Digicel Group and Huawei Technologies have successfully tested a new technology on its fibre to the home network which could quadruple the internet speed customers now experience.

The initiative will put Digicel on par with broadband global power houses such as Singapore and Korea, through the deploying of a technology known as XG-PON on the new fibre network which delivers speeds of up to 10,000Mbps.

XG-PON, which stands for “10Gbps Passive Optical Network” creates a new era in Ultra-Broadband speeds, which according to Digicel has “never before been seen in the Caribbean region”. The test was conducted in Digicel’s lab in downtown Kingston using Digicel’s new fibre to the home network.

According to John Suranyi, CEO of Digicel Play Caribbean and Central America: “This was a very exciting trial. We were blown away by the speeds reached and how simple it is to move to these speeds when the region needs it. This shows how we can evolve towards Multi Gigabit speeds as and when our customers demand it, and not only puts Digicel Jamaica head and shoulders above all competition, but also places the region alongside the broadband global power houses such as Singapore and Korea.

“With the direct correlation between broadband penetration and increased GDP widely accepted, this will help attract inward direct investment and promote economic growth. To date we have invested over US$100m in our FTTH fibre programme in Jamaica, and our customers are starting to see the real benefits of our investment,” he continued.

Stephen Ma, CEO of Huawei Technologies Caribbean office, stated that by using Digicel’s skills and experience in telecommunications and Huawei Technologies Multi-Service Single FAN platform, for the first time the two companies have brought multi-gigabit speeds to the Caribbean.

“This is a huge achievement and a very proud day for both organisations. Our partnership goes from strength to strength and we are very excited about what the future holds,” he said.