LIME plans ‘broader availability’ for Mobile TV
KINGSTON, Jamaica – LIME says its Mobile TV service, which it suspended last month, is limited “by handsets and geography”.
Against this background, the telecommunication company said it plans to revamp and relaunch the offering.
“We are planning to re-launch with broader availability on handsets and geography. Timing will depend on completing the technical build-out and we will keep customers informed,” Garfield Sinclair, LIME Jamaica’s CEO told Caribbean Business Report.
Developed in collaboration with cable company DC Digital, the technology provides customers with access to television and cable channels from their mobile phones.
LIME suspended the service in early May, just over two years after predicting at the product launch that it would revolutionise the way people interact with mobile devices. The move raised speculation as to whether the project was troubled for lack of subscription.
Meanwhile the company says it did not spend US$100 million on Mobile TV, as has been reported repeatedly in the press since its launch.
Sinclair, during a recent webcast and press briefing, said the figure is “far from” the real cost of providing Mobile TV service. He explained to journalists that, “for U$100M you could build out two advanced 4G mobile networks, so to use that figure as our spend on a Mobile TV feature of overall cellular service would be fanciful.”