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Dated: 1 January 2003
Mention the term “Internet Café” and some persons will ask
“A wha dat”, while others will have visions of drinking tea or coffee
and munching on donuts in a cosy atmosphere — possibly with some computers
somewhere in the background. Well, the computer part is right (in the foreground)
but sorry for the disappointment, the coffee and donut is but a dream.
Actually, for a growing number of persons, visiting an Internet Café
to check and send E-mails and do research has almost become a way of life. It
has been deemed the next best thing to having a computer and Internet access
in the privacy of your home. (And it also comes in handy when Internet bills
aren’t paid on time and the necessary action is taken.)
Over the past four years, Internet Cafés, also referred to as cybercentres,
have been making their presence felt in Jamaica, and Jamaicans, not to be left
behind in this Internet age, have been taking every advantage of them. To say
that there are Internet Cafés all over the island would not be stretching
it too far, however, most of them are actually concentrated in the Corporate
Area.
In this cyber age, it seems that everybody has an e-mail address and communication
via this medium is constantly increasing. However, not everybody has access
to computers as regularly as they would like, and this is where Internet Cafés
have secured a vibrant and ever-increasing market. The Cafés seek to
fill the void and give the public extended hours of computer time. They have
been quietly responding to the needs of the public and the owners all report
that their clientele has been steadily increasing.
Of the many which are now operational, perhaps the one which announced its
presence with the most fanfare was the Cable & Wireless Internet Jungle
located at the company’s flagship Mobile/Internet retail store in New
Kingston. Situated right in the middle of the Business District, the Café
has eight computers and has been offering free sevice since its opening last
August. According to the manager, however, that was just an introductory offer.
C&W actually operates three Internet Cafés, the first of which was
officially opened in April last year at Ocho Rios’ Island Village. That
centre is equipped with 28 computers and offers Internet/e-mail access, along
with facilities such as printing, photocopying, fax messaging, mobile phone
rentals and international calling. It is the only café we know of which
opens seven days per week.
The third facility is housed at JAMPRO.
Not too far from the Knutsford Blvd Jungle, is One Stop Computer Shop, at New
Kingston’s Island Life Mall. Manager Carlton Cowell, says his company
started offering Internet Café services nearly five years ago and business
has been growing ever since.
“We opened in 1998, but in the early days a lot of people didn’t
request the service. We did a lot of advertising and those who used it told
their friends and now we have a steady flow of users,” Mr. Cowell told
Businessuite.
One Stop’s Café service has taken off to the extent where all
eight computers are constantly in use throughout the six-day work week. The
fee charged is $150 per hour and that seems to be a standard price in the industry,
with many Cafés offering a half hour rate of $75.
Kingston Bookshop, in a bid to provide that extra bit of service to its customers,
has cybercentres at both the Springs and the Boulevard SuperCentre locations.
Recent additions to the cybercentre landscape, these cafés opened up
in September of last year, and, according to the company, “It has gotten
a lot busier over the last two months.”
With the standard $75 per half hour rate, each centre is currently equipped
with six computers, and if the traffic on a Saturday continues to build with
the same momentum, then they will soon be increasing that number. Ms Anne-Marie
Crighton noted that there is a steady flow of patrons during the week and while
many clients access the service to send and receive e-mails, there are those,
mainly students who use it to play computer games.
Then there is the Liguanea Cybercentre, which is housed at the Half-Way-Tree
Post Office. It was formerly located at the Liguanea Post Office — hence
the name — but had to re-locate with the renovation now in progress at
Liguanea. Manager Matthew Morrison told Businessuite that since the café
opened in July 1999 there has been a steady increase in the number of users
and the frequency with which the same users access the Internet. He pointed
out, however, that the re-location had initially affected business.
“We’ve had our ups and downs. Our profits were climbing at Liguanea,
but it took a dip when we moved to Half-Way-Tree and officially re-opened on
August 7, 2003,” Morrison stated. However, word is getting around and
with the new address has come new business. Morrisson said his centre has over
1000 registered users, with the majority being high school and university students.
Regular Internet Café users pay a rate of $75 per half hour, but students
(with Ids or in uniform), teachers, postal workers, United Nations Development
Programme workers and senior citizens pay a reduced rate of $50. Currently there
are 14 computers available to the public and a steady traffic keeps them in
demand.
A project of the Jamaica Sustainable Development Network and funded by UNDP,
Morrison disclosed that there are five such centres across the island: Lionel
Town in Clarendon, run by Caribbean Coastal Area Management; Montego Bay at
the Marine Park, Pier 1; Brown’s Town, St Ann at the Parish Library; Bluefields
in Westmoreland at the Community Association Resource Centre and Port Maria
at the International School of Jamaica.
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