They Have Returned and FREE!!!

Well it seems it will be a merry Christmas for cable subscribers here in Jamaica, for Flow customers at least! All indications are that Flow and HBO Latin America have ended their standoff and have struck a deal. Flow has conceded and has signed a deal with HBO Latin America to purchase their feed. This has resulted in the return of several HBO and CineMax channels to the Flows movie lineup (see chart below). Of course these new HBO and CineMax channels now come complete with Latin American ads and even some programmes are partially in Spanish. Seems I need to learn Spanish now... Um, where is that Rosetta Stone DVD? But I guess, Flow can't beat the big dogs so they just have to roll with them and work with the programme to return these channels that its Jamaican customers have become accustomed to.

However, this is not the end for the bag off goodies that Santa Flow has for its good little customers! As a special treat to its customers Flow has decided to offer its residential customers all eleven HBO and CineMax channels FREE for the Christmas season up until January 31, 2010! Yes fellow Flow customers you will be able to watch all these channels free for 2 months, enough to keep you entertained throughout the holiday season. They have further stated that they will soon provide further information on the packages that will be offered and pricing for these premium channels. Let's hope they will really be flexible as they claim they will be when they announce these plans. But in the meantime, entertain yourselves with the channels as Flow seeks to reacquaint you with this estranged channels.

www.flowjamaica.com

Source: http://www.flowjamaica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=249&Itemid=293

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Everybody Going with the Flow?

The line at Flow's Pavilion Office in Half Way Tree

I received my LIME bill and realized that it had doubled since my last bill and I have not increases my usage nor have I added any new service! How could have my bill doubled just like that? Then I remembered that i no longer have the concession LIME staff normally enjoyed and as such I am now just a regular paying customer. With my unemployed status in mind and this sudden increase in my bill I have decided to go with the Flow in a bid to save money via their bundled service as well as their promotion that they are currently having. I called Flow and spoke to a nice agent who gave me the prices and was more than willing to sign me up. However, I wanted to go to the store to ensure there was no trick and to do my subscription there for their services. Big mistake!

So this afternoon I went to the Flow office located at the Pavilion mall. When I parked in the parking lot the security came to hand me the parking ticket, when she paused and asked me which store I was visiting in the mall. So I told her Flow. Without hesitation she said. "Mi nauh guh even badda give yuh nuh ticket cause in deh ram-up". Right then and there disappointment set in as I hate lines and hate waiting! I decided to go there just out of curiosity, maybe she was just exaggerating. I should have listened, as I totally wasted my time and energy walking up to the store. the line was so long that it was all the way outside the store!

I decided, well the New Kingston office should be better, and so I drove down to the New Kingston Office. this again was another waste of time and gas, even though the line was inside, it was like an overgrown anaconda stuffed in a little box! After taking a number as the security reassured me that I should take a number to speak to an agent as the line was for other transactions. i waited over half hour in the store as I watched the number slowly incremented closer to my number, but was still had a long way to go. It seems everybody has opted to switch to flow or had inadvertently become Flow customers!

I think I might create an account via their contact centre tonight and go in early tomorrow and pay for the subscription to their service. If I sign up to Flow, I will be cutting my LIME Internet, Netspeak and maybe the landline, as well as cutting my Logic One cable service to consolidate them to one bill. This would reduce my bill by JM$1000 to JM$2000, and coupled with their promotions I would be saving quite a few thousands for the next three months!

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Flowing Along To Monopoly Land

Another major cable company bows to the might of the ever growing Flow cable network. The latest to surrender and pledge allegiance to this conquerer of cable TV companies is one of the big boys in the Kingston and St. Andrew metropolitan area, Entertainment Systems Limited (ESL). It was the lead story in the Business section of the Sunday Gleaner, "Flow Acquires Entertainment Systems Ltd." This may be a good stride for Flow in it's aggressive campaign to dominate the cable TV market in Jamaica. However, this dream becoming reality is somewhat an ominous sign for the many customers who will have to feed Flow's appetite.

Since Flow came on the scene it was given to power to conquer by the then ruling party, when it was given an all island license to operate a a cable TV company. This was like giving it a tanker to do battle with the existing cable companies whose license to operate only in a designated area is comparable to a pistol. With this in mind Flow not only grew it's network by actively seeking customers, but also by devouring these smaller cable companies by means of several regular acquisitions. Flow started out by acquiring the smaller cable companies, but it was not long before the grew and could digest the larger cable TV operators. These cable companies included SAUCE and D&L in the city of Kingston, JACS in St. Catherine and Northern Cable and Communication in Ocho Rios which made a total of five in 2007.

ESL, is one of the largest cable companies here in the city of Kingston and St. Andrew and serves some of the most affluent communities in the city including those at the cream of the crop: Norbrook, Cherry Gardens, Beverly Hills, Stony Hill and Hope Pastures. This is a big boost for Flow as those in these communities can afford to pay for their premium packages thus fueling the growth of the emerging monopoly bringing their total acquisitions to . It is only a matter of tie before Flow will be able to topple the thrones of the the other major cable companies such as Logic One and Telstar.

Yes I said the word monopoly, and that is what Flow will become if they are allowed to continue on their campaign to devour the Cable TV market. This can only mean that Jamaicans will soon be at the mercy of another monopoly. Soon we will not have a choice as to who will provide us with cable TV services, we will be subjected to the service level the company chooses to deliver with little or no power to demand more and of course we will have to fork out the money they demand for their service or do without.

I'm not saying that this is what Flow will do, but having experienced a monopoly in the communication sector and still being oppressed by the current power company monopoly, the JPS, I can't expect anything good. According to The Sunday Gleaner, ESL, one of the higher priced cable TV companies charged a basic fee of $2000 for 100+ channels, while Flow ranges from $750 for it's basic, very basic, cable only package to $7,900 for special bundles. And already they have started to increased their appetite for their customer's money as the prices quoted for Flow was a sixteen percent (16%) increase effective the beginning of this month.

I am not hitting out against Flow, but I am wary of the monopoly that it is quickly becoming as it absorbs the cable companies both small and large, not only in the metropolitan area but also island wide as Flow now operates in six of the fourteen parishes in Jamaica. In a monopoly, customer's becomes slaves, cash cows as they have lost the freedom of choice if they want the specific product. Where there is no competition the consumer/customer only looses.

References:
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080217/business/business1.html
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080110/business/business1.html
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070907/business/business2.html

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