Dominican Ian Blanchard is now at the helm of communications giant Cable & Wireless Grenada Limited. His two year appointment took effect June 1 following the retirement of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Grenadian Carlyle Roberts who has served the company for 31 years.

Blanchard was introduced to the local media during a news conference held at the company's Mt. Hartman office last Thursday.
He told reporters that it is an exciting challenge for him to come from Dominica to Grenada since, it was one of the first markets affected by competition.

Governments across the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) opened up their markets to competition breaking the monopoly of the communications giant, a position they had held in some territories for over 50 years.

He disclosed that the company is about to announce some very attractive ventures that will appeal to customers and provide opportunities that they will benefit from.

Blanchard also promised that C&W will continue to work to get its mobile service to a level where customers' would not consider another provider. He said work on improving its internet services, data and catalogue of fixed line will be further enhanced.

The new C&W CEO disclosed that his company plans to meet those objectives by improving the quality of service it offers to customers across its product portfolio, offer a value for money proposition and provide a best-in-class customer service. Blanchard gave assurances that as the company changes to meet the challenges ahead, it is committed to the delivery of solutions to meet the every needs of its customers.

"We will not be complacent, we will change to ensure our success and your satisfaction, and we will successfully transition and demonstrate our continued commitment to Grenada's development" he noted.

The Dominican national pointed out that the company's record as a leading corporate citizen speaks for itself. He said very few companies, can boast of their contribution to the development of multiple sectors within Grenada like C&W and that this will continue.

Blanchard, according to a release from the company is an experienced telecommunication professional in the areas of Leadership and Management, Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Customer Service and Operation.

He spent over 2 years in the Arab Republic of Yemen as the General Manager Commercial, Operations and marketing, where he worked for Teleyemen, a company in which C&W owned 51% .

During that time he had the responsibility for setting the long-term development strategy for customer services generally and the marketing and operation functions specifically. Blanchard served as CEO of Dominica and in October 2003, was given responsibility for the new operation in the French West Indies.