“We
saw improving results in Jamaica, where our ‘fightback’ campaign is gathering
momentum following regulatory changes made by the Government. We have seen good
traction in the key market of prepaid mobile and the business is re-energised”
Excerpts from said CEO
of Cable and Wireless Communications Tony Rice, LIME's parent as reported in
the Jamaica Observer, Friday, November 9th, 2012
Recent
utterances by the Telecom Providers claiming that they’re losing revenue due to
the recently imposed Telecoms Tax as mentioned in my
blog article entitled “GOJ
taxes Telecom Providers and OUR sets Cross Network and International Calling
Rate at JA$5.00 - Data Services Prometheus” have left me
and others puzzled.
First
up to comment was the CEO and President of FLOW Michelle English who suggested
that they [Triple Play Provider FLOW] were seeing “a reduction of up to 10 per
cent of the number of outgoing calls in all categories” as noted in the article
“Telecoms tax clobbers landline usage, says Flow”, published
Sunday October 21, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.
At
the time this article made publication back in October 2012, it struck me as
odd, as it was a mere three (3) months since the Telecom Taxes’ implementation.
Triple Play Provider FLOW’s had also had an ongoing dispute over Landline
Termination with Telecom Provider LIME.
From
my last blog article, you’ll recall that I predicted Landline Services will
prove profitable in the future as Jamaicans begin to settle into retirement as
noted in my
blog article entitled “Flow
at odds with over Cross-Network rates for Fixed Line - Total Recall of the
coming Importance of Triple Play Services”
Still,
Voice Calling has always been on the decline, as users have the option of using
free VoIP Services over FLOW’s Broadband Services such as Skype, ooVoo or
Google Voice to make Video VoIP Calls as opined in my
blog article entitled “Skype's
Ads on Free VoIP heralds coming of Free Mobile VoIP - Video Calls not problem
as LIME LTE soon tun up”.
Even
the Telecom Providers Mobile are going to eventually have to be phased out as
some smartphones make VoIP possible, even if not they are currently not
transmitted over the Telecom Provider’s Networks but over Wi-Fi as noted in my
blog article entitled “RIM
introduce VoIP Calling over Wi-Fi for BB Messenger - Telecom Providers Trouble
with the Curve of Wi-Fi Calling”.
When
you pay for these VoIP Third-Party Services using your VISA Debit or Credit
Card over the Telecom Providers Broadband Internet, such as Skype, ooVoo or
Google Voice just to name a few, it still works out cheaper that FLOW’s
Landline Services. So I’m surprised that a few months later, Telecom Provider
LIME, who’d previously been silent on the matter, now decided to make comment
as well.
This
despite knowing that Data Services are slowly killing off the Voice side of
their business, the so called extinction of Voice as predicted long ago in my
blog article series listed below:
4.
LIME
look to the future with new Services - Video and Audio Friends with Benefits in
the Dead Zone
While
praising the benefits of the recently lowered Cross Network Mobile Rates that
began with LIME XL and culminated with Talk EZ Plans as described in my
blog article entitled “LIME's
new TALK EZ Plan drops Cross Network Calling to JA$2.99 - Digicel's Game of
Thrones vs LIME Return of the King” are having an overall
positive effect on their business.
This
is in terms of increasing Mobile Call revenue as indicated by my
blog article entitled “LIME
reports Voice Traffic up 71% in Second Quarter of 2012AD - ACS-Xerox loses
contract to TELUS International as LIME becomes Mavado Money Changer”,
they also admitted to being negatively impacted by the Telecom Tax. This as
noted in “LIME fights on, but loses more”,
published Friday, November 09, 2012, The
Jamaica Observer.
The
stats for the Third Quarter of 2012 are all positive continuation of the above
despite increasing losses to Telecom Provider LIME. They read as follows:
1.
21% increase in mobile Revenues when
compared to the same period in 2011
2.
20% increase in Mobile subscribers
3.
12% increase in ARPU (Average Revenue
per User) directly attributed to XL and Talk EZ.
4.
6% increase in Postpaid APRU
5.
11% increase in Prepaid
6.
3% increase in Broadband
Thanks
to the decline in Cross Network rates as stipulated by the OUR, the following
expected mixed results also occurred:
1.
40% decline in Cross Network termination
payments to other Telecom Providers
2.
12% of JA$4 billion decline in
year-on-year decline in Revenues
3.
13% decline in fixed-Line Landline and
Mobile Revenues
Thus
the following balance sheet outliers were the result:
1.
78.6% decline in revenues from JA$435 in
the Third Quarter of 2011 to $93 million in the Third Quarter of 2012
2.
$512 million for Restructuring
3.
JA$1.3 billion Net loss year-on-year
4.
JA$35 million in Deficit
5.
JA$1.6 billion in Liabilities
6.
JA$1.2 billion over the Second and Third
Quarter
Clearly
the short term outlook is bad.
But
long term, as Postpaid, Fixed-line Landline and Mobile and Data Services is
still on track as the statistics from the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation)
for the Fourth Quarter of 2010AD as stated in my
blog article entitled “OUR
Records Voice Decline for the Fourth Quarter of 2010”
and the Second Quarter of 2011AD as stated in my
blog article entitled “OUR
Telecom Provider Stats indicate JA$14 billion profit for Second Quarter of 2012
- Telecom Providers Stacking up all Faces on the Argo Video Calling and VoIP on
smartphones” suggest.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) adventure begins for the increasing popularity of Postpaid, Fixed-line Landline and Mobile and Data Services as OUR Statistics and now Telecom Provider LIME’s stats demonstrate.
