another four to five years," says English.
High praise for former boss
Perhaps the only female executive in Jamaica at her level, English has high praise for former Persona boss, Brendon Paddick, who is chairman of Flow. The decision to sell Persona and transfer the assets to the Caribbean was purely market-driven and an excellent business decision, Flow's CEO tells The Sunday Gleaner.
"Entering the Caribbean made a lot of sense, so Columbus Communications (Flow's parent company) set up in Trinidad, Curaçao, Grenada and Jamaica on the retail side. Wholesale, though, we are are in 22 countries in in Latin America and the Americas," English boasts, delving into economics.
So far, Flow's investment portfolio in Jamaica is in the region of US$250 million. "This is just capital," she explains. "On the recurrent side, we spend between US$40 and $60 million per year," notes English, who expresses confidence in her companies ability to "leverage the best, most modern broadband infrastructure in the region".