Business View Caribbean | July 2019

63 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN JULY 2019 Group is well aware of industry trends, and eager to adopt the latest technological advancements. The company is especially proud to contribute to the island’s cultural and social heritage. TelEm Group works in tandem with government and other government-owned companies to deliver on its promised mission and vision to make customer satisfaction a number-one focus. This collaboration has seen several important projects develop in the telecommunication sector, resulting in economic benefits to the community and the country. Currently, TelEm Group employs 134 full- time and part-time personnel, of whom more than 95 percent are from St. Maarten, the Netherlands, or the former Dutch Antilles islands. The main office of the Sint Maarten Telecommunication Holding Company N.V. is located on Pond Island, Philipsburg, with a branch office in Simpson Bay. Kendall Dupersoy, CEO of Sint Maarten Telecommunication Holding Company N.V., shares his perspective on the impact and after-effects of hurricanes on the island communications network. TELEM GROUP (S INT MAARTEN) He reports, “Back in 1995, we had a devastating hurricane by the name of Luis, which damaged a lot of the infrastructure and, from that point on, the utility companies in St. Maarten started to put much of our infrastructure underground. By the time the hurricane came along in 2017, which was even worse than Luis, 70 percent of our infrastructure was already underground and didn’t sustain any damage. We did have damages to our central offices and buildings, but we were able to be, at least partially, up and running in a two-to-three-week period. Of course, we had to replace our cell sites, they were all blown down. So, that took some time, but landlines and indoor telephones, we had pretty much working about two weeks after the hurricane. It was so important because people wanted to get the word out about where they were and how they were doing.” With a key emphasis on future planning strategies, TelEm Group is a member of CANTO, a focus organization for shaping information, communication, and technology in the Caribbean and Latin America. Dupersoy is on the pictured TelEm Group voted #1 Telecommunication Provider for 2018 in the annual Daily Herald newspaper Best of the Best awards