Flow calls for Caribbean push on equitable tech funding for telecom networks

KINGSTON, Jamaica — With use of streamed programming, social networks, cloud computing and other online material still climbing, Flow says the region should open a fuller conversation on how the world’s largest technology businesses can put more weight behind the systems that deliver those experiences to vast numbers of people.

The operator said Stephen Price, its vice-president and general manager, introduced the theme during a recent regional session on utility oversight and robustness at the Organization of Caribbean Utilities Regulators Conference.

Price said residents of Caribbean countries count among the most intensive everyday users of international digital services for staying in touch, running enterprises, studying and relaxing.

He added, though, that the links and switches moving that rising volume demand uninterrupted financing for new capacity, hardening and upkeep — a stiffer task where archipelagic states shoulder elevated running expenses and sharper climate risk.

“The Caribbean has embraced the digital world in a major way, and consumers benefit greatly from the platforms and services now available to them,” said Price. “At the same time, we must also consider how the infrastructure that makes all of this possible continues to be strengthened and sustained.”

Price said telecommunications providers keep channelling large sums into fibre routes, mobile spectrum roll-outs, resilience programmes and extensions into rural pockets, often while coping with modest population scale, scattered land masses and storm exposure.

“In markets like ours, building and maintaining world-class networks requires significant commitment and long-term capital,” said Price. “That is why the conversation around fair contribution is both timely and important.”

He also referred to revenue measures Minister Fayval Williams has announced to draw tax from online digital services, saying such instruments could give regional administrations a way to underpin universal access, and that once the Ministry of Finance puts them in place they might offer a pattern for the whole Caribbean in nurturing the area’s digital economy.

Price underlined that the exchange is not meant to curb fresh ideas or deter overseas capital, but to keep the online sphere equitable, open to broad participation and geared for coming expansion.

“We welcome innovation, competition and the many opportunities these services bring,” he said. “What we are advocating for is a practical conversation on shared responsibility—where those benefiting most from network demand also help support the continued evolution of those networks.”

He said any pathway should be shaped through teamwork among governments, regulators and industry, viewed through a lens that matches island realities.

“The Caribbean will always be stronger when we move together,” said Price. “A coordinated regional approach can help create fair, modern frameworks that protect consumers, encourage investment and support long-term digital development.”

Price observed that as innovations such as artificial intelligence, connected appliances and immersive media pile on data demand, reinforcing digital backbone assets will matter even more to each nation’s economic edge.

“The future economy will run on connectivity,” he said. “Ensuring that our networks remain strong, resilient and ready for what comes next is in everyone’s interest.”

Flow said it still intends to collaborate with public and private actors to speed digital gains, widen reach and help secure a more robust connected outlook for Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean.