“Jamaicans can use a LIME phone
and call a Digicel phone and it still works out cheaper than calling a Digicel
to Digicel phone. We are now on an upward trajectory and this has been due to a
hard- working team effort led by our managing director Gary Sinclair who has
been absolutely fantastic. We remain committed to turning this great”
Chairman of LIME, Chris Dehring in
an interview with Caribbean Business Report on Thursday February 13th 2014
Telecom Provider LIME has been
making steady progress since the MTR (Mobile Termination Rate) adjustment by
the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) on Monday July 1st 2013 as
stated in my blog article entitled “OUR
sets Cross-Network Rates at JA$1.10 as of Monday July 1 2013 - Everything is
Possible as we’re Zombies for Data World
War Z” as predicted by LIME Chairman Chris Dehring.
This based on some fresh statistics from Telecom Provider LIME as presented in “LIME
sees 25% rise in Mobile subscriber base”, published Friday, February 14,
2014 BY SHAMILLE SCOTT Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
Their three (3) year plan of Mobile Dominance as detailed in my blog article entitled “LIME drops JA$2.99 Talk EZ
to All Networks as Digicel promises something Bigger - Telecom Providers can
bring The Heat via lower Priced Smartphones to spur 3G Data and Postpaid Plans” is on course.
But most
importantly, Telecom Provider LIME can see increased growth if
they roll out LIME FTTH (Fiber to the Home)
and LIME 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) to carry the IPTV Streaming version LIME TV as argued in my blog article entitled
“LIME
poised to revamp and relaunch LIME TV in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 - A
Rebranding of LIME TV for Live and VOD Streaming to push 4G LTE and FTTH
Services is on The To Do List”.
Statistics from the Third
Quarter of 2013 – MTR is a Good Look as LIME catches a break
The statistics are the most interesting I’ve come across to date for the
Third Quarter of 2013:
1.
25% Operating profit increase compared to Third
Quarter of 2012
2.
18% drop in Revenue
3.
7% increase in operating Expense
4.
23% increase in active subscribers
5.
42% increase in Mobile service revenue
6.
30% growth in broadband
Translated in numbers, the Third Quarter of 2013 wasn't all that bad:
1.
35,000 additional Mobile subscribers
2.
JA$792 million, up from JA$631.9 million during
the Third Quarter of 2012
3.
JA$315.5 million loss down from $437.5 million
during the Third Quarter of 2012
4.
JA$6 billion revenue up from $4.9 billion during
the Third Quarter of 2012
5.
JA$120 million in restructuring expense
The revenue declines can be attributed to the following decisions:
1.
Restructuring Global Directory Services contract
2.
Reduction in national fixed-line retail rates
3.
Voluntary redundancy program undertaken during
the quarter
Clearly the MTR is benefiting Telecom Provider LIME, as they’re on a road to recovery.
LIME can do more for Mobile and
Broadband – LIME 4G LTE with LIME TV
Lucky for them, Browse and Talk packages came on line, helping to
maintain their Landline base and reduce people leaving for Telecom Provider
Digicel's DigiHome Services as described in my blog article
entitled “LIME's
Postpaid Plus and JA$200 per week Blackberry Plans - Browse and Talk is proof
that Postpaid and Data Services are all the Rage as MNP and LNP approaches on
May 2014”.
Also, Christmas
was good in terms of smartphones with similar spikes in the purchase of sub-US$200
smartphones in December 2013 an indication that smartphones are the new “thing”
as noted in my blog article entitled “Jamaicans
fall in love with Digicel's DL600 and DL700 during Christmas 2013 - Sub-US$100
smartphones driving rapid smartphone adoption in Jamaica as Manufacturing is
Possible”.
Still, their smartphone offerings, aside from the expensive Apple iPhone
5S, the Gold Standard (literally) of smartphones is lackluster as noted in my blog article entitled “LIME
JA$5000 plus GCT offer for the Huawei Ascend Y210 - LIME's Run and Jump for
Digicel Supa DigiDealz Sales should have used the Huawei Ascend Y300”.
LIME needs to embrace the
future – IPTV LIME TV over 4G LTE and FTTH is the Future
Also I’m awaiting news about the IPTV version of LIME TV, about which very little has been
said in the Traditional Media or even on Social Media. It failed to launch in
2013 as promised along with FTTH (Fiber to The Home) as I’d anticipated in my blog article entitled
“LIME
poised to revamp and relaunch LIME TV in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 - A
Rebranding of LIME TV for Live and VOD Streaming to push 4G LTE and FTTH
Services is on The To Do List”.
If Telecom Provider LIME were to
roll out an IPTV version of LIME TV,
powered by 4G LTE or FTTH, it would boost them way past Telecom Provider
Digicel and put the squarely in competition with FLOW. 4G LTE for customers
would be commercially profitable, as Jamaicans love for Cable TV mirrors that
of our American cousins. Even moreso if they can stream and watch it on any
Internet-connected device, be it Laptops or Tablets as we slowly fall in love
with these gadgets opined in my blog article entitled
“Cable
TV subscriptions Declines as the Connected Home boost IPTV Streaming”.
But Telecom Provider LIME must
hurry. Columbus Communications, parent company of FLOW may have lost their FLOW
President and CEO Michelle English to a promotion to Columbus Communication
Offices. But they are squarely focused on growing their Corporate Data Services,
be it Broadband Internet or Cloud Storage Services by taking advantage of the
trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) at the Workplace as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “Columbus
Communications expects BYOD boost for Cloud Computing”.
So should Telecom Provider LIME.
They can achieve this by taking advantage of growth areas, largely in Postpaid
Mobile and Data Services and thus roll out 4G LTE as they’ve done in Bahamas as
noted in my blog article entitled
“Bahamas
Telecommunications Company launched 4G LTE on Valentine's Day - Jamaicans need
UNCHR Right to Broadband Access needed to empower Jamaicans before 4G LTE can
go National”.
A roll out an IPTV version of LIME
TV using 4G LTE and FTTH would woo consumers looking for an alternative to
FLOW, Telecom Provider LIME’s real
competitor as argued in my blog article entitled
“LIME
rolls out new Business themed ADSL and Local and International Landline Calling
Bundles - DigiHome offense could Herald the coming of LIME FTTH and relaunch of
LIME TV”.
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