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Infrastructure
Infrastructure
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Transport
The transport infrastructure in Jamaica consists of roadways, railways ship and air transport, with roadways forming the backbone of the island's internal transport system.
Roadways .
The Jamaican road network consists of almost 13 049 miles (21,000 kilometres) of roads, of which over 9 321 miles (15,000 kilometres) is paved.
The Jamaican Government has, since the late 1990s and in cooperation with private investors, embarked on a campaign of infrastructural improvement projects, one of which includes the creation of a system of freeways, the first such access-controlled roadways of their kind on the island, connecting the main population centers of the island.
This project has so far seen the completion of 21 miles (33 kilometres) of freeway.
Railways .
Railways in Jamaica, as in many other countries, no longer enjoy the prominent position they once did, having been largely replaced by roadways as the primary means of transport.
Of the 169 miles (272 kilometres) of railway found in Jamaica, only 35 miles (57 kilometres) remain in operation, currently used to transport bauxite.
Air transport .
There are two international airports in Jamaica with modern terminals, long runways, and the navigational equipment required to accommodate the large jet aircraft used in modern air travel: Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and Sangster International Airport in the resort town of Montego Bay.
Both airports are home to the country's national airline, Air Jamaica.
In addition there are local commuter airports at Tinson Pen (Kingston), Port Antonio, Ocho Ríos, Mandeville, and Negril which cater to internal flights only.
Many other small, rural centers are served by private fields on sugar estates or bauxite mines.
Owing to its location in the Caribbean Sea in the shipping lane to the Panama Canal and relative proximity to large markets in North America and emerging markets in Latin America, Jamaica receives high container traffic.
The container terminal at the Port of Kingston has undergone large expansion in capacity in recent years to handle growth both already realised as well as that which is projected in coming years.
Montego Freeport in Montego Bay also handles a variety of cargo like(though more limited than) the Port of Kingston, mainly agricultural products.
There are several other ports positioned around the island, including Port Esquivel in St.
Catherine (WINDALCO), Rocky Point in Clarendon, Port Kaiser in St.
Elizabeth, Port Rhoades in Discovery Bay, Reynolds Pier in Ocho Rios, and Boundbrook Port in Port Antonio.
To aid the navigation of shipping, Jamaica operates nine lighthouses.
For more information see Lighthouses in Jamaica.
Energy
Jamaica depends on petroleum imports to satisfy its national energy needs.
Many test sites have been explored for oil, but no commercially viable quantities have been found.
The most convenient sources of imported oil and motor fuels (diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel) are from Mexico and Venezuela.
Jamaica's electrical power is produced by diesel (bunker oil) generators located in Old Harbour.
Other smaller power stations (most owned by the Jamaica Public Service Company - the island's electricity provider) support the island's electrical grid including the Hunts Bay Power Station, the Bogue Power Station, the Rockfort Power Station and small hydroelectric plants on the White River, Rio Bueno, Morant River, Black River (Maggotty) and Roaring River.
A wind farm, owned by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, was established at Wigton, Manchester.
Jamaica imports approximately 80,000 barrels of oil energy products per day, including asphalt and lubrication products.
Just 20% of imported fuels are used for road transportation, the rest being used by the bauxite industry, electricity generation, and aviation.
Jamaica produces enormous quantities of hydrous ethanol (5% water content), most of which appears to be consumed as beverages, and none of it used as motor fuel.
Facilities exist to refine hydrous ethanol feedstock into anhydrous ethanol (0% water content), but the process appears to be uneconomic at this time and the facility remains idle.
Communication
Jamaica has a fully digital telephone communication system with a mobile penetration of over 95%.
The country’s three mobile operators - Cable and Wireless (marketed as bmobile), Digicel, and Oceanic Digital (operating as MiPhone and now know as Claro since late 2008) - have spent millions in network upgrade and expansion.Both Digicel and Oceanic Digital were granted licences in 2001 to operate mobile services in the newly liberalised telecom market that had once been the sole domain of the incumbent Cable and Wireless monopoly.
Digicel opted for the more widely used GSM wireless system, while Oceanic opted for the CDMA standard.
Cable and Wireless, which had begun with TDMA standard, subsequently upgraded to GSM, and currently utilises both standards on its network.
With wireless usage increasing, land lines supplied by Cable and Wireless have declined from just over half a million to roughly about three hundred thousand as of 2006.
In a bid to grab more market share, Cable and Wireless recently launched a new land line service called HomeFone Prepaid that would allow customers to pay for minutes they use rather than pay a set monthly fee for service, much like prepaid wireless service.
A new entrant to the Jamaican communications market, Flow Jamaica, recently laid a new submarine cable connecting Jamaica to the United States.
This new cable increases the total number of submarine cables connecting Jamaica to the rest of the world to four.
Two more licences were auctioned by the Jamaican government to provide mobile services on the island, including one that was previously owned by AT&T Wireless but never utilised, and one new licence.
Industry analysts[who] argue that with a near market saturation, there is very little room for new operators.[citation needed] .
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Source: CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
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