LIME look to the future with new Services - Video and Audio Friends with Benefits in the Dead Zone

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

Anon. (attributed to Benjamin Franklin, which mean that I wrote it for him!)

Telecom Provider LIME recently held their AGM (Annual General Meeting) at the Wyndham Hotel on Wednesday July 27^th 2011AD as stated in the article “LIME takes measures to improve revenue”, published Friday, July 29, 2011 BY PAUL ALLEN Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer and the article “LIME Charts A Future Of New Products, Cable TV Service”, published Friday July 29, 2011, by Steven Jackson, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

It was not very well attended as only two hundred (200) Stock holders, roughly 0.8% of the twenty five thousand (25,000) stockholders attended. Read the above article and shake your head in disbelief, as I can only bear to reprint on my blog that which is relevant.

The message on profits at Telecom Provider LIME’s AGM was essentially the same: no increase in profitability. Here is the tale of the tape:

1. Four (4) years of losses amounting to J$13.4 billion
2. Flat stock price of between JA$0.13 and JA$0.40, (which I would relegate to junk bond status, were it a Greek Government Bond!)
3. 80% stock price reduction over five (5) years.
4. Three (3) years of no dividends (like duh-uh)

In terms of Profit and Loss Statistics:

1. Net loss of J$6.1 million in the First Quarter of 2011AD
2. Taxes of J$1.6 billion in the First Quarter of 2011AD

Thus would explain the words of LIME Chairman and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Chris Dehring, quote: “We are working hard ... and trying our very best to do that (attain a profit). It doesn't guarantee we will be successful, but you have the undertaking at this table, entire management and staff. We will turn this company around and we will rebuild that foundation in order to invent our future”.

And what do they plan to do?

Stick their heads in the sand and not recognize that the future is Wireless, dominated by Mobile Broadband and Fiber Optic Data Services (as Fiber Optic, which is Optical Waveguide, is “Wireless” strictly speaking) powered by Alternative Energy as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME Landline Rental Increase and HomeFone XPress - The Dead Zone is the Sum of All Fears”.

Evidence of this future can be seen in the new and up-and-coming Telecom Networks such as:

1. Japanese Telecom Provider KDDI, which is building an all-Data WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d, e) Network as stated in my blog article entitled “KDDI's Broadband WiMax and Wi-Fi Municipal Network - Ruckus's Japanese Flight of the Navigator”

2. Telecom Provide Verizon’s LTE Platform. Already sporting Fiber Optic Services to your house, FiOS, Telecom Provider Verizon’s LTE (Long Term Evolution) Network plans to use both Voice and Data in a service called VoLTE (Voice over LTE) as stated in my blog article entitled “Verizon's LTE Network and VoLTE - The Dead Zone meets The Machine Stops”

3. Triple Play Provider Comcast push towards VoIP, Video Calling and IPTV and Internet TV services on a 1Gbps Cable broadband service called Xfinity as stated in my blog article entitled “ComCast and 1Gbps Project Xfinity - Starship Troopers in Cable's Battle Los Angeles”

My Geezam Blog articles add more fuel to that fire.

This as the EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and GPRS (Global Packet Radio System) Data Platforms that are a subset of the GSM (Global System Mobile) Voice Platform can then be used for slow speed M2M Communications as stated in my Geezam Blog article entitled  “NFC and M2M – Cashless Society and the Internet of Things” and made free, subsidized, to the general public.

Very much possible as the number of Internet connected devices, as of 2008AD, outnumber people Worldwide as stated in my Geezam Blog article entitled “The Internet of Things – Our AI’s State of Connectedness” and thus power a Cashless Revolution.

All evidence of The Dead Zone (1983) Theory (for which I am famous at C&W Ltd back in 2002AD) and the coming of a future dominated by Data Services with the old Voice Platforms being used for M2M (Machine to Machine) Communications as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and SMS - The Dead Zone” and the article “Verizon's LTE Network and VoLTE - The Dead Zone meets The Machine Stops”.

Telecom Provider LIME are still not planning to get rid of the antiquated Landline Services that uses Copper Wires to deliver Residential and Business Voice Telephony Services as well as other VAS (Value Added Services) inclusive of Data Services such as ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line).

To quote the words of Managing Director of LIME Jamaica Gary Sinclair: “landline is our lifeline...if it dies, we die.”

So now several years on and Telecom Provider LIME is making the same mistakes again. They are going back to more comfortable wasteful haunts of Residential and Business Landline Voice and Data Services instead of pushing into Mobile and Fiber Optic Voice and Data Services as I had suggested during a Redundancy Interview with Nurse Gunning back in the Fourth Quarter of 2003AD, which I suspect was recorded via some audio-visual device.

