“We
are finding that people want more data per purchase. They are doing more with
data and engaging more with social media. We are finding that people are
keeping up from the $100 to $150, fairly straightforwardly”
FLOW Jamaica General Manager
Garfield Sinclair commenting on the Telecommunications Market Information
Report released by the OUR for the Q2 of 2015
Folks,
Jamaica's love for Social Media is driving Mobile Internet Growth in Jamaica
for our Telecom Providers.
So
says a recently released Telecommunications Market Information Report released
by the OUR (Office of the Utilise Regulation) on Monday June 6th 2016 for the
Q2 of 2015 ending June 2015 as reported in the article “Data
packages bring in billions for telecoms Snapchat, Instagram drive
subscriptions among”, published Wednesday June 8, 2016 by Steven Jackson, The Jamaica Gleaner.
So
why is Social Media increasing internet usage in Jamaica?
OUR Telecommunications
Market Information Report - Mobile Broadband user are Growing Strong
According
to their Telecommunications Market Information Report for Q2 of 2015 ending
June 2015:
1.
JA$19.9 billion in total revenues from
Voice Mobile, Fixed Line and Internet
2.
JA$13.3 billion for Voice Mobile revenue
3.
JA$2.4 billion for Fixed Line revenue
4.
JA$4.2 billion for Internet revenue
These
figures presented in the Telecommunications Market Information Report for Q2 of
2015 ending June 2015 are YOY (Year on Year) increases over the corresponding
periods in Q2 of 2014 as follows:
1.
JA$19.9 billion in total revenues from
Voice Mobile, Fixed Line and Internet
2.
14% increase for Voice Mobile revenue
3.
12% increase for Fixed Line revenue
4.
153% increase for Internet revenue
These
growth figures are incredible, especially when the latest Economic and Social
Survey Jamaica 2014 and 2015 figures are compared:
1.
1.46 million Jamaicans with Internet
Access
2.
1.3 million mobile internet users
3.
161,000 broadband subscribers
4.
966 narrowband subscribers
The
shift in the Broadband is also part of the increased usage of Internet:
1.
920,000 Highspeed Internet users in
2013/14
2.
120,000 Highspeed Internet users in
2012/13
3.
786,000 Mobile Broadband users in
2013/14
Albeit
this is the first time that data is being collected in the Mobile Broadband
category, it's clearly the driver behind the 641% increase in the Highspeed
Internet users in the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica report.
Mobile
Broadband users who love Mobile Social Media are Growing Strong, Game of
Thrones Style!
So
what's driving this explosion in Internet, which covers FLOW Broadband
Services, Digicel Play and Mobile 3G Internet provided by both Telecom
Providers FLOW Jamaica and Digicel?
Snapchat becoming
popular with Jamaicans - Jamaicans willing to pay for High-Speed Data for
Photos and Video
Well,
it comes as no surprise to me personally as it relates to the growth of Mobile
Broadband; it's the latest Mobile Social Network App, Snapchat!
Jamaican
Millennials (ages 18 to 28) and Teenagers aka Generation Z, are getting hip to
Snapchat, which has now surpassed Twitter in terms of Average Daily users as
reported in my blog
article entitled “How
Snapchat 150 million Daily users surpasses Twitter and threatens Instagram”.
Albeit
the Millennials still cling to WhatsApp, the trend is definately headed in the
Snapchat and their direction of sharing disappearing pictures and videos, Mission
Impossible style, to quote FLOW Jamaica General Manager Garfield Sinclair: “We
are looking for the explosion of Snapchat now because that is a data driver.
But even without Snapchat, the growth of mobile data adoption by the average
Jamaican is phenomenal”.
In
fact, any social Media that involves the sharing of images and videos is
fuelling this phenomenal growth, to quote Garfield Sinclair: “Instagram is the
most popular app and it's getting caught up by Snapchat. Millennials are all
into Snapchat, which is another data driver. All of these data drivers are good
for business. Snapchat is where they are all going. It's no longer a picture
anymore or a little video. Now you can create running vignettes now to showcase
a week of activity”.
