Jul 2008 Financial News

C&W launches J$6 billion 3G network in Jamaica

Jul 04, 2008

Cable & Wireless Jamaica will invest approximately J$6 billion in rolling out a new 3G (third generation) mobile network in Jamaica, beginning with the Kingston metropolitan region by year-end.

The three-year three-phased project will cost J$2.1 billion in the first year rising incrementally for each subsequent year, dependent upon take-up of the new service. The investment includes the deployment of an additional 100 mobile sites to support 3G and to a lesser extent, its existing 2G GSM network.

C&W says the first 3G mobile phones should be available for the Christmas season.

Customers of the new service will be able to use services including videoconferencing and the ability to e-mail large files using high bandwidth speeds of up to 7 megabytes per second - faster than C&W's existing fixed-line Internet services. Inserting 3G cards will enable laptops to connect to the service.

3G will supersede the existing 2G GSM networks already offered in Jamaica by C&W and Digicel. MiPhone currently operates with a CDMA network but since being bought by American Movil will be switching to 3G.

"It's far more advanced and the cost of handsets for 3G will be below that for WiMax technology," said C&WJ CEO Phil Green in reference to Digicel's choice of next generation technology, during the press conference held at the company's headquarters in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew.

Ericsson, who also manufacture handsets with Sony - and with whom C&W have already partnered to build 3G networks in the United Kingdom, Panama and Macau (China) - will again be partners for this project.

Montego Bay will be a priority area in the second phase but for areas that do not have service, the handsets will revert to the existing 2G service by default but will then reconnect when returning to an area that is covered by 3G.

Phase two will also see increased 3G Internet speeds of up to 14.4 Mbs.

Increasing market shares

Green said that he was confident of continued growth for C&W in the Jamaican cellular market led by it's 3G service.
"In terms of 3G, we're certainly looking to increase our market shares within Jamaica and we'd be looking over the next two-year period of something in the order of a 15 per cent increase of our overall market shares," he said.

He said that C&W would continue to lead on price, touting rates "at least 40 per cent cheaper" than dominant mobile service provider Digicel.

He added that in their two-months of operation 12,000 new customers had signed up to C&WJ Super Pak and Ultra Pak pre-paid mobile plans.
GSM, CDMA, 2G, 3G, WiMax: What does this all mean?

- Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) is the industry standard for mobile phones and is used in Jamaica by Digicel and Cable & Wireless. A key difference with GSM phones is that they use Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards unlike CDMA phones currently sold in Jamaica by MiPhone.

- 2G and 3G are generations of GSM technology.

- WiMax provides wireless data either from point-to-point links or to mobile phones.

Jamaica Observer
Website: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20080703T230000-0500_137453_OBS_C_W_LAUNCHES_J___BILLION__G_NETWORK_IN_JAMAICA.asp
July 4, 2008