BY AL EDWARDS
Thursday, September 03, 2009
MOBILE phone service provider Digicel (Jamaica) yesterday announced that it will be offering 4G broadband service in Jamaica as of next year, having secured a licence in the 2.5Ghz spectrum for the deployment of wireless broadband services.
This now means that Digicel will roll out 4G WiMAX services allowing customers to utilise megabit per second personal wireless broadband with speeds significantly faster than current 3G offerings. The other major mobile telephone service providers in Jamaica, namely LIME and Claro, currently offer 3G services.
Group Director of Digicel Broadband, Magnus Johansson (left), and Digicel (Jamaica) CEO Mark Linehan show off how its 4G technology will work with laptop computers at a press conference held yesterday at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew. (Photo: Karl McLarty)
Mobile WiMAX is a standards-based technology that will turn cities and towns in Jamaica into giant Internet hotspots, allowing subscribers to receive faster and reliable broadband Internet services. Digicel paid US$1.2 million for its 4G licence and will invest US$22.7 million in the first year of its WiMAX project. The service will be launched through a new division of the company called Digicel Broadband headed by Magnus Johansson.
Set to launch in the second quarter of 2010, Digicel Broadband will initially cover 60 per cent of the population with coverage in all 14 parishes. Work on Digicel's 4G network, in the meanwhile, is expected to begin this month with further roll-out continuing across Jamaica later in the year.
Speaking at the press conference at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston yesterday to announce its 4G technology offerings, Digicel (Jamaica) CEO Mark Linehan promised to "shake things up" in the industry.
"Only eight years ago, Digicel entered the mobile market in Jamaica and turned it on its head. Today we have two million customers benefiting from the best service and the best value available. We want to do to broadband what we did to mobile in Jamaica. Customers will be able to experience the multiple benefits of 4G technology in termsof flexibility, affordability, coverage, bandwidth and security," he explained.
"We have had phenomenal demand for our personal WiMAX services in the Cayman Islands and have had huge success with our corporate fixed WiMAX solution here in Jamaica. Digicel is bringing 4G to Jamaica and it is going to be fantastic," he added.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
MOBILE phone service provider Digicel (Jamaica) yesterday announced that it will be offering 4G broadband service in Jamaica as of next year, having secured a licence in the 2.5Ghz spectrum for the deployment of wireless broadband services.
This now means that Digicel will roll out 4G WiMAX services allowing customers to utilise megabit per second personal wireless broadband with speeds significantly faster than current 3G offerings. The other major mobile telephone service providers in Jamaica, namely LIME and Claro, currently offer 3G services.
Group Director of Digicel Broadband, Magnus Johansson (left), and Digicel (Jamaica) CEO Mark Linehan show off how its 4G technology will work with laptop computers at a press conference held yesterday at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew. (Photo: Karl McLarty)
Mobile WiMAX is a standards-based technology that will turn cities and towns in Jamaica into giant Internet hotspots, allowing subscribers to receive faster and reliable broadband Internet services. Digicel paid US$1.2 million for its 4G licence and will invest US$22.7 million in the first year of its WiMAX project. The service will be launched through a new division of the company called Digicel Broadband headed by Magnus Johansson.
Set to launch in the second quarter of 2010, Digicel Broadband will initially cover 60 per cent of the population with coverage in all 14 parishes. Work on Digicel's 4G network, in the meanwhile, is expected to begin this month with further roll-out continuing across Jamaica later in the year.
Speaking at the press conference at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston yesterday to announce its 4G technology offerings, Digicel (Jamaica) CEO Mark Linehan promised to "shake things up" in the industry.
"Only eight years ago, Digicel entered the mobile market in Jamaica and turned it on its head. Today we have two million customers benefiting from the best service and the best value available. We want to do to broadband what we did to mobile in Jamaica. Customers will be able to experience the multiple benefits of 4G technology in termsof flexibility, affordability, coverage, bandwidth and security," he explained.
"We have had phenomenal demand for our personal WiMAX services in the Cayman Islands and have had huge success with our corporate fixed WiMAX solution here in Jamaica. Digicel is bringing 4G to Jamaica and it is going to be fantastic," he added.
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