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Dated: 01 February 2003
With an impending name change, the erection of 18 new cellular sites and an
immediate mission to fulfil a promise of total islandwide coverage, Oceanic
Digital Jamaica (now still operating as Centennial) is poised to aggressively
enter the cellular market and grab their share of customers.
“We’re quietly building.” is how Eddie Powell, VP for Sales
and Marketing at Oceanic Digital Jamaica describes Centennial’s rise,
not from the proverbial ashes … but almost.
It was last year August that things at Centennial ground to a veritable halt
with a downsizing that translated into 60% of their staff being sent home and
80% of their stores being closed. It was then that the corporate rumour mill
started churning fast and furious — Centennial was closing down; Digicel
was buying them out; the company was in deep trouble, and the stories would
take on more drama, depending on who was your source.
But now, a mere six months later, the company is restructured, re-organised
and redesigned, with a management and staff that is optimistically looking to
the future. “Our main goal right now is total islandwide coverage,”
an enthusiastic Powell stated. “It was one of the things that had been
promised and we’re going to keep good on that promise.”
Centennial’s coverage, which has been the main sore point for potential
customers, has now been extended beyond the Kingston and St. Catherine zone
into areas such as May Pen, the outskirts of Mandeville and even as far as Whitehouse
in Westmoreland. By the end of March, the site in Mandeville should be up and
by October, total islandwide coverage should be a reality.
It is then that the phone company will be ready to claim its rightful share
of an industry which statistics say has not yet tapped its full potential. “Right
now, we’re being ignored; we’re not seen as a threat to the major
players … and that’s fine with us,” Powell declared. However,
despite looking nothing like Lotto’s “Three Han Chan” he does
have a card or two — or perhaps even three — up his well-tailored
sleeve.
Powell boasts that his company’s Code Division Multiple Access system
(CDMA) is the same technology used by the US Defense Department and it’s
security and privacy are unquestionable. Additionally, Centennial’s system
is configured to a capacity of 200,000 customers and can cover the entire island
with one third of the cell sites used by the other companies. “Unlike
the other cellular providers, you would never get a dropped call on our system,”
he assured. “And we are the clearest, most reliable and most economical
of all … and that’s what we’re building on.”
The other major goal is to “keep the customers we have,” the VP
for Sales and Marketing said. Right now, the company is very customer focused,
and according to Powell, customer loyalty was one of the positives that told
them they were on the right course. The fact that “customers didn’t
leave in droves” during the meltdown sent a strong signal to the company
that Centennial was at least doing something right. “Our records showed
that 80% of our customers were recharging on a regular basis, and in an industry
where 60% is considered good, those figures just blew us away,” Powell
noted.
Additionally, a recent market survey conducted by the company showed that customers
ranked both the clarity of the signal and the service provided by Centennial
higher than the cheap rates. “Customers even noted that they liked the
way how the security guard opened the door and shook their hands on entering
the store,” Powell remarked.
With this kind of confidence in their market share, Centennial recently embarked
on a new marketing thrust with the phone in a box concept, and that promotion,
he stated, has been going “phenomenally well.” It encourages consumers
to “get mobile in minutes” with a phone that comes fully charged
and loaded with air time. The only thing the consumer has to do is diall 611,
get activated in two to three minutes and start making calls. Also, not to be
overlooked is their rate of $4 per minute on Centennial-to-Centennial calls,
and $7 to Cable & Wireless land lines.
With the closure of most of their stores, they have entered into arrangements
with dealers and wholesalers as the main vehicle for getting the product to
the consumer. All Lotto agents islandwide, for example, are vending outlets
for Centennial phone cards, which are simply printed on paper similar to the
Lotto ticket.
The company offers pre-paid packages only and rather than venturing into other
offerings, Centennial will be keeping its focus by exploring other options within
the pre-paid range. “Right now, pre-paid is still seen as a “poor
man package” and we have plans to change that,” Powell said. However,
exactly what those plans entailed, he kept tightly under his belt.
Powell, who spoke unenthusiastically about the former Centennial head honchos’
management style and cookie cutter approach that sent the company floundering,
noted however, that the one thing they did well was to “hire great people.”
He had kudos for the remainig staff, who he noted had been well trained and
are now in the mode to carry the company forward. “The fact is that we’re
here to stay,” Powell stated confidently, “and, yes, ultimately
we will compete as aggressively as any other provider.”
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