This
is all music to the ears of the Telecom Providers, as the slow growth of Voice
Mobile and Fixed Line (Landline) is being supplemented by the rapid explosive
growth of Internet usage, be it Mobile or Broadband Internet, such as Digicel
Play, which has now surpassed 35,000 customers as reported in the article “Summer
Cable Market Heats Up”, published Friday June 17, 2016 by Neville Graham, The Jamaica Gleaner.
FLOW
Jamaica has some of the lowest cost 3G Data bundles as listed in my Geezam blog article entitled “FLOW Jamaica’s 30-Day
Prepaid Mobile Internet gives you 99 cents Plan”. Take a look at their
offering below:
To activate a
Prepaid Mobile Internet plan, use the following USSD
(Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) Codes:
1.
50 MB (1 Day) Plan –
*146*3*1#
2.
250 MB (3 Day) Plan –
*146*3*2#
3.
2 GB (7 Days) Plan – *146*7#
4.
300 MB (30 Days) Plan –
*146*30*1#
5.
500 MB (30 Days) Plan –
*146*30*2#
6.
1 GB (30 Days) Plan –
*146*30*3#
7.
2 GB (30 Days) Plan –
*146*30*4#
Still,
using a MiFi or Digicel 4G Broadband DX-250 Modem will make your Data Plan last
longer in my Geezam blog article entitled “FLOW Jamaica MiFi
helps you use Prepaid Mobile Internet Plan wisely”.
But
with such a huge appetite for Broadband, it should come as no surprise that
Digicel LTE, which was launched on Friday June 10th 2016 as detailed in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to Activate a Digicel LTE
Smart Plan on your Smartphone” is doing so well, with some 7000 subscriber
in the first week.
This
despite the high cost of the Data plans which max out at speeds of up to 60MBps
as pointed out in my blog article entitled “US$50 million 60Mbps Digicel LTE
Network as Caricel and FLOW prep for August 2016 Launch”.
Jamaica's 1st LTE Network is HERE!— Digicel Jamaica (@DIGICELJamaica) June 10, 2016
Try it out now - dial *147# or use the #MyDigicelApp to activate. #DigicelLTE pic.twitter.com/z0dYx0oaZb
Jamaica's 1st LTE Network is HERE!— Digicel Jamaica (@DIGICELJamaica) June 10, 2016
Try it out now - dial *147# or use the #MyDigicelApp to activate. #DigicelLTE pic.twitter.com/0QncNs2TQP
With
FLOW Jamaica and Caricel expected to launch their 4G LTE Networks sometime in
August 2016 as predicted in my blog article
entitled “Caricel’s
and FLOW Jamaica’s LTE and VDSL Double Launch on Emancipation or Independence
Day”, Jamaicans are already calling relatives abroad to ship down
compatible smartphones as listed below.
1.
Apple iPhone 5s 64GB
2.
Apple iPhone 6 64GB
3.
Apple iPhone 6+ 128GB
4.
Apple iPhone 6+ 16GB
5.
Apple iPhone 6+ 64GB
6.
Apple iPhone 6s 64GB
7.
Apple iPhone 6s+ 64GB
8.
BlackBerry Classic Q20
9.
BlackBerry Leap
10.
BlackBerry Passport
11.
BlackBerry Priv
12.
BLU Dash L
13.
BLU Dash M
14.
BLU Life XL
15.
BLU Studio C 5+5
16.
BLU Studio Energy 2
17.
Google Nexus 5x
18.
Motorola G 3rd Gen.
19.
PLUM Gator Plus 2
20.
Plum Might LTE
21.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
22.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
23.
Samsung Galaxy S5 neo
24.
Samsung Galaxy S6 32GB
25.
Samsung Galaxy S6 64GB
26.
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge + 32GB
27.
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 32GB
28.
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 64gb
29.
Samsung Galaxy S7 32GB
30.
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge 32GB
If
the OUR Telecommunications Market Information Report is anything to go by,
Jamaicans clearly are willing to pay for High-Speed Data for Photos and Video,
no matter the cost!
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