Over US$100 million ($8.6 billion) went into developing the Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) system that powers the LIME Mobile TV service that was launched on Thursday by the telecommunications provider.

LIME chairman and chief marketing officer Chris Dehring told Sunday Finance that the substantial investment was made into upgrading the mobile network, 3G coverage and undersea cables used in the transmission. Jamaica is the first country in the Caribbean to have the service, which was developed through a partnership with DC Digital, a Jamaican company.

“This solidifies our position as the largest telecommunications network provider in Jamaica and the Caribbean,” said Dehring at the launch held at the SportsMax Zone in New Kingston.

In reference to the launch of 4G internet by competitors Digicel last week, Dehring said the introduction of LIME Mobile is better than 4G.

“This is more G,” he said. “They can’t do this on their mobile network.”

Dehring told Sunday Finance that the introduction of the service represents a ‘paradigm shift’ for telecommunications in Jamaica and a new avenue through which other business lines could be developed including opportunities for television broadcast, for local content development including educational and entertainment related programmes and advertising.

Referring to the cellphone as the ‘third screen’ after the television and the computer, Dehring said that the addition of Mobile TV will “provide information in the palm of your hand at every second”.

“This revolution will be televised,” quipped Dehring.

LIME Mobile TV project manager Akil Strachan told Sunday Finance that the service will be available on Nokia phones: the 5530, N77, N96 and N97; the ZTE N290 along with other models that will be available from LIME. The company is also working on bringing mobile TV to smartphones, including the Blackberry.

However, no one was willing to disclose how much the service would cost customers, especially given the significant capital outlay.

“If you can afford to buy a patty and a cocobread, you can afford to buy this,” Strachan told Sunday Finance. Dehring later said the company has not yet started the “monitization process” to arrive at a final price, but that the service would be “extremely affordable”.

“It’s fantastic technology, but we are going to make it very affordable, and we are convinced that customers will be really excited by the possibilities,” he said.

Robert Whitehorne, project manager of DC Digital, the local company which developed the technology for the Mobile TV service said the deployment was about four years in the making.

“We came together out of mutual interest and they offered to assist us provide the capital and the support and other resources to develop the product,” he told Sunday Finance.

DC Digital has developed the transmission network to broadcast the signal, will provide the contents for the TV stations and act as a service provider to LIME. The telecoms company will be responsible for marketing, customer service and billing.

Dehring noted that the deployment of LIME Mobile TV places Jamaica among the few countries that can be regarded as a place for technology development. “My proudest moment at LIME was seeing our Jamaican researchers and developers impress technology experts from abroad,” he said.

LIME Mobile TV will start off with 20 channels, 15 premium TV channels including CNN, SportsMax and RETV and another five from radio. The service, which is available to both prepaid and postpaid customers, will first be offered in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine in time for Christmas, with expansion islandwide projected for 2011.