Caricel’s and FLOW Jamaica’s LTE and VDSL Double Launch on Emancipation or Independence Day

For the uninitiated who haven't been following my blog for the past few days, Digicel just launched their 4G LTE Netwotk called Digicel LTE as reported in my blog article entitled “US$50 million 60Mbps Digicel LTE Network as Caricel and FLOW prep for August 2016 Launch”.

Caricel, had they launched, would have become the first truly 4G Network in Jamaica as pointed out in the article “Caricel takes lead in race to bring 4G LTE to Jamaica”, published Sunday, June 05, 2016 by Balford Henry, The Jamaica Observer.

LTE is the latest iteration of 4G (4^th Generation) Mobile Internet service that can deliver speeds faster than fixed line Broadband, such as Cable Broadband.  So when is Caricel and FLOW Jamaica set to launch 4G LTE?

Caricel's 4G LTE Network in August 2016 - Portmore and Kingston and Jamaica in 5 Years

Caricel's 4G LTE Network, the New Kid on the block, is set to launch in August 2016 initially targeting Portmore and Kingston with an initial investment of US$100 million as noted in my blog article entitled “How Caricel's US$100 million 4G LTE using White Space and Chinese Investors come August 2016”.

Their Network Core is being installed with the help of Telecom Contractors Alepo and Comtech Telecommunications as noted in my blog article entitled “How Caricel's 4G LTE Network is being built by Alepo and Comtech Telecommunications Partnership”.

Word on the street, however, is that the Network infrastructure is being built by Huawei. Huawei may have also granted Symbiote Investments Limited a soft loan to build their 4G LTE Network as reported in my blog article entitled “How JA$6.2 billion Symbiote Investments Limited Spectrum may be Chinese-Jamaican Telecom Provider”. 

Even more interesting, some of my confidential sources have told me that Symbiote Investments Limited may be connected to a previous Telecom Provider named Gotel that was being investigated back in 2008 for bribing OUR (Office of Utilities Regulations) officials as mentioned in the article “OUR launches probe into Gotel allegations”, published Wed April 16, 2008, RJR News Online.

Caricel is also using White Space Spectrum instead of the 700MHz spectrum that Digicel is using for their 4G LTE Network, with speeds potentially as high as 70 Mbps as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “How Chinese White Space Network possible in Jamaica by Independence Day”. 

Digicel has effectively beaten them, launching ahead of time by having Ericsson upgrade their HSPA+ Network to 4G LTE, having had two (2) whole years to plan to quote Digicel CEO David Butler: “Rolling out a LTE Network is something that happens over a period of time. To them, the best of luck, but our focus is on our two million customers”.

Also, their announcement comes a few days after the launch of Huawei’s ICT Innovation Exhibition 2016 on Tuesday June 7^th 2016 and lasting until Thursday June 9th 2016 as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Huawei’s ICT Innovation Exhibition 2016 set for Telecom and Enterprise Services”.

Digicel may have been first, but now that they’re out in the open, they have a View to a Kill come Independence Day, James Bond Style.

FLOW Jamaica’s VDSL and LTE - Double Launch on Emancipation or Independence Day

Clearly, Digicel was under pressure to launch, as they've even been pressured to go 4G LTE in Guyana as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel and GTT 80 Mbps 4G LTE in Guyana hints at August 2016 Launch in Jamaica”.

Digicel eventually opted to launch their Branded "4G" or HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access) as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel Guyana’s 4G launched as Bermuda and Jamaica may still get 4G LTE”.

Liberty Global, now the owners of FLOW Jamaica, in the meantime, have been slowly being doing upgrade work in the St. Ann area as well as on the North and South Coast with Ericsson.

They're upgrading their ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) Network to a VDSL (Vectoring Digital Subscriber Line) and possible a FTTH (Fiber to the Home) Network to rival Digicel Play as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “How FLOW’s 70 Mbps VDSL in St. Ann means FTTH, 4G LTE on North, South Coast”. 

They're yet to announce any plans to launch their 4G LTE Network. Their intended Network, also being worked on since 2014, is supposed to use the 1700 MHz and the 2100 Mhz band, more popular known as AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) as noted in my blog article entitled “Why FLOW Jamaica's 4G LTE Upgrade to counter Digicel Play needs islandwide LTE, VDSL and DOCSIS 3.1”. 

Because of the higher frequencies, it'll have a higher bandwidth but will be more suitable for Modems and CPE (Customer Premesis Equiptment). Still the higher bandwidth means the delivery of maximum theoretical speeds as high as 150 Mbps and more advanced services, as the name AWS suggests.

This can be anything from VoLTE (Voice over LTE) to Streaming audio and 4K Video as noted in my blog article entitled “@LIMEJamaica's downpayment on High-Bandwidth AWS Spectrum - How FLOW rebranding and Jamaican Call Center means 4G LTE coming in December 2015”.

FLOW Jamaica, most likely, will be launching with about Modems, CPE and smartphones capable of using 4G LTE on the 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz band, possibly reserving this for their Business Clients.

Folks, the Summer of 2016 and Christmas 2016 is looking very prosperous as Digicel, Caricel and FLOW Jamaica get their 4G LTE Networks in Gear.