
New player attacking Flow, Digicel in Jamaica

Jamaica's telecom industry is on the verge of a mobile war with the introduction of Symbiote Investments Limited, the newest rival to established operators Flow and Digicel.
Operating under the brand Caricel, the company says it will focus on data as a means of enticing dissatisfied Flow and Digicel customers to acquire its services, according to local daily The Jamaica Gleaner.
Caricel should hit the market in a matter of weeks, and will initially offer its service in the Corporate Area and Portmore, an unnamed spokesman from the firm told the paper.
Symbiote is the first fully Jamaican-owned telecom company to be granted a local mobile spectrum license. Approval was granted by the cabinet last week and the price of US$20.8mn will be paid by the company within a month.
"It is a win-win for the customer. We are proud to welcome a wholly-owned Jamaican company, powered by Jamaicans, to the telecommunications industry," said Andrew Wheatley, minister of science, energy and technology, according to a report by the Jamaica Observer.
In February, former minister Phillip Paulwell announced that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) and the Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) had approved the issue of a license and had approached the cabinet for approval, but did not reveal the name of the operator.
Jamaica previously had three operators, but América Móvil's Claro unit was acquired by Digicel in 2011, leaving only Digicel and Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC).
Last year, Julian Wilkins, head of regulation at Digicel and chairman of Caribbean telecoms association Canto told BNamericas that auctioning the 700MHz is desperately needed to boost 4G coverage in the Caribbean region.
Subscribe to the most trusted business intelligence platform in Latin America. Let us show you our solutions for Suppliers, Contractors, Operators, Government, Legal, Financial and Insurance.
News in: ICT (Jamaica)

Jamaican govt to launch second phase of Tablets in Schools initiative
With investments of 700mn Jamaican dollars per year, the government expects to equip every primary school classroom with ICT over the next three ye...

Expensive purchases boost Brazil e-commerce in H1
An increase in products prices and wealthier consumers also weighed on the result.
Subscribe to Latin America’s most trusted business intelligence platform.
Other projects in: ICT
Get critical information about thousands of ICT projects in Latin America: what stages they're in, capex, related companies, contacts and more.
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the Huánuco Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the Pasco Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the Amazon Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the San Martín Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the Arequipa Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the Ancash Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Datacenter Rio de Janeiro 2
- Current stage:
- Updated:
8 months ago
- Project: Antarctic Submarine Cable
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Submarine cable
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
- Project: Broadband Installation for Integral Connectivity and Social Development of the Puno Region
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 year ago
Other companies in: ICT
Get critical information about thousands of ICT companies in Latin America: their projects, contacts, shareholders, related news and more.
- Company: MVM Ingeniería de Software
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by the BNamericas’ researchers. However, it may have been...
- Company: Ministerio de Comunicaciones, Infraestructura y Vivienda de la República de Guatemala  (CIV Guatemala)
-
Guatemala's communications, infrastructure and housing ministry (CIV) is a government agency responsible for the planning and development of communications networks, transportat...
- Company: Tim S.A.  (TIM Brasil)
-
TIM S.A. is a Brazilian telecommunication provider offering mobile and fixed telephony services, access to the Internet via modems, tablets, and mobile phones (3G and 4G), as we...
- Company: Cable & Wireless Panamá S.A.  (+Móvil Panamá)
-
Mobile telephony firm Cable & Wireless Panamá S.A. (+Móvil Panamá) offers fixed, mobile and broadband services in the country. The operator is also a supplier of pay-TV and ente...
- Company: Next Level Telecom Ltda.  (NLT Telecom)
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by BNamericas’ content team. However, it may have been au...
- Company: Centennial Towers
-
Centennial Towers is an international service provider for wireless telecom operators, founded in 2007 in Panama. The company develops, owns, and operates towers, rooftop sites,...
- Company: 5G Americas, LLC  (5G Americas)
-
5G Americas LLC, formerly 4G Americas, is an organization established to enable the LTE wireless technology and its progression towards 5G for networks, services, applications a...
- Company: Enel X Chile S.p.A.  (Enel X Chile)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: WOM Colombia S.A.S.  (WOM Colombia)
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by BNamericas’ content team. However, it may have been au...
- Company: Ascenty México, S. de R.L. de C.V.  (Ascenty México)
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by the BNamericas’ researchers. However, it may have been...