Digicel vs. LIME - Clash of the Titans

There should be a law against distributing reading material in traffic. Reading while driving is distracting. And it seems like every week there is a new promotion from LIME or Digicel. Someone should do a study to see if there is a correlation between Digicel and LIME promotions, and traffic accidents. Having said that, I'd like to see more companies hiring hoardes of young people to block traffic.
 
The level of competition we see in the telecommunications industry does not exist in any other industry locally. The liberalization of the market and entry of Digicel, saw Jamaica catapulted to the vanguard of mobile penetration. The efforts by LIME to regain relevance, gave Jamaica a network as advanced as those existing in fully developed countries. And subsequent efforts to best each other has seen coverage wars, data network upgrades, and price slashing bloodbaths. Such competition keeps both companies from stagnation, and ultimately benefits consumers.
 

 
The latest blow by Digicel is a perfect example of this. Digicel has finally launched a mobile data network which will bring high speed connections to your handset. This is an arena in which Digicel has been conspicuously absent, leaving LIME the king of the mobile data hill. LIME's support for a full range of mobile data devices including tablets, coupled with affordable pricing, garnered them a following of road warriors.
 
A few months ago, LIME reduced their already affordable mobile rates. It is now obvious that this was a preemptive move, in anticipation of Digicel's entry into the space. The result is that Digicel's mobile rates are on par with LIME's offering, giving consumers true freedom of choice.
 
Aside from the obvious benefits and growth in the telecommunication sector, other businesses have seen windfalls resulting from the heightened state of competition. Three years ago when Claro entered the fracas, media and advertizing companies had their hands full creating increasingly aggressive ad campaigns. Television and radio stations hardly had time to broadcast anything besides back to back advertisements. Promotion companies handed out jobs, and free tee shirts, to students and others who needed part-time employment...and free tee shirts. And even after the exit of Claro, we have seen this trend continue, even intensifying. And the tee shirts are even brighter too!
 
How much further along in our development would Jamaica be, if we had more companies trying to leapfrog each other, with the same intensity and ingenuity as these two telecommunication giants? Can you think of other industries which would benefit from such competition? Please share your thoughts below.
 

Digicel Launches 4G...again.

The marketing folks over by Digicel are at it again.  "Coming soon: 4G Mobile from Digicel".  The average man on the street will probably ask: "didn't they already launch 4G"?  And rightly so!  The marketing buffoons over at Big Red already mired the water in 2010 by relaunching the WiMAX product, which they had for years, branding it as 4G.  This led to debates and lawsuits over false advertising and the like.

Eventually the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) ruled that there was "no breach" on the part of Digicel.  But that was only because the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) changed the rules in December 2010.  I still maintain that the change shouldn't have saved Digicel, since their network was an old standard of WiMAX (802.16e) and not the mobile standard (802.16m) which has been deployed elsewhere in the world.

Putting aside personal and technical opinions on what constitues 4G, the fact is that Digicel did this to maintain an image of innovation while they sat on their laurels with an outdated network.  Both LIME and Claro had superior networks, and superior data services.  In an attempt to seem up to date, and even ahead of the game, Digicel took their failed WiMAX business product, dusted it off, applied some spit and shine, and put on a big marketing campaign to capitalize on the hullabaloo about 4G.

Move forward to 2012, and it appears that Digicel will be rolling out a network worthy of the 4G moniker.  They simply steal acquire Claro's 3G network, spend 30 million dollars to upgrade it, and voilà!, they will have 4G for real.

For years I've complained that Digicel has done nothing innovative since they entered the market, and squashed LIME (formerly Cable & Wireless).  It appears this is about to change.  My dislike for Big Red aside, I think this will ultimately be good for consumers.  Competition in the mobile data space is well needed.  LIME and Claro did a good job advancing the cause of the mobile warrior, with their superior data services.  Now that Claro has fallen, Digicel is finally making a foray into the arena, and the war begins anew.  I hope LIME beats them to a red pulp!