Editing Jamaica (section)

===Communication===
{{main|Telecommunications in Jamaica}}

Jamaica has a fully [[Digital telephony|digital telephone communication system]] with a mobile penetration of over 95%.<ref name="EIU">[http://globaltechforum.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=newdebi&country_id=JM&country=Jamaica&title=Doing+eBusiness+in+Jamaica&channelid=6 Doing eBusiness in Jamaica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928173029/http://globaltechforum.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=newdebi&country_id=JM&country=Jamaica&title=Doing+eBusiness+in+Jamaica&channelid=6 |date=28 September 2011 }}, The Economist Intelligence Unit.</ref>

The country's two mobile operators – [[Flow (brand)|FLOW Jamaica]] (formerly LIME, bMobile and Cable and Wireless Jamaica) and [[Digicel|Digicel Jamaica]] have spent millions in network upgrades and expansion. The newest operator, Digicel was granted a licence in 2001 to operate mobile services in the newly liberalised telecom market that had once been the sole domain of the incumbent FLOW (then Cable and Wireless Jamaica) monopoly. Digicel opted for the more widely used [[GSM]] wireless system, while a past operator, Oceanic (which became Claro Jamaica and later merged with Digicel Jamaica in 2011) opted for the [[CDMA]] standard. FLOW (formerly "LIME" – pre-[[Columbus Communications]] merger) which had begun with [[Digital AMPS|TDMA]] standard, subsequently upgraded to GSM in 2002, decommissioned TDMA in 2006 and only utilised that standard until 2009 when LIME launched its 3G network.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwc.com/assets/uploads/files/Press%20Releases/3g%20launch%20in%20jamaica.pdf |title=LIME 3G launch in 2009 |access-date=23 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625182344/http://www.cwc.com/assets/uploads/files/Press%20Releases/3g%20launch%20in%20jamaica.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Both operators currently provide islandwide coverage with HSPA+ (3G) technology. Currently, only [[Digicel]] offers LTE to its customers<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/06/13/digicel-jamaica-launches-lte/ |title=Digicel Jamaica launches LTE |last=TeleGeography |access-date=14 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806170506/https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/06/13/digicel-jamaica-launches-lte/ |archive-date=6 August 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> whereas FLOW Jamaica has committed to launching LTE in the cities of Kingston and Montego Bay, places where Digicel's LTE network is currently only found in, in short order.

A new entrant to the Jamaican communications market, [[Columbus Communications|Flow Jamaica]], laid a new [[Submarine communications cable|submarine cable]] connecting Jamaica to the United States. This new cable increases the total number of submarine cables connecting Jamaica to the rest of the world to four. Cable and Wireless Communications (parent company of LIME) acquired the company in late 2014 and replaced their brand LIME with FLOW.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwc.com/live/news-and-media/press-releases/new-flow-brand-unveiled-in-jamaica.html |title=Cable & Wireless Communications – New Flow Brand Unveiled in Jamaica |website=www.cwc.com |access-date=23 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625152402/http://www.cwc.com/live/news-and-media/press-releases/new-flow-brand-unveiled-in-jamaica.html |archive-date=25 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Flow (brand)|FLOW Jamaica]] currently has the most broadband and cable subscribers on the island and also has 1 million mobile subscribers,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Flow-celebrates-hitting-one-million-customers_61486 |title=Flow celebrates hitting one million customers |website=Jamaica Observer |access-date=23 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524044859/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Flow-celebrates-hitting-one-million-customers_61486 |archive-date=24 May 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> second to Digicel (which had, at its peak, over 2 million mobile subscriptions on its network).

Digicel entered the broadband market in 2010 by offering WiMAX broadband,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2010/08/23/digicel-launches-wimax-to-non-business-users/ |title=Digicel launches WiMAX to non-business users |last=TeleGeography |website=www.telegeography.com |access-date=23 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306013556/https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2010/08/23/digicel-launches-wimax-to-non-business-users/ |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> capable of up to 6&nbsp;Mbit/s per subscriber. To further their broadband share post-LIME/FLOW merger in 2014, the company introduced a new broadband service called Digicel Play,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digicelgroup.com/jm/en/Play.html |title=Home |website=www.digicelgroup.com |access-date=23 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521133001/http://www.digicelgroup.com/jm/en/Play.html |archive-date=21 May 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> which is Jamaica's second [[FTTx|FTTH]] offering (after LIME's deployment in selected communities in 2011<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2011/12/16/lime-jamaica-launches-100mbps-ftth-service/|title=Lime Jamaica launches 100Mbps FTTH service|last=TeleGeography|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624125845/https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2011/12/16/lime-jamaica-launches-100mbps-ftth-service/|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>). It is currently only available in the parishes of Kingston, Portmore and St. Andrew. It offers speeds of up to 200&nbsp;Mbit/s down, 100&nbsp;Mbit/s up via a pure fibre optic network. Digicel's competitor, [[Flow (brand)|FLOW Jamaica]], has a network consisting of [[ADSL]], Coaxial and Fibre to the Home (inherited from LIME) and only offers speeds up to 100&nbsp;Mbit/s. FLOW has committed to expanding its Fibre offering to more areas in order to combat Digicel's entrance into the market.

It was announced that the Office and Utilities Regulations (OUR), Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM) and the Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) have given approval for another mobile operator licence in January 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/05/05/jamaican-government-approves-third-mobile-player/|title=Jamaican government approves third mobile player|last=TeleGeography|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624135952/https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/05/05/jamaican-government-approves-third-mobile-player/|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The identity of this entrant was ascertained on 20 May 2016, when the Jamaican Government named the new carrier as Symbiote Investments Limited operating under the name [[Caricel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Caricel---first-Jamaican-company-to-get-mobile-spectrum-licence_61594|title=Caricel – first Jamaican company to get mobile spectrum licence|website=Jamaica Observer|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160523110812/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Caricel---first-Jamaican-company-to-get-mobile-spectrum-licence_61594|archive-date=23 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The company will focus on 4G LTE data offerings and will first go live in the Kingston Metropolitan Area and will expand to the rest of Jamaica thereafter.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}