Business

Laranzo Dacres, Gleaner Writer

In its continuing push to get consumers to latch on to its new 4G broadband Internet service, telecommunications firm Digicel on Saturday night gave members of corporate Jamaica a taste of what it has to offer.

Digicel Jamaica CEO Mark Linehan, addressing guests at a cocktail partly dubbed 'The Experience', said Digicel's 4G broadband possibilities were endless.

"This time next year, we will be seeing the benefits of Digicel's 4G in Jamaica," Linehan said during the party held on the lawns of the Hope Botanic Gardens in St Andrew.

"We are starting with 60 per cent coverage of the island," Linehan promised, claiming the push would give Digicel the biggest broadband footing in Jamaica.

The Digicel CEO, pressed on whether active 3G users would recognise the difference in speed, stressed that 4G was up to 10 times faster than 3G.

"I tested 4G and I was blown over. Before you take your finger off the mouse, the (web)site's already up," he declared.

Guests were treated to a live demonstration of how fast 4G is.

The presentation took the form of a video stream of a disc jockey in Los Angeles, California, playing the music for the cocktail party for a part of the evening. A subsequent performance by Wayne Marshall was also streamed via Ustream from Junction, St Elizabeth, where a Digicel concert was being held.

The live video stream was projected on a video screen that stretched across the length of the back wall of the elevated stage, along with strategically mounted plasma television screens on supporting beams of the structure of the 4G lounge that was created for 'The Experience'.

"The possibilities of Digicel 4G broadband are endless," Linehan said, claiming 4G would change how business is done and how information is accessed for education.

laranzo.dacres@gleanerjm.com

 Digicel's 4G customer premises equipment (CPE) broadband modem costs $3,950, plus GCT, with plans ranging from:

• Seven-day unlimited - $1,200
• 14-day unlimited - $2,000
• 30-day unlimited - $3,000

No deposit is required.