Minister Paulwell in Parliament debut two 700MHz Licenses for 4G LTE for Monday July 15 2013 Auction - 4G LTE Means After Earth Everything is Possible

“The 700 MHz band spectrum tends to be more penetrative and propagates farther, meaning that the signal goes through walls more easily, giving better coverage inside buildings, and requires fewer towers to cover a specific geographic area”

Excerpt from Minister of Science, Technology Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell announcement in Parliament of 2 Telecoms Licenses for 4G LTE Wireless Broadband Internet Tuesday March 26^th, 2013  

4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) 100MBps Wireless Broadband Internet is coming by the Fourth Quarter of 2013. That the verdict that has many in the Telecoms world abuzz with excitement over Minister of Science, Technology Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell announcement of two (2) Telecoms Licenses for the deployment of 4G LTE Wireless Broadband Internet using the new 700MHz band to be put up for auction to the highest bidder by Monday July 15^th 2013.

This as stated by Minister Paulwell on Tuesday March 26^th, 2013  in Parliament as detailed in the article “Wireless broadband licences by July”, published Wednesday, March 27, 2013,The Jamaica Observer and “Two mobile licences to be put on auction – Paulwell”, Published Wednesday March 27, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner.

It’s a fulfillment of the promise made by the Minister to utilize the UHF Bands for Wireless Broadband and in the process urging the Free-to-Air Broadcasters to accelerate their plans for DSO (Digital Switch Over) by 2015 as opined in my blog article entitled “Phillip Paulwell allocates 700Mhz and Fiber Optic License for LTE - Broadcasters effectively on notice for Digital Switch Over”.

This as 4G LTE is mainly for Data and VoIP (Voice over IP), not Voice Services. An albeit it slated for a five year Build out, it’ll take at most three (3) years, the majority of the time spend laying Fiber Optic Cables for Backhaul to interconnect the major Hubs or Drop Nodes and Microwave RAN (Radio Access Network) for the Spur sites.

The Last Year of the Five Year Period will be the full launch year and in the process, the incumbent Telecom Provider will have at least achieved 50% coverage with the last two (2) years left for optimization and expansion to achieve the 90% Geographic coverage required by the Telecom License.

Minister Paulwell said as much in an almost prophetic manner when he’d announced the Telecom Licenses, quote: “Very soon, voice telephony will become a free service. We are almost there already. All you need to do is to purchase the data and you can use so many other voice [applications] free of cost”.

The (2) Telecoms Licenses are structured as follows:

1.      700 MHz Band is divided up into three (3) Blocks of Spectrum; two (2) are on offer for the upcoming Auction

2.      Both Telecoms Licenses are 15 Year Leases on Spectrum, not inclusive of any microwave Spectrum that the incumbent may chooses to utilize

3.      4G LTE Wireless Broadband Network has to be built in five (5) years

4.      4G LTE Wireless Broadband Network has to achieve 90% Geographical coverage of the island

5.      Tower and Infrastructure sharing is now mandatory, with ALL Telecom Providers having to share Towers and all other Infrastructure such as Building space to minimize the Environmental Impact

6.      One of the Telecom Licenses has a requirement for the Telecom Provider to build what appears to be their own Fiber Optic Undersea Link to guarantee Reliable interconnectivity to International Gateways with the opportunities for revenue from International Calling. I’m hoping that this’ll be a requirement of BOTH Telecom Licenses by the time this comes to Auction on Monday July 15^th 2013.

By the end of a Five Year Build out in 2018 the following are expected:

1.      Voice Service basically be a free service, possibly subsidized via advertising as noted in my blog article entitled “LIME and Digicel Networks routing Callers to Voice Mail - Hit and Run Advertising while Test out Free Voice Calling”.

2.      Streaming will mean the Death of Free-to-Air Broadcasters, who’ll by then have no choice but to go DSO to survive in a VOD (Video on Demand) World as predicted in my blog article entitled “LIME  launches IPTV Streaming Service LIME TV in Barbados on schedule - Lady Gaga's Bad Romance for Digital Cable and Free-to-Air Broadcaster”.