Which would logically explain the rebuttal written by Managing Director of LIME Jamaica Gary Sinclair entitled “LIME by no means retreating from mobile market”, published Friday, July 29, 2011, The Jamaica Observer to The Jamaica Observer article that made the observation that Telecom Provider LIME is abandoning Mobile Voice and Data Services all because they are not making “Fast Cash”, to quote the Vybz Kartel Trailer Load of Money song!

Apparently, this is because they make so much money from this Platform, which accounts the majority of their revenues, as most of the people on these Platforms are Postpaid or Contract customers, who are locked into their services and are thus less likely to move to alternatives! Mobile, both Voice and Data, has mostly Prepaid customers, effectively subscribers who use Pay-as-you-go Prepaid Calling Cards and are thus not a stable source of revenue as owning multiple phone handsets is possible.

To make it worse, the worsening Economy means that Telecom Provider revenues in Mobile, which is mostly Prepaid in Jamaica due to our Developing world status i.e. no pervasive use of Credit Cards in financial transactions as in Developed countries such as the US and the EU, have fallen.

This as Telecom Provider Services, often seen as luxury services, compete for the spending dollar of Jamaicans, who have other pressing issues, such as the ever increasing JPS Light Bills as stated in the article “Have A Heart - Energy Minister Raps JPS Disconnection Policy”, published Sunday July 31, 2011 by Livern Barrett, Sunday Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner

They are not a Mobile Company and in effect are a Full Service Provider of Mobile, Landline and Fixed Line Mobile Platforms that provider Voice and Data Services. Telecom Provider LIME, formerly C&W Jamaica Ltd (2001 to 2004) only began focusing on Mobile due to the liberalization of the Telecoms Sector by then Senator Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Telecommunications and ICT back in 2000AD with the drafting of the now infamous Telecommunications Act of 2000.

This outdated piece of legislation is slated soon [read next year] to be updated along with the introduction of a Telecoms Regulator that is separate from the overburdened OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) as announced by Senator Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica as chronicled in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers get their own Regulator - GOJ says Telecoms For Your Eyes Only”.

At that time Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider Centennial, owned by Dominican Republic Telecom Provider Oceanic Digital, which operated under the brand name MiPhone, began to shake up the Government of Jamaica guaranteed 25% Profit apple cart. This was before America Movil bought up Telecom Provider Oceanic Digital and rebranded it Telecom Provider CLARO.

This is understood from a logical point of view as explained in plain logic above.

Don’t believe me, albeit I am a former Network Maintenance Technician who worked at the then C&W Jamaica Ltd (2001 to 2004) stationed at the Pembroke North Exchange located at Mary Browns Corner near Richie B’s Texaco in Kingston?

Then take the soothsaying words of Managing Director of LIME Jamaica Gary Sinclair, who is the NKYOB (New Kid on the Block) as it relates recent Executive hires as stated in the article  “LIME takes measures to improve revenue”, published Friday, July 29, 2011 BY PAUL ALLEN Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer, quote: “Historically, we derive over 70 per cent of our gross margin from our fixed line and data service (both residential and business-based broadband data service). However, as soon as competition (Digicel) came into the mobile space we diverted a bunch of the resources we needed to run our business strictly to the mobile side in an effort to compete and neglected the business that generated 70 per cent of our gross margin. We're not going to do that anymore.”

Another quote from Managing Director of LIME Jamaica Gary Sinclair  in the article“LIME Charts A Future Of New Products, Cable TV Service”, published Friday July 29, 2011,by Steven Jackson, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner re-enforces his position, quote: “We are a full-service provider. We are not a mobile operator alone. For the last 10 years, I believe we have sort of evolved into a mobile operator and we allowed the competition to define the market for us. Going forward our strategy will not be pinned to a single product. We are the only full-service provider and we will emphasise that. Our dealers have evolved into solely mobile dealers. That is crazy and we are going to change that. Fixed line and broadband accounted for nearly 70 per cent of our gross margin, so clearly there are other businesses that need to be tended to, and we are not going to continue to disproportionately allocate resources to a segment of the business that provides a fraction of our revenues.”

Telecom Provider LIME only focused on Mobile because of Telecom Provider Digicel’s entry to the market, something which I know all too well as I had worked as a Network Maintenance Technician at the then C&W Jamaica Ltd (2001 to 2004) before they became Telecom Provider LIME. I witnessed firsthand management acting confused and reacting strangely to the coming of Telecom Provider Digicel in 2001AD, not realizing it was possible to launch a Telecom Provider Network using Terrestrial Microwave RAN (Radio Access Network) ONLY and no Fiber Optic Backhaul.

