Flow Talk Unlimited

[Brandysull]

Have LTE everywhere in mobay I go.... speeds are adequate for mobile use 70/80Mbps...



Flow pumping out 200Mbps for people to use WhatsApp ???

It's build out for LTE Fixed Broadband that they're launching in 2019. FLOW's been secretly changing antennas in Kingston & St. Andrew to accomodate LTE 1900 MHz... speeds are going to hit 300 Mbit/s.

[Brandysull]

Sad, I Emailed Mr Parkinson. Got a response as usual. He said very vaguely, that Digicel will in the very near future be ready for 5G. In terms of LTE, Digicel keeps saying they are the fastest Network. I love Flow, and I really hope they vastly improve their deep rural coverage in Jamaica. Have you ever used Digicel before?.

I have used Digicel only in passing... I've done numerous comparisons between their LTE offering vs. FLOW's. FLOW in most cases outranks them as much as 10x-20x times. Digicel may have a coverage advantage but the speeds they offer as good as HSPA+. Once 850 MHz GSM is phased out, FLOW will possess comparable coverage reach and also be able to feasibly offer VoLTE. Even as Digicel's been rolling out LTE Advanced, FLOW's Band 4 layer is able to muscle all the load that BOTH layers on Digicel would. To add Band 2 to the fray as well changes the game even more....

[Nathan77791]

I have used Digicel only in passing... I've done numerous comparisons between their LTE offering vs. FLOW's. FLOW in most cases outranks them as much as 10x-20x times. Digicel may have a coverage advantage but the speeds they offer as good as HSPA+. Once 850 MHz GSM is phased out, FLOW will possess comparable coverage reach and also be able to feasibly offer VoLTE. Even as Digicel's been rolling out LTE Advanced, FLOW's Band 4 layer is able to muscle all the load that BOTH layers on Digicel would. To add Band 2 to the fray as well changes the game even more....

Passing?. Is there no way Flow could acquire any slice of 700Mhz spectrum for coverage fill ins?. CWC owners of Flow, have 700Mhz APT band 28 LTE in Panama. They use it for coverage and VoLTE. I remember reading where Ericsson stated that Liberty Global/CWC has awarded them contracts and rights to provide managed services for thier Networks in the Caribbean and Central America. In this contract, Ericsson will deploy its world renowned VoLTE protocol. The project started with +Movil in Panama. And intentions are to implement the project in its other largest markets in due time. I hope Flow can, if allowed acquire band 28 or band 12 700Mhz for Coverage and VoLTE.

[leoandru]

It's build out for LTE Fixed Broadband that they're launching in 2019. FLOW's been secretly changing antennas in Kingston & St. Andrew to accomodate LTE 1900 MHz... speeds are going to hit 300 Mbit/s.

No thanks. Tell them to improve their fixed HFC network first and offer 300 ~ 500 Mbits/s there. Or better yet go direct fiber. This is a waste of time

[Brandysull]

No thanks. Tell them to improve their fixed HFC network first and offer 300 ~ 500 Mbits/s there. Or better yet go direct fiber. This is a waste of time

Not everyone is located by an HFC Node... this for those who don't have access such as rural customers, students and other target groups.

[leoandru]

Not everyone is located by an HFC Node... this for those who don't have access such as rural customers, students and other target groups.

Sure it makes sense to use wireless technologies where the density or sparseness of the population means it simpler, easier and more cost effective to deploy. But you mentioned Kingston and St Andrew I highly dense populated area for the most part.

Compare Kingston to a country like Barbadoes. Three times the population in almost the same land area. Yet Barbadoes has an advanced fibre optic network build by Flow offering 5 to 10 times the speed offered here. And according to you they thinking of a wireless network for both mobile and fix line services? Crazy!!!
This is why Digicel will always win in Jamaica. If they weren't so cash poor they would have taken the entire metropolitan area from Flow

[Brandysull]

Sure it makes sense to use wireless technologies where the density or sparseness of the population means it simpler, easier and more cost effective to deploy. But you mentioned Kingston and St Andrew I highly dense populated area for the most part.

Compare Kingston to a country like Barbadoes. Three times the population in almost the same land area. Yet Barbadoes has an advanced fibre optic network build by Flow offering 5 to 10 times the speed offered here. And according to you they thinking of a wireless network for both mobile and fix line services? Crazy!!!
This is why Digicel will always win in Jamaica. If they weren't so cash poor they would have taken the entire metropolitan area from Flow

First of all... FLOW's intentions do not lie in replacing fibre/HFC with LTE. Data appetites in Kingston are quickly filling the Band 4 layer... to compensate, they need to act fast so as to prevent customers from seeing network slowdowns like that of Digicel. I think that in order to truly understand what's going on, it'll require a good understanding of network deployment, spectrum and LTE as an access technology. Also, Kingston (and Jamaica for that matter) is far more complex than Barbados to deploy in... Jamaica is a tough market and the market fundamentals do not allow for the same yields that CWC gets in Barbados.

[Brandysull]

Passing?. Is there no way Flow could acquire any slice of 700Mhz spectrum for coverage fill ins?. CWC owners of Flow, have 700Mhz APT band 28 LTE in Panama. They use it for coverage and VoLTE. I remember reading where Ericsson stated that Liberty Global/CWC has awarded them contracts and rights to provide managed services for thier Networks in the Caribbean and Central America. In this contract, Ericsson will deploy its world renowned VoLTE protocol. The project started with +Movil in Panama. And intentions are to implement the project in its other largest markets in due time. I hope Flow can, if allowed acquire band 28 or band 12 700Mhz for Coverage and VoLTE.

Band 12 is a subset of Band 17... Digicel owns that. FLOW will likely either acquire Caricel or use 850 MHz from their GSM layer. Band 28 lies on a different band plan... 700 MHz at the moment is out of the question. It's 850 MHz or a Caricel acquisition.

[leoandru]

First of all... FLOW's intentions do not lie in replacing fibre/HFC with LTE. Data appetites in Kingston are quickly filling the Band 4 layer... to compensate, they need to act fast so as to prevent customers from seeing network slowdowns like that of Digicel. I think that in order to truly understand what's going on, it'll require a good understanding of network deployment, spectrum and LTE as an access technology. Also, Kingston (and Jamaica for that matter) is far more complex than Barbados to deploy in... Jamaica is a tough market and the market fundamentals do not allow for the same yields that CWC gets in Barbados.

So explain to me what is the point of going fixed wireless in Kingston?

[Brandysull]

So explain to me what is the point of going fixed wireless in Kingston?

This is an islandwide effort, not limited to the KMA.