3.      Price for Broadband internet will drop to JA$1500 per month, half of current prices

4.      Smartphone penetration’ll greatly increase as already predicted in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Apple iPhone boosts Jamaican smartphone usage as BB goes Chapter 11 Bankruptcy” and my blog article entitled “Blackberry popularity wanes as Jamaicans go smartphones - Android and Apple's Smartphone Revolution” .

Please take not of that last prediction, as it’s a given, really.

The Telecom Provider will have to build their own GSM Voice Network to facilitate Communication among its Staff and Engineering Crew on the road, as we can’t afford for Telecom Provider Digicel and LIME to monitor our Voice Traffic and learn of our plans.

This leaves the Telecom Provider with opportunities to make revenue from Voice Calling and basic 3G Data Services in the Interim as they lay the Backhaul Infrastructure for the 4G LTE Network. Possibly via the route described in my blog article entitled “LIME and Digicel Networks routing Callers to Voice Mail - Hit and Run Advertising while Test out Free Voice Calling”.

This in anticipation in the coming competition in Data Services fuelled by the rise in Mobile Computing in Jamaica as prophesied in my blog article entitled “OUR Telecom Provider Stats indicate JA$14 billion profit for Second Quarter of 2011AD - Telecom Providers Stacking up all Faces on the Argo Video Calling and VoIP on smartphones”.

Minister Paulwell anticipates as much, stating it thus in his presentation, quote: “It will also force the existing player to shift focus from voice to data services. There remains a significant shortfall in the provision of data services islandwide. This will now be corrected and thereby enable Jamaica to improve its international e-readiness ranking”.

Meanwhile Testing and build-out will continue for the 4G LTE Wireless Broadband Network, which will require Fiber Optic Backhaul to interconnect the main Hubs or Drop Nodes. The Telecom Provider will have to incorporate Solar and Wind Power into their BQ (Bill of Quantities) in a bid to reduce the cost of Power Consumption as suggested in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and 4G - Green Lantern Core” and “Telecom Providers and Alternative Energy - Stormy Weather and the MTV Generation”.

This in a bid to make the 4G LTE Wireless Broadband achieve the five 9’s i.e. 99.999% uptime by having its own Power System that’s not susceptible to the vagaries of Power Supply outages, consisting of Both Solar Power and Wind Turbines mounted on the Towers as noted in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Helix - a test case for Wind Power for Telecom Providers”.

This requirement is necessary if any new entrant into Telecoms wish to be taken seriously by Business Customers whose main concern is Cost and Reliability of their Internet Services as noted in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers, Alternative Energy and ISO9001 - Alcatel-Lucent, I shrunk the Node B Kids”.

It can also be seen as part of their Marketing Strategy to demonstrate that they are a green company, a strong selling point to increasingly environmentally conscious Jamaicans way for FDI (Foreign Direct Investors) operating in Jamaica as noted in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy - A Telecom Provider's Strong Tower” and “Alternative Energy and Telecom Providers - An Environmental Marketing Strategy”.

For me personally, this announcement is long in coming and has me filled with hope of working with yet another Telecom Provider to assist in the Deployment of their 4G LTE Wireless Broadband Internet Network just as I did when I was at CLARO (2008 to 2009). Hopefully too, over that period, other Telecoms Services, such as Satellite Broadband will also be developed and deployed as noted in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and Alternative Energy - Stormy Weather and the MTV Generation”.

The anticipation of the Future and employment in the Telecoms Sector again has a bright aura that makes the Gloom of the current Financial Crisis in Jamaica seem like a far-away dream. I make things like All-Electric Vehicles and smartphones in Jamaica as opined in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Telecoms - Electric Cars and smart phones coming” look like a strong possibility.

And why do I feel so positive?

Because I know, from my experience working with Mexicans from America Movil, through hard work, dedication and a little dreaming, After Earth (2013) Everything is Possible.