Wireless broadband in Jamaica

[mysticqueen]

I stay in the country in Westmoreland where it is very difficult to get broadband internet service. It is difficult because the cable & Wireless phone lines do not reach the part I'm in so since you cannot have the high-speed internet without the phone line that leaves me in the dark. My question is, is there any company that provide wireless broadband in country areas? Digicel is supposed to be coming out with something but are now only serving businesses. Please reply.

[j-kid]

Re: Wireless broadband in Jamaica

Someone had mentioned another company for highs-speed, besides C&W, but I don't recall the name. Maybe they or someone else will see your post and let us know.

[j-kid]

Re: Wireless broadband in Jamaica

"ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

In today’s world of fast and easy communication, Jamaica is on the right side of the digital divide. Fibralink, a mainly undersea regional fibre backbone spanning 18 countries including Jamaica, and Trans Caribbean Cable Company, have been facilitating broadband connectivity from Jamaica to the world since March 2006. With investments of over US$80 million in fibre infrastructure, Fibralink is a regional submarine cable system, the Jamaican portion of which links Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Kingston to regional cable systems in Miami.

“The fact that Fibralink was built in only 14 months with crucial assistance from the government, is also proof that the state is pro business and investors are properly treated here,” says Fibralink CEO Richard Pardy. He had access to the people at the top. This allowed for quick problem solving, a critical factor in the project’s timely completion. The FibraLink cable system is currently transporting 2.5 gigabytes of Internet traffic to the North American backbone, or less than 1% of its design capacity of 320 gigabytes. Think of the business possibilities!

Of that, Mr. Pardy says; “Bandwidth will be accessibly abundant. Less than half its design capacity is enough to give every household in Jamaica access to broadband.”

Currently, only 4% of Jamaican homes subscribe to high-speed Internet services, compared with the U.S. broadband penetration of 30%, 35% in Canada, and 40% in the Bahamas. Cable provider Flow, sister company to Fibralink, is rapidly building a network to deliver 38 Mb/s of ultra high speed Internet services to households, as well as Digital Landline Service and Digital Cable TV with over 250 channels – all at once. Flow anticipates spending US$200 million to bring its high-speed network to 350,000 households in Jamaica by the end of 2008. “The Cable system we are installing will provide the infrastructure for Jamaica to firmly stand on the right side of the digital divide,” says Mr. Pardy.

<span style="color: #CC0000">The other major players in Jamaica’s telecommunications sector are also investing heavily in the delivery of high-speed Internet services throughout the country. Mobile companies Digicel and MiPhone are upgrading their networks to deliver wireless Internet services, whilst fixed line Cable and Wireless is expanding the footprint of their DSL services. All this investment in high-speed broadband delivery will undoubtedly place Jamaica’s telecommunications infrastructure amongst the best in the world. Highly technical businesses dependent upon the newest technology can now relocate to paradise and be even more enterprising</span>".