FLOW Jamaica Fiber Optic upgrade means FTTH, 4G LTE and Call Center by 2016

~ lindsworthdeer

“We are happy and proud that we were able to complete the upgrade of our Network to the most technologically advanced platform in the country, and all just in time for Christmas. With this upgrade complete, FLOW now offers 4G coverage all across Jamaica”

FLOW Jamaica Managing Director Garry Sinclair on the completion of an upgrade that boosts Wireless Broadband speeds to 4G

On Wednesday December 23rd, 2015, FLOW Jamaica has made every complaining FLOW customer (Deer, 2015, October 15) happy this Christmas 2015!

MICO Wars - How FLOW Jamaica is upgrading to FTTH and 4G LTE by 2016 - 28-12-2015 LHDEER (3)

This as they upped the speed on their existing 4G Mobile Broadband (The Jamaica Observer, 2015, December 23) as well as Flow Cable Internet Packages!

So says this snippet from their FLOW Press Release, quote: “Customers with existing packages, starting with 12MB, will now receive speeds of up to 15MB; existing 20MB plans will now be upgraded to 25MB and current 25MB will have access to 30MB. The new speeds mean customers on the FLOW Network will now be able to access more online at faster speeds”.

To be a bit more plain, the speed increases are as follows:

  • 12MB have been upgraded to 15MB
  • 20MB have been upgraded to 25MB
  • 25MB have been upgraded to 30MB

Best of all, this comes at no additional cost to the customers, which would seem to be fair payback for increasing the cost of Cable packages (Deer, 2015, May 14) as well as the removal of some cable channels.

To quote FLOW Jamaica Managing Director Garry Sinclair: “We could think of no better way to celebrate than to share the good cheer with our loyal subscribers by rolling out this unprecedented offer at no additional cost to the consumer to boost their Christmas. We are delivering on our promise to Jamaica as we keep the country connected to the world”.

Already on FLOW Jamaica Twitter feed, you can see the response of some of these clearly surprised FLOW Customers:

https://twitter.com/Impaler101/status/679662413310906368

So what exactly did FLOW Jamaica upgrade that would cause both 4G Mobile Broadband as well as Flow Cable Internet Packages to become faster?

FLOW Jamaica upgrading to Fiber Optic – Backhaul Network being prepared for More traffic

They may have upgraded their Backhaul Networks, which carries Internet connectivity to their mobile Cells sites, their POTS (Plain Old Telephone Network) as well as ADSL Network to Fiber Optic.

MICO Wars - How FLOW Jamaica is upgrading to FTTH and 4G LTE by 2016 - 28-12-2015 LHDEER (2)

Often referred to as the Transmission Network by FLOW Technicians, this Network carries Voice and Data Traffic to their OPM (Outside Plant Module) and OPAC (Outside Plant Access Cabinets).

From there it’s distributed to their DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) for their ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) Network Upgrades to their Backhaul Network upgrade would also include upgrades to FLOW DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) Platform, which supports the FLOW Cable Broadband Network.

FLOW Jamaica, having tied all three (3) Backhaul Networks together, would most likely have resorted to using Fiber Optic Cables as their physical transmission medium. It’s easier to implement via micro-trenching in the roads (Deer, 2015, May 14) or overlaying on the existing Coaxial Cables for the FLOW Cable Network

FLOW Jamaica FTTH, 4G LTE and Call Center – Management of low Traffic Periods

But they may have also realized that they would have excess capacity due to times of low traffic on their Network. Knowing this, the decision to launch a FTTH (Fiber to the Home) Network similar to Digicel Play (Deer, 2015, November 23) FTTH would have been an easy one.

MICO Wars - How FLOW Jamaica is upgrading to FTTH and 4G LTE by 2016 - 28-12-2015 LHDEER (1)

Especially as they’ll be facing competition (Deer, 2015, December 7) from the Bigger, Better Network in 2016. They may also be using the excess Capacity to power their Call Center, which based on my sources, is being hosted by GraceKennedy (Deer, 2015, December 17), who have rented space downtown in their Jamaica Postal Service Kingston CSO (Central Sorting Office).

Already there is evidence that they’re planning to launch a Fiber Optic Network for Residential customers (Deer, 2015, December 26) along with (Brown, 2015, December 22) 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) in 2016 based on the below Tweets on FLOW Jamaica Twitter feed:

Clearly FLOW Jamaica has big things planned for 2016 as more details are yet to be revealed! Fingers crossed that it’ll be as good as this initial offering!

References:

  1. Deer, L. (2015, May 14). FLOW increases Cable Package prices – 19 channel removal on MNP, LNP Day as Summer of 2015 for Streaming and Downloading. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2015/05/FLOW-Cable-Packages-MNP-LNP-Jamaica-Summer-2015-Streaming-Downloading.html
  2. Deer, L. (2015, May 14). Digicel’s Fiber Optic Network has July 2014 Completion Date – Launchpad for 4G LTE, Frame Relay, FTTH and Cloud Based PBX Services. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2014/07/digicels-fiber-optic-Network-has-july.html
  3. Deer, L. (2015, October 15). 74 Percent increase in FLOW Jamaica problems to OUR – FLOW’s infrastructure problems as Digicel Fibre is coming. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2015/10/74-Percent-increase-FLOW-Jamaica-problems-OUR.html
  4. Deer, L. (2015, November 23). Digicel Play launches FTTH Network – How FLOW Jamaica and Liberty Global Empire Will Strike Back. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2015/11/Digicel-Play-FTTH-Network-FLOW-Jamaica.html
  5. Deer, L. (2015, December 7). How Digicel Play will spread the Gospel of Fiber Optic this Christmas. Retrieved from http://geezam.com/how-digicel-play-will-spread-the-gospel-of-fiber-optic-this-christmas/
  6. Deer, L. (2015, December 17). How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers – GraceKennedy Call Center necessary for Product Customer Support. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2015/12/GraceKennedy-Call-Center-necessary-Product-Customer-Support.html
  7. Brown, K. (2015, December 22). Flow to upgrade Fiber Internet Service + islandwide 4G and LTE coming soon. Retrieved from http://geezam.com/breaking-flow-to-improve-and-upgrade-fiber-internet-service/
  8. The Jamaica Observer. (2015, December 23). FLOW broadband customers get free upgrade. Retrieved from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/FLOW-broadband-customers-get-free-upgrade_46669
  9. Deer, L. (2015, December 26). Why Flow Jamaica re-hiring 150 Ericsson Techs hints at FTTH in 2016. Retrieved from http://mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com/2015/12/Flow-Jamaica-Ericsson-FTTH-2016.html

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