Digicel LTE

[Brandysull]

Never ever count out Digicel. You know they will never just roll over and die..

Nah count dem out enuh but certain moves just not looking right to me.... and with the knowledge I have, it doesn't spell well. They haven't touched their networks in a while in a number of countries AND they're partly to blame for the stagnation in our telecoms industry IMO. They could have easily kicked FLOW while they were ailing in the early 2010's... now look what's happened, Liberty Global is just one acquistion away from having more mobile subscribers than the entire Digicel Group (10 million vs. 14 million... and LiLAC Group may soon absorb Sprint or another mid-sized North American or Latin American conglomerate). Soooo many missed opportunities squandered... Let's hope they can expand Digicel Play to other urban areas in Jamaica before FLOW finishes trialing and deploying DOCSIS 3.1 or even before they begin their widescale HFC/FTTH transition OR before Gigabit LTE gets here (which, based on what I'm hearing from Cable & Wireless, will serve a dual purpose of wherein it might also be the successor to Dekal - which may be absorbed into their JM business. It seems to be very likely that Jamaica will be another Gigabit market.)

[Brandysull]

Well this is very good news for Flow. They will make more profits and continue to grow subscriber's. On the other hand, it is very sad that a company like Digicel. Who revolutionize the local telecoms market. Is now moving at snail's pace, to expand and upgrade the networks infrastructure and technology. I don't believe they will roll over and play dead though. They have made commitments to expand LTE across Jamaica and it's 26 other Markets across the Region and the World. They are not in a good financial situation at this time, So Capex is probably low at this time. But should rebound in the months ahead.

I completely understand... but in telecoms, time is money. It's now or never. CWC is quickly gaining mobile subs every quarter (especially in Jamaica, which has only ever seen subscriber losses in Q4 2016). Digicel is hemorrhaging subs in the French & Netherland Antilles, El Salvador, Panama and even in Cayman!
It's go time and it seems the guys at Carlton Crescent have gotten the message... plenty exciting things happening there... I mean, 200+ new 4G cell towers & 200+ other LTE towers? Not even a press release to get the general public fired up? This is soooo unlike them IMO.

[Nathan77791]

I completely understand... but in telecoms, time is money. It's now or never. CWC is quickly gaining mobile subs every quarter (especially in Jamaica, which has only ever seen subscriber losses in Q4 2016). Digicel is hemorrhaging subs in the French & Netherland Antilles, El Salvador, Panama and even in Cayman!
It's go time and it seems the guys at Carlton Crescent have gotten the message... plenty exciting things happening there... I mean, 200+ new 4G cell towers & 200+ other LTE towers? Not even a press release to get the general public fired up? This is soooo unlike them IMO.

Not even a press release to get the general public fired up? This is soooo unlike them IMO.

Yeah, that is very strange indeed. But seeing that Digicel is very secretive. They could be quitely working on upgrading and expanding thier services. Flow is taking massive advantages of the opportunities. That Digicels reluctance is giving to them. Flow knows when to strike, and they have the best and most reliable network. I hope that remains the same, now that the are getting ready to launch LTE.

[Brandysull]

Yeah, that is very strange indeed. But seeing that Digicel is very secretive. They could be quitely working on upgrading and expanding thier services. Flow is taking massive advantages of the opportunities. That Digicels reluctance is giving to them. Flow knows when to strike, and they have the best and most reliable network. I hope that remains the same, now that the are getting ready to launch LTE.[/QUOTE]

Well in today's day and age, nothing's secretive... I'm seeing LTE popping up in isolated places Clarendon, Ocho Rios... they maybe testing but it isn't ZTE Equipment soooooo..... I dunno.

[Nathan77791]

Yeah, that is very strange indeed. But seeing that Digicel is very secretive. They could be quitely working on upgrading and expanding thier services. Flow is taking massive advantages of the opportunities. That Digicels reluctance is giving to them. Flow knows when to strike, and they have the best and most reliable network. I hope that remains the same, now that the are getting ready to launch LTE.

Well in today's day and age, nothing's secretive... I'm seeing LTE popping up in isolated places Clarendon, Ocho Rios... they maybe testing but it isn't ZTE Equipment soooooo..... I dunno.[/QUOTE]

I'm seeing LTE popping up in isolated places Clarendon, Ocho Rios... they maybe testing but it isn't ZTE Equipment soooooo..... I dunno

You sure that its Digicel?. It could be Flow, seeing that you observe that the equipment is not ZTE. If it is Digicel, then maybe they are continuing with the Vendor who did the roll out for Kingston. Its kind of confusing, but lets wait and see whats ahead.

