New Telecom Provider in Jamaica to build Wireless 4G Data Network - Hidden Dekal Wireless WiMaX or Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11ac Dragon to Rise in the Year of the Horse

“I believe that the price for broadband (service) is too high. We want to see more competition…to get those prices own…and (as such), I am going to bring in another (provider),”

Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell speaking at the launch of a Vision 2050 Information Technology (IT) initiative at Oberlin High School in West Rural St. Andrew on Thursday April 3^rd 2014

There is a new Kid coming to play in Jamaica’s Data Market according to Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell as stated in “Telecommunications Firms Commit to Further Improve Internet Services”, published April 7, 2014 By Garfield L. Angus, The Jamaica Information Service.

He was speaking at the launch of a Vision 2050 Information Technology (IT) initiative at Oberlin High School in West Rural St. Andrew on Thursday April 3^rd 2014 as also reported in the local Newspaper in the article “Telecommunications companies to upgrade Internet”, published Monday, April 07, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.

This as after the blocks of Spectrum were sold to Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME as noted in my blog article entitled “LIME and Digicel have purchase AWS and 700 MHZ Spectrum for 4G LTE - Spectrum Purchase by the Number with Strings Attached as Ministry gets kitty donations from Local Telcos”.

To refresh your Memory, I’ll merely repost the Blocks of Spectrum that were sold:

1.      2 Blocks of 12MHz Spectrum in Blocks 17 of the 700MHz Spectrum to Digicel

2.      50MHz Blocks of Spectrum in the 1700/2100 MHz Band typically referred to as AWS (Advanced Wireless Service) to LIME

That leaves only the WiMaX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) Blocks of Spectrum untouched as shown below:

1.      66 MHz in the 1800 MHz Band

2.      92 MHz in the 1900 MHz Band

3.      130 MHz in the 2.5/2.6 GHz Band

4.      50 MHz in the 1700/2100 MHz Band

So this new Telecom Provider that’s coming is clearly a Data Only Network, as hinted by Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell, as he also pointed out that both Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME are on an aggressive ramp up schedule.

According to my blog article entitled “Stakeholder Consultation Forum on the 700 MHz Spectrum Auction - How the Spectrum Auction process for Band 17 and Band 13 of the 700 Mhz Band Works”, the requirements for the buyers after an auction, both the incumbents and the New entrants in Jamaica for the next five (5) years are as follows:

Incumbent

1.      50% coverage of the population in eighteen (18) months

2.      90% coverage of the population forty eight (48) months

New Entrants

1.      30% coverage of the population twenty four (24) months

2.      90% coverage of the population sixty (60) months

Since this is a sale, the same rules for deployment must apply; prevent anti-competitive sales by selling blocks of Spectrum to Telecom Providers so that it leaves Bands behind in the Blocks ready for any Third party Telecom Provider to purchase and setup their Network in Jamaica.

More importantly, the Spectrum License given to this new entity, also a 15 year license, is dependent on them following their Deployment Guidelines. Based on my sources, the New Telecom Provider is actually Dekal Wireless, who are currently a thorn in the side of the Telecom Providers as stated in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Crouching LIME Huawei E586 Mi-Fi – Hidden Dekal Wireless Dragon”.

According to my well placed source, Dekal Wireless has stuck some of partnership deal with the Chinese Government and have thus decided to purchase Blocks of Spectrum in the WiMaX Section, to expand the Network Coverage of their Municipal Wi-Fi Network.

They also plan to build a Bigger NOC (Network Operation) Center. As the WiMaX Spectrum is the 2.5/2.6 GHz Band, all Dekal Wireless has to do to achieve 4G Speeds is to either:

1.      Upgrade from Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11n with 300MBps theoretical capable speeds to Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11ac with 1GBps theoretical capable speeds

2.      Purchase WiMaX Equiptment from Huawei Technologies and thus deploy their Network islandwide

Folks, exciting time ahead in the next few months and weeks as more and more information may be forthcoming as to the identity of the New Entrant. I’m willing to bet that my source is right on this one; the New entrant is a Chinese Company, most likely staffed by Dekal Wireless and with plans to deploy a WiMaX or Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11ac Municipal Wi-Fi Network  with speeds up to 1GBps theoretical capable speeds, 10 to 15 MBps or higher in real life!