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Thread: Digicel LTE

  1. #1
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    Default Digicel LTE

    Digicel LTE now in testing...... seen it on a few phones... if you see it popup on your phone report here and post feedback...
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    hmmm i wonder what the data speeds will be like and moreso how many arms and legs will you have sell in order to pay for such data plans

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    Didn't they do LTE testing way back in 2014 + they had undergone core network upgrades since their LTE launch in Cayman (They follow FLOW's model in hosting the Evolved Packet Core in Jamaica for Cayman, Turks & Caicos etc.)...... From what I can see, they're upgrading to DC-HSPA+ and TDD-LTE (for the 4G Broadband) currently..... Coupling that with launching a FDD-LTE network on 700 MHz? I doubt they're that much in a rush to deploy the such high performance networks given their revenues from data alone (vs. FLOW who has more of an impetus to go LTE, 40% of all of CWC's profits were from data, with Jamaica being in the Top 5 earners + FLOW earns more revenue per user in mobile than Digicel - An ARPU of $19 USD vs. $16 USD). FTTH & DC-HSPA+ & TDD AND FDD LTE deployment? CAPEX OVERLOAD. However, I havent seen their LTE network show up on a network search, only FLOW's (Do a network search in LTE mode in Kingston with an iPhone and you will see 338-020 which is FLOW)...... Has anyone seen any tower work for Digicel being done in their area? They should be placing low band antennas on the towers to support 700 MHz.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flexx17 View Post
    hmmm i wonder what the data speeds will be like and moreso how many arms and legs will you have sell in order to pay for such data plans
    In 2014, the Head of 4G Products said that Digicel has decided to not price LTE differently from it's 4G plans in all the markets it has and will introduce LTE in.. So take solace in that... But F.I.T. will be a thing of the past I'm assured.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brandysull View Post
    In 2014, the Head of 4G Products said that Digicel has decided to not price LTE differently from it's 4G plans in all the markets it has and will introduce LTE in.. So take solace in that... But F.I.T. will be a thing of the past I'm assured.
    Yep this is perhaps why they removed all but 1 of their F.I.T plans. The timing is perhaps coincidental as they surely seem to be upping the ante. My question tho isnt there any Digicel/FLOW engineers here who really can give us some concrete info and not just speculation?


    I notice they have TDD-LTE on the new wimax modems so it seems they aiming for a complete overhaul of their networks. I wonder if their network can handle or support the speeds for LTE

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    Just another scenario of Digicel biting off more than it can chew, selling it to the consumers who are all to happy to jump on the bandwagon. I wonder what will happen when the wheels fall off?

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    Quote Originally Posted by 876 View Post
    Yep this is perhaps why they removed all but 1 of their F.I.T plans. The timing is perhaps coincidental as they surely seem to be upping the ante. My question tho isnt there any Digicel/FLOW engineers here who really can give us some concrete info and not just speculation?


    I notice they have TDD-LTE on the new wimax modems so it seems they aiming for a complete overhaul of their networks. I wonder if their network can handle or support the speeds for LTE
    Even if they were Digicel or FLOW engineers here, they'd be held bound by NDAs and plus the "engineers" that conduct this work are all from their contractors i.e. Ericsson or Huawei. Another thing..... Remember that TDD & FDD LTE are 2 different types of LTE, requiring different SLAs from backhaul providers, different equipment vendors, provisioning, user eqipment.... A company of Digicel's size would never spend that much capital on one single market... Jamaica isn't even their largest market. That's just how the business is......

    The tension between both providers is thick and Digicel would commit suicide if it let FLOW deploy actual 4G services before them. FLOW isn't the only provider doing this though. Competing networks in Aruba, Bermuda, French West Indies and Panama have already deployed and/or committed to laucnhing LTE before Digicel even had a game plan for 4G Deployment in those markets.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brandysull View Post
    Even if they were Digicel or FLOW engineers here, they'd be held bound by NDAs and plus the "engineers" that conduct this work are all from their contractors i.e. Ericsson or Huawei. Another thing..... Remember that TDD & FDD LTE are 2 different types of LTE, requiring different SLAs from backhaul providers, different equipment vendors, provisioning, user eqipment.... A company of Digicel's size would never spend that much capital on one single market... Jamaica isn't even their largest market. That's just how the business is......

    The tension between both providers is thick and Digicel would commit suicide if it let FLOW deploy actual 4G services before them. FLOW isn't the only provider doing this though. Competing networks in Aruba, Bermuda, French West Indies and Panama have already deployed and/or committed to laucnhing LTE before Digicel even had a game plan for 4G Deployment in those markets.
    Okay so if what your saying is true then is it that Digicel is going to go with the TDD LTE for both mobile and fixed since they already have them in their modems ?

    I would kinda disagree on that point about the money part as Digicel has a small cdma network for inbound roamers which i doubt is even generating much profits for them as not even port royal u can get signal from that....i see them as trying to push the data as a means to increase revenue so it might not matter the initial investment i think they got a game plan as easily they could use the fixed lte in rural areas and phase out wimax since they already running that network, the question is , is the coverage distance greater for wimax per tower or tdd lte?

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    Quote Originally Posted by 876 View Post
    Okay so if what your saying is true then is it that Digicel is going to go with the TDD LTE for both mobile and fixed since they already have them in their modems ?

    I would kinda disagree on that point about the money part as Digicel has a small cdma network for inbound roamers which i doubt is even generating much profits for them as not even port royal u can get signal from that....i see them as trying to push the data as a means to increase revenue so it might not matter the initial investment i think they got a game plan as easily they could use the fixed lte in rural areas and phase out wimax since they already running that network, the question is , is the coverage distance greater for wimax per tower or tdd lte?
    No, they would never go TDD-LTE for mobile, I think only 2 carriers in this hemisphere went TDD-LTE (Sprint and Tricom Dominican Republic) for mobile and the networks are lackluster to say the least. The CDMA network was inherited from MiPhone and they decided to keep it up for inbound 2G/3G roamers from Verizon and Sprint. The plan would be or should be TDD-LTE to phase out WiMAX and FDD-LTE for mobile and fixed connectivity as well.

    P.S. The TDD-LTE network will have the same coverage distance as the WiMAX network was on the 2500 MHz spectrum, which is a typical deployment frequency for TDD. If anything, the throughput and congestion issues would be much less.
    Last edited by Brandysull; Apr 10, 2016 at 05:01 AM.

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    TDD LTE is more popular with fixed broadband deployment as the bands are usually in the 1900-2600Mhz (not great for indoor coverage) as the mobile market have already standardized on FDD LTE. The main difference between the two versions of LTE is that FDD uses a separate band for download and upload while TDD uses the same band. This results in FDD being symmetric due to different paths while TDD is shared.

    TDD LTE is usually the migration path for Wimax.

    @Brandysull
    Digicel's CDMA network was not inherited from Miphone, it was created to compete with Miphone for roaming CDMA customers.

    http://www.techjamaica.org.jm/home/i...roaming-market

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