Cayman-Jamaica Fiber System (CJFS)

Overview

The Cayman-Jamaica Fiber System (CJFS) is a regional submarine cable connecting the Cayman Islands and Jamaica in the Caribbean. Spanning 1,197 kilometres, it provides direct fiber-optic connectivity between these two island territories across the western Caribbean corridor.

Route and Landings

In the Cayman Islands, the cable lands at two points: Cayman Brac and Half Moon Bay, both located on the Cayman Islands.

In Jamaica, the cable reaches four landing points: Bull Bay, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Port Antonio. This distribution of landings across Jamaica's coastline provides geographic diversity for the island's connectivity.

Ownership and Operators

The CJFS is owned jointly by CW Cayman and CW Jamaica, both entities associated with Cable & Wireless operations in the Caribbean. Cable & Wireless has historically been a principal provider of telecommunications infrastructure across the Caribbean region.

Status and Timeline

The cable entered service in 1997, making it one of the earlier fiber-optic systems deployed in this part of the Caribbean.

Regional Context

The CJFS operates within a Caribbean corridor that has attracted several other submarine cable systems over the years. Among cables serving Jamaica, peers include the Colombia-Florida Express (CFX-1), which entered service in 2008, ALBA-1 (2012), and the East-West Cable (2011), all of which are longer systems connecting Jamaica to broader regional and international networks. The JSCFS, also dating to 1997, is a considerably shorter system at 342 kilometres. In the Cayman Islands corridor, Maya-1.2, which entered service in 2000, serves as a regional counterpart. The CJFS is thus among the earlier systems in this area and remains focused specifically on the bilateral Cayman Islands–Jamaica connection.

Measured performance over recent testing shows an average round-trip latency of 46.6 ms, with a best recorded result of 40.5 ms across 42 ping tests.

Strategic Role

With six landing points spread across two island territories — two in the Cayman Islands and four distributed around Jamaica's coastline — the CJFS provides a degree of redundancy and geographic reach within its corridor. The spread of Jamaican landings across Bull Bay, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Port Antonio means that connectivity is not concentrated at a single coastal location, supporting resilience for traffic between these two Caribbean territories.