Cunningham was speaking at the 2005 Caribbean Internet Forum, which was held at the Hilton Barbados last week where he promised Barbados' "connectivity crisis" would be resolved by next year.

He said the 20-gigabit undersea fibre-optic cable being used by Antilles Crossing to connect Barbados to the United States Virgin Islands is scheduled to reach here before year-end.

This cable has almost ten times the capacity of the Eastern Caribbean Fibre Cable that has connected Barbados to the rest of the region since 1995.

Cunningham told BUSINESS AUTHORITY that "weather permitting", the cable would land at Needham's Point, St Michael, by the end of November.

He explained that within the next three weeks the cable would be loaded aboard the ship Tyco Reliant, which would then begin deploying it across the sea floor.

However, he said this could be delayed by stormy weather since Tyco Telecommunications (US) Inc, which is the primary contractor, would not put the multi-million dollar cable in jeopardy.

After it reaches Barbados, the cable will be connected to a terrestrial fibre and wireless network being constructed for Antilles Crossing's local affiliate, TeleBarbados Inc.

Cunningham said that once the connection was complete, system testing and interfacing were expected to be carried out between December and January; if that went well, the service would be rolled out to the public and businesses "on a non-discriminatory basis".

He added that the coming of Antilles Crossing could also be of benefit to cable-television subscribers, as the cable could improve broadcasting delivery. (CH)