At least 12 people, including some senior managers, have been made redundant as a result of the takeover of cable company WestStar by rival telecommunications firm Logic, the Cayman Compass has learned.
Logic’s parent company, Bermuda-based KeyTech, declined to confirm the exact number of people who already had been let go, but confirmed there would be job losses this week.
For now, the Cayman 27 channel and the nightly television news remain unaffected by the takeover.
Lloyd Fray, CEO of KeyTech, said WestStar’s cable television subscribers would not be immediately affected.
He said Logic and WestStar would continue to operate under their independent brand names “for the time being” and customers would continue to get the same slate of channels.
“Services will remain the same at each company and we will update customers as we add new products and services,” he said.
In a statement to the Compass on Monday, Mr. Fray acknowledged that there would be immediate job cuts. “We plan to make a number of redundancies at WestStar over the next seven days. We will continue to assess the businesses after that time to ensure that we are operating as efficiently as possible,” he said.
He declined to comment on which positions would be cut, citing “employee confidentiality” issues.
The acquisition of the cable company will allow Logic to combine its “fiber to home” infrastructure with WestStar’s customer base, putting it in a strong position to dominate the emerging high-speed broadband and Internet television market.
Fiber to home is considered the next generation of television and Internet infrastructure, enabling customers to access Internet speeds around 10 times faster than what was previously available, as well as high-definition Internet television.
LIME, Logic and C3 had all been granted access to the Caribbean Utilities Companies network of poles, in theory allowing them to roll out their fiber more quickly and less expensively than WestStar, which was not granted access to the poles. All four offer packages in parts of the island, though no provider currently has the capacity to reach every home in Cayman.
Mr. Fray said, “Logic and WestStar combined as one entity can achieve far more than either company separately. Investment capital will be available to complete the fiber to the home network, creating value to Logic, our customers and the Cayman Islands.”
The buyout, which was finalized last week, was approved by the Information and Communications Technology Authority, despite concerns raised by both C3 and LIME in submissions to the authority.
The cost of the buyout was not revealed. KeyTech said in a statement that it was taking on US$69 million in debt and issuing 2.424 million shares, currently worth roughly US$10 million, to WestStar’s parent company in order to complete the deal.
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I plan to cancel all of my WestStar services this week and once C3 has reached my area I plan to cancel most of my LIME services as well.
Sad for the folks that lost their jobs but great for Cayman. Competition truly benefits the consumer, the cost of internet and Cable is historically high in Cayman for such low speeds..
Next a little competition for CUC would be great..
This is very interesting, seems like Logic will employ Caymanians. Good start.
Yes some company need to give CUC a run for their money because that company is crucifying us, and there is absolutely no need to charge the prices they do for electricity.
Besides can someone tell me what is the reason that CUC is charging a person to a second inspection if their electricity is turned off for more than six months. Where is it that Government and CUC do not understand that there are people in Cayman that this happens to. Some of them have to suffer without electricity for that period of time before they can afford to get it back on. This is extortion right out.