The telecoms regulator has ordered Flow not to cut off its legacy candw.ky email account service.
Although they may now be in a minority, for decades, the emails of people and businesses in Cayman ended in what was once the ubiquitous ‘candw.ky’, referred to as ‘candy wacky’ by many.
The ‘candw’ stands for Cable and Wireless, the precursor of local and regional telecoms provider FLOW, which is now planning to end the service.
The Utility Regulation and Competition Office, known as URCO or OfReg, on 7 May, directed Flow to continue to provide the service for the time being.
The regulator said that Flow’s country manager had informed its office that it intended to cease the email operations in the second quarter of this year.
In a statement on 8 May, Flow said it plans to shut down its candw.ky service on at the end of August as it is “approaching end of life and will no longer receive the updates and security enhancements necessary to meet evolving technology and safety standards”.
URCO said it had requested written details of the timing, customer notification and migration arrangements of the plan, “so that the matter could be properly considered under the Licence and the Information and Communications Technology Act”.
It said it formally required Flow to provide the full extent of the current usage of candw.ky emails and is awaiting that information.
However, the regulator said it issued its direction notice to Flow before receiving its response “precisely because it cannot wait for it: Subscribers must not be exposed to the risk of an abrupt cessation simply because the regulator has not yet been told who, or how many, would be affected.”
The regulator ordered Flow “not to discontinue, suspend or impair” the candw.ky email service without its prior written consent.
It has also directed the company to submit the requested information within 14 days, including “any alternative proposal Flow wishes the Office to consider”.
URCO is asking Flow to ensure that subscribers are given 12 months’ notice if, ultimately, it approves the cessation of the email service. However, it acknowledged that it may agree to a shorter notice period if Flow “demonstrates robust, well-resourced migration support that genuinely protects subscribers”.
Flow said it was reviewing the regulator’s “determination carefully” and would continue to engage collaboratively with URCO “to better understand the basis of the decision and work toward a constructive outcome”.
The company added, “Flow remains committed to supporting customers throughout the transition process and will continue to provide timely updates and guidance in the weeks and months ahead.”
Flow says it planned to implement a phased approach to closing down the service, and plans to issue customer notifications on 15 May.
On 30 June, the ability of users to send emails would be disabled, followed by the disabling of inbound email on 31 July. The company said during this period customers would retain access to existing emails only. On 31 Aug., full access to the platform would be discontinued.
Flow is proposing that its business customers migrate to Email Business Pro.
Advice to subscribers: Get a new email service
The regulator also issued a message to candw.ky users, encouraging them “to take their own steps in their own time, irrespective of what Flow ultimately decides”.
“The candw.ky platform is a long-standing legacy service,” URCO said. “A wide range of modern email services – both free and paid – are available today and offer significantly greater functionality, stronger security features, larger storage and better protection against fraud and phishing.”
URCO said subscribers who have used a candw.ky address for many years “should not feel locked in”, and advised that choosing a new email provider, and updating banking, healthcare, government and other accounts to that new address, “is a sensible step that subscribers can take at any time and is not dependent on the outcome of the Office’s engagement with Flow”.
Sonji Myles, URCO’s interim chief executive officer, said in Thursday’s statement, “Many persons in Cayman have used a candw.ky email address for years – for banking, for healthcare, for government, for business, for keeping in touch with family and more.”
He added that URCO was not telling Flow to keep the aging candw.ky platform open forever, but instead asking the company to make sure that any change is “done the right way”.
URCO said failure to comply with its direction “will result in enforcement action” and could include fines, administrative penalties and/or application to the court for an order requiring compliance.
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It’s despicable that FLOW intended to cease its candw.ky email platform with little or no prior notice to its customers. However, it’s no surprise. FLOW’s customer service has consistently been spiraling downwards since it stopped being C&W, clearly showing its lack of concern for customers except their money..
Candw.ky is my business’ last remaining contact with FLOW, after I cancelled other services.
Thanks to URCO for revealing FLOW’s intentions and for taking action to delay same, allowing customers to make alternate arrangements. I, for one, will be happy to see the last of FLOW!