[king]

Why can't I use data while I'm on a call using Digicel's service?
For example, while on a call I need to send a whatsapp message or search for an email but can't.

[Nathan77791]

Why can't I use data while I'm on a call using Digicel's service?
For example, while on a call I need to send a whatsapp message or search for an email but can't.

Not 100% sure what is happening in youre case. But if you are using Digicels LTE. You should be switched down to HSPA+ 3G when placing a call, so you should be able to browse. Digicels Network is congested a lot, and maybe the speeds were not fast enough to connect you while you were on a call. It could be a host of other things, but try restarting youre phone, and try using data again while on a call again.

[king]

Thanks. I'm not sure what happened but after a restart I noticed that emails and messages are coming and going through while on a call but slowly. I hope it improves and at least stays this way when I'm not in an LTE area.

[Brandysull]

I'm unsure as to when this went up but Digicel replaced a few antennas at UWI campus (rooftop site at Student Admin) and FINALLY upgraded UWI to LTE... Did a speedtest on the unloaded network and got around 67 Mbit/s down and 22 Mbit/s up (with an RSSI of around -60 dBm), the competiton fared less favorably, RSSI averaged -106 dBm and speeds clocked around 31 Mbit/s down and 7 Mbit/s up.

My only gripe with Digicel LTE is its consistency... The speeds dropped off pretty quickly the further away from the site I went. After getting a blazing 67 Mbit/s a couple minutes earlier, while still reporting -81 dBm from the same site and a SINR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of about 23 (which is EXCELLENT in LTE networks), I clocked 14 Mbit/s down and 10 Mbit/s up whereas on the competiton, I was reporting -102 dBm (device didn't report SINR but we can deduce it had an excellent SINR) and I clocked 51 Mbit/s down and 12 Mbit/s (download actually peaked at 71 Mbit/s but FLOW has a Prepaid data speed cap at 50 Mbit/s down and 10 Mbit/s up). Much improvement needs to be made in terms of maintaining a consistent network experience on Digicel's part... Networks without the penetrative advantage that their spectrum avails them of don't fall ever below 25 Mbit/s (thanks to that wideband LTE channel they're sitting on). Quite frankly, they're squandering their advantage, to the point where I did a sample set where the competiton averaged 10x Digicel LTE in one location. Solutions are there but it'll cause the GP to moan and complain if I'm being honest...

[Nathan77791]

I'm unsure as to when this went up but Digicel replaced a few antennas at UWI campus (rooftop site at Student Admin) and FINALLY upgraded UWI to LTE... Did a speedtest on the unloaded network and got around 67 Mbit/s down and 22 Mbit/s up (with an RSSI of around -60 dBm), the competiton fared less favorably, RSSI averaged -106 dBm and speeds clocked around 31 Mbit/s down and 7 Mbit/s up.

My only gripe with Digicel LTE is its consistency... The speeds dropped off pretty quickly the further away from the site I went. After getting a blazing 67 Mbit/s a couple minutes earlier, while still reporting -81 dBm from the same site and a SINR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of about 23 (which is EXCELLENT in LTE networks), I clocked 14 Mbit/s down and 10 Mbit/s up whereas on the competiton, I was reporting -102 dBm (device didn't report SINR but we can deduce it had an excellent SINR) and I clocked 51 Mbit/s down and 12 Mbit/s (download actually peaked at 71 Mbit/s but FLOW has a Prepaid data speed cap at 50 Mbit/s down and 10 Mbit/s up). Much improvement needs to be made in terms of maintaining a consistent network experience on Digicel's part... Networks without the penetrative advantage that their spectrum avails them of don't fall ever below 25 Mbit/s (thanks to that wideband LTE channel they're sitting on). Quite frankly, they're squandering their advantage, to the point where I did a sample set where the competiton averaged 10x Digicel LTE in one location. Solutions are there but it'll cause the GP to moan and complain if I'm being honest...

That's Great. It's good to know that they are expanding thier LTE Network. I keep getting kicked off of Flows LTE Network, I did a speed test. And got 36 Mbps down, nothing up.