How DISL ReadyTV set to deliver Wireless Cable TV with paid Local Jamaican Reality TV Content

Looks like we might have a new Cable TV provider on the horizon.

DISL (Digital Interactive Services Limited) plans to launch a wireless Cable service in Jamaica called ReadyTV as reported in “Dehring promises cheaper cable ReadyTV executive says primary target is inner-city communities”, published Sunday, May 08, 2016 by Balford Henry, The Jamaica Observer.

The company lists the following as Directors of their board as noted in the article “Chris Dehring Presents ReadyTV”, published Friday April 8, 2016 by Barbara Ellington, The Jamaica Gleaner:

1.      Christopher Dehring

2.      Orville “Shaggy” Burrell

3.      David Cassanova

4.      Magnus Johansson

5.      Gerard Borely

The company's product, ReadyTV, which has the tagline, “TV when YOU Ready”, intends to deliver reliable and affordable television and radio content via a hybrid wired and wireless network.

Surprisingly, among the Directors and possibly VC (Venture Capital) for the company is Orville “Shaggy” Burrell, a locale Reggae Artiste who has the financial muscle to fund such a venture as noted in the article “Shaggy’s Loyalty To Jamaica On Show With Ready TV”, Published Sunday May 1, 2016, by Leighton Levy, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

They plan to be up and running by the First Quarter of 2017 as they'll be doing some testing to see how resilient their network delivery is, to quote DISL Chairman and CEO, Christopher Dehring: “We are going to be launched by the first quarter of 2017. Obviously, we are going to have a trial period to iron out the kinks. But, by the first quarter of 2017, our service will be up and running”.

They hope to deliver some 200 entertainment, informational and educational channels islandwide packaged in such a way that customers not served by the 50 cable operators in operation would be able to use their services to quote DISL Chairman and CEO, Christopher Dehring: “We will try to introduce a new and a more innovative way of accessing programmes, that will make it more affordable in terms of the packaging. Some of the challenges we are facing is in terms of the standard way the packages are sold. It really leaves out any consumer who can’t afford it in that sort of monthly post-paid way. So we will be pricing the packages in a way that Jamaican cable consumers can appreciate”.

This underserved community represents 1/3 of the market, the main target of ReadyTV as pointed out by DISL Chairman and CEO, Christopher Dehring, quote: “At least a third of households don’t have cable services, while another third only have analog, the quality of which is still very basic. So, there is still a sizeable market for digital-quality cable service”.

So what would be so special about ReadyTV that would make it cheaper than conventional Cable TV?

ReadyTv focus on Community Television - Putting Local Jamaican in the Spotlight

I suspect based on the comments of Mr. Dehring, their plan is to tap into the local Content providers to provide content that features regular Jamaicans. After all, the 1/3 that cannot afford Cable TV would not still be able to afford regular Cable, despite the use of a DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) platform.

This may be the reason why they're delayed till 2017 as noted in the article “Dehring To Launch New Cable Company Next Year”, Published Sunday March 27, 2016, by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

This as if it was hybrid wireless and wired DTT Network, he could have launched by December 2016. All you need is a CPE (Customer Premesis Equiptment) using White Space Spectrum that Microsoft is already experimenting with at Park Hall Primary and Infant School in Clarendon as explained in my blog article entitled “How White Space Testing by Microsoft at Park Hall Primary and Infant School heralds 80 MBps Competition in Jamaica”.

He could then build out the wired, possibly Fiber Optic Network to support business customers while using the Wireless Network to provide the DTT Service to customers, thereby making money from his Cable Infrastructure. 

By paying content provider for making quality content, he hopes to have content that probably will mimic reality Television, only featuring regular Jamaicans, quote: “And we believe that out of that a cottage industry can be developed. We certainly will be the largest platform in Jamaica and we will provide the coverage area, covering more households than any other cable service provider. We believe that we can be the platform that allows local content developers to showcase and generate income from their content. So we are going to be reaching out to content developers across Jamaica, to develop content and showcase local talent and earn revenue”.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of tech DISL will use to deploy ReadyTV and if this may also include Telephony and Wireless Internet, as done by Telecom Provider FLOW Jamaica and Digicel Play as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel Play’s 20,000 customers in March 2016 means 60,000 by December 2016”. 

So get ready for ReadyTV in 2017!