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Thread: CARICEL - Jamaica's third mobile services provider

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    Talking CARICEL - Jamaica's third mobile services provider

    Hey guys lets start the discussion on the newest entrant to the mobile services market(as of may 2016).

    Share all you know

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    Im all for this but a bit disappointed. I hoped it would have been one of the US giants

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    Yes I was kinda hoping for AT&T or Sprint myself but a fully Jamaican company is good.

    Their website www.caricel.net mentions nothing about voice services however only LTE broadband so perhaps it is data only and VOIP.

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    Anyone happen to know the frequency bands they operate on?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dre' View Post
    Anyone happen to know the frequency bands they operate on?
    I don't think their network is up and running yet..a recent gleaner article said in a few weeks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamlynx View Post
    I don't think their network is up and running yet..a recent gleaner article said in a few weeks.
    But at least the OUR would stipulate the band they are licensed to operate on.

    Well Maybe i can get a LTE phone at a more affordable price with LTE launch with these 3 companies.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamlynx View Post
    Their website www.caricel.net mentions nothing about voice services however only LTE broadband so perhaps it is data only and VOIP.
    LTE networks are ALL-IP based so any voice would be VoIP like, in this case VoLTE. Carriers with legacy networks would have a failback to 3G/2G circuit switched networks but as they are new they can skip that part altogether resulting in a easier to manage network and significant cost savings.

    The Verizons, AT&Ts, etc would have loved to dump their circuit switched networks but VoLTE only became usable in the real world in the last 2 years and even now there isn't any interoperability between each other.

    http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/...app/2016-02-29

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    Quote Originally Posted by psilos View Post
    LTE networks are ALL-IP based so any voice would be VoIP like, in this case VoLTE. Carriers with legacy networks would have a failback to 3G/2G circuit switched networks but as they are new they can skip that part altogether resulting in a easier to manage network and significant cost savings.

    The Verizons, AT&Ts, etc would have loved to dump their circuit switched networks but VoLTE only became usable in the real world in the last 2 years and even now there isn't any interoperability between each other.

    http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/...app/2016-02-29
    I was just going to talk about VoLTE but you got the jump on it. It's kool though. Waiting to see how this plays out.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamlynx View Post
    I don't think their network is up and running yet..a recent gleaner article said in a few weeks.
    Their network is "active" - it's still in testing, on iPhones I suppose it's 338-020 with an LTE search (was previously 311-890 for Globecomm Corp, the company hosting their EPC (in New York) and building their Converged Packed Gateway to connect local (Jamaica) and EPC + NOC in New York for Caricel)... Can only be seen in the KMA area tho...

    Also, I suppose their on either bands 13, 20 or 25 just based on observation (comparison and contrast of phones who can and can't see the network).

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    Quote Originally Posted by khat17 View Post
    I was just going to talk about VoLTE but you got the jump on it. It's kool though. Waiting to see how this plays out.
    You're gonna need Google for this y'all.......

    I doubt if they do VoLTE it'd be economically feasible, not many phones can do VoLTE - especially in Jamaica. VoLTE is very complicated in the sense that it requires Carrier specific settings which is only found on carrier specific devices (espcially hard for Android). This means that CariCel would have to have a custom ROM for each phone it sells with VoLTE - which will also be far out of the price range for the average Jamaican (see how much Facey Telecom suggests for Digicel and FLOW to sell the Galaxy S6 & S7 for - after MSRP, Taxes, Duty and Margins). The only phones which would have out-of-the box compatibility would be the iPhone - provided they get certified by Apple like FLOW did.

    VoLTE is only a recent devlopment with Qualcomm basebands from 2013 and up (ones with SRVCC capability from the iPhone 5s (Yes, I know it hasn't VoLTE but it has VoWiFi, Apple disabled VoLTE in the 5s) and up). It has only just matured in first world markets. Many major operators are still having teething issues (T-Mobile had a huge VoLTE outage some months ago.. forcing everyone to use the circuit switched domain i.e. AMR-WB over 3G. They also are having issues with Packet Switched to Circuit Switched handovers being harsh and causing dropped calls at highway speed. I also can't forget that they have yet to achieve IMS interoperability with other carriers).

    The kind of capital required to mitigate VoLTE issues + do LTE Cat 4 & 6 upgrades can only feasibly (in my eyes) originate from FLOW's parent company. (CWC/Liberty is doing VoLTE and VoWiFi (like AT&T, VZW, T-Mo, Voda etc. etc. etc.) in Panama whereas Digicel has no VoLTE deployments anywhere nor has it gone with a Diametric Signaling Controller solution for their core networks to help with LTE roaming complexity - they're too focused on Fibre rollout, fighting against Liberty and dem nuh come yet lol. Pushing 10 Gbit/s over fibre over who's offshore links? Liberty's? You mussi MAD!). You need to be a world player in order to combat the dragon that is VoLTE and LTE deployment in general.

    The more prudent solution would be for CariCel to have a nationwide roaming agreement with Digicel and/or FLOW for 2G/3G for voice. Hopefully, that would kick Digicel and FLOW into moving their UMTS networks to AMR-WB, a far more cost effective solution for a market such as Jamaica. Most of us have AMR-WB enabled phones and don't even know it... It's simple to deploy and is as pervasive as AMR-HR (what Digicel and FLOW use currently - FLOW uses a higher bitrate than Digicel however). AMR-WB is also used in VoLTE but carriers and vendors are moving to EVS (similar to AAC-ELD - Apple's Facetime audio codec - offering frequency range as just as wide as a human can hear). I hope they go with that plan rather than being purely LTE or go LTE islandwide QUICK...... It'd be painful for subscribers when they leave the Kingston Metro Area and realize that they have no Voice and Data services whereas they can have that and more on the 2 incumbent operators. It'll surely cause excessive churn and bad press. I want to see them succeed and show the other 2 networks that Jamaica IS a data driven market.
    Last edited by Brandysull; May 23, 2016 at 01:48 AM.

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