The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) indicated in its most recent report that demand for Internet services continues to deliver a great proportion of revenue for Jamaica’s telecommunications providers.

Out of $25.22 billion earned in the December 2020 quarter, $9.98 billion was attributed to Internet services with the remaining revenue split between fixed and mobile services. This compared to $27.36 billion in total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019, when $10.43 billion was attributed to Internet use.

The two major players (Digicel and Flow) in the industry are seeking to grow take-up for data, primarily on mobile platforms which provide over 80 per cent of company revenue, by the addition of value-added user packages.

The OUR report showed mobile Internet penetration, which was at 59.8 per cent in Q4 2019, grew to 63.7 per cent by Q4 2020

CEO of the Digicel’s Jamaican operation, Jabbor Kayumov, reported that a 1500 per cent increase in bundled data products, year over year, as at May 2021.

“Since Digicel introduced superfast LTE service to Jamaica in June 2016 and delivered a higher standard in wireless broadband, the company has seen a virtual explosion in data consumption as customers were able to connect at up to 10 times faster speeds.

“Accelerated speeds have enabled our customers to seamlessly utilise our enhanced data services, including streaming, video calling, downloading and uploading of photos, videos and large files in record time. As a result of this consumption pattern, we have seen an 11 per cent uplift in data revenue versus a one per cent increase in mobile voice revenue from 2018 to present,” Kayumov said.

The company is upbeat about this positive data consumption trend continuing well into the future, based on a more than US$200 million investment over the past three years in the expansion of LTE service to over 90 per cent of the population.

“With greater access to high-speed data, our customers are able to do more with unrivalled access to e-commerce, e-learning and applications enabled by Digicel LTE,” he said

In October 2020, the company introduced a new 24/7 “digital experiences” to customers via a family of eight apps that include advanced messaging, sports, music, news, local radio, podcasts, marketplaces, and cloud storage.

“Because these apps provide more of everything for everyone, every minute of every day, we have seen a steady increase in demand for our Prime Bundles since their introduction,” the Digicel Jamaica head said.

Director, Communications & Stakeholder Engagement at Flow Jamaica, Kayon Mitchell, shared that revenue flows over the past five years reflect a shift from voice-only services to voice and data combo services.

“As such,” she stated, “we have continued to enhance our voice and data plans to better meet these evolving needs. With our new value-loaded plans, which satisfy consumers’ voice and data needs, we have seen the minutes of usage increase under the unlimited calling feature as customers have found that they spend less especially on PAYGO voice minutes.”

She said new Flow plans include, but are not limited to, unlimited access to the apps that customers really want ( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), in addition to unlimited calling and texting to any network. These are among our customer favorites.