I also witnessed the Engineering-esque response to what was essentially a Marketing problem and thus gave my own suggestion via using fellow Network Maintenance Technician Stacia Green and Surveillance Technician Yaneque Suckram’s emails to then HOD (Head of Department) Claude Petgrave as what was to be done in terms of Marketing and Engineering ideas as chronicled in my blog article entitled “Google and Apple - Case to point on Public and Diplomatic Relations”.

Homefone Xpress and the suggestion to go WiMaX or 3G and even Digicel Rising Stars, as I am a sporting chap, came when I was being interview by Nurse Gunning in the Fourth Quarter of 2003AD before being made redundant as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME Landline Rental Increase and HomeFone XPress - The Dead Zone is the Sum of All Fears”.

LIME TV is also my suggestion, this time from April 2009AD suggested to a bunch of Shurpower Engineers while driving in a vehicle and possibly being recorded via a hidden audio-visual device.

LIME TV is a good example combining Voice and Data to push Mobile Television across a DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) to Mobile phones capable of decoding DVB-H as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME TV vs Netflix - 101 Dalmations” and the article “LIME and LIME TV - Lara Croft Tomb Raider”

LIME TV is not only challenging Broadcasting as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME TV and Broadcasting - Hunt for Red October” and the article “LIME TV and Broadcasting - The Andromeda Strain and My Science Project” but they are also Netflix-ready as suggested in my blog article entitled “Broadcasters, LIME TV and IPTV - Kill and Kill Again and the London 2012 Olympics”.

Heck, Netflix may even be willing to partner with LIME TV as stated in my blog article entitled “Netflix coming to Latin America - Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer”. Add to that the fact that they already have exclusive content such as the Ragashanti Live and Buju Banton Concert in 2011AD as chronicled in my blog article entitled “Broadcasters, LIME TV and IPTV - Kill and Kill Again and the London 2012 Olympics”.

Factor in the possibility that LIME TV may be getting the exclusive license to broadcast the London Olympics 2012 on July 27^th 2012AD as stated in my blog article entitled “Traditional News Media vs Broadband Telecoms - GigaOM's Avoiding ELE After Deep Impact” and the article “LIME and the Apple iPhone 4 - The Young and the Restless Gone in Sixty Seconds”.

So what would I recommend as a Telecoms Technician? Grandfather Landline customers away from Landline to Wireless services that are their equivalent as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME Landline Rental Increase and HomeFone XPress - The Dead Zone is the Sum of All Fears, such as:

1. Wireless Homefone Xpress for Residential and Business Landline
2. 3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and DateCenter Services for Broadband Data Services for Residential and Business
3. Fiber Optic Services for Broadband and Wideband Services for Business and eventually Residential.
4. Alternative Energy as a means of reducing the Cost of Operations

Then transition the entire company away from Residential and Business Landline Services, both Voice and Data which are SEPARATED towards a Wireless Mobile and Fiber Optic Broadband and Wideband Services in which everything is UNIFIED on Common Singular Platforms.

This I had suggested in my blog article entitled “LIME Landline Rental Increase and HomeFone XPress - The Dead Zone is the Sum of All Fears” and the article “LIME's fortunes after Digicel-CLARO - Master and Commander Garfield Sinclair”

Along with a raft of previous articles dedicated to Alternative Energy and Telecommunications in order of appearance:

1. Alternative Energy - A Telecom Provider's Strong Tower
2. Alternative Energy and Telecom Providers - An Environmental Marketing Strategy
3. Alternative Energy and Helix - a test case for Wind Power for Telecom Providers
4. Alternative Energy and Telecoms - Electric Cars and smart phones coming
5. Alternative Energy and 4G - Green Lantern Core
6. Telecom Providers and Alternative Energy - Stormy Weather and the MTV Generation
7. Telecom Providers, Alternative Energy and ISO9001 - Alcatel-Lucent , I shrunk the Node B Kids

Telecom Provider LIME, be more like Japanese Telecom Provider KDDI, Telecom Provider Verizon and Triple Play Provider Comcast and embrace a future filled with Wireless Mobile and Fiber Optic Broadband and Wideband Services ONLY.

Telecom Provider LIME needs to abandon Voice Services, which is what Residential and Business Landline Services, both Voice and Data which are SEPARATED, represent. Wireless Mobile and Fiber Optic Broadband and Wideband Services are truly a Telecom Providers Friends with Benefits (2011).

Voice is Dead. Long Live Data Only Networks [Mobile and Fiber Optic Broadband and Wideband] in The Dead Zone (1983).