Digicel Jamaica, when it rolls out its new 4G WiMAX service by mid-2010, will be offering netbooks to broadband customers at what the company insists will be a competitive price to rival the service offered by those who deploy 3G.

The company will be entering both the consumer fixed and mobile broadband markets, but says it estimates that the majority of the business will come from households demanding fixed broadband, putting it in direct competition with LIME Jamaica as well as Claro Jamaica, both of which are already offering some 3G services.

The netbooks, according to Digicel CEO Mark Linehan, are being sourced from a number of computer manufacturers, including Acer.

Netbooks, or small laptops, are about half the size of the regular devices, and are now being pushed as a lighter, more easily transportable alternative. An estimated 35 million netbooks are expected to be sold worldwide this year, but with their rising popularity, the five-year forecast is for sales to grow to about 140 million.

The screens are about 10 inches.

Netbooks sell for about US$200 to US$300 (J$18,000 to J$27,000) in overseas markets - AT&T is also said to offer an Acer Aspire version for a subsidised US$50 to its subscribers - but Linehan is not saying how many of the computers it will be ordering, its estimate of the market demand, nor the price they will command in the WiMax service packages being devised for sale in Jamaica.

That information, he said, would give away too much to Digicel's rivals.

Low-priced hardware

The offer of the mini laptops, or 'companion devices' as netbooks are marketed elsewhere, copies a strategy that worked well for Digicel at market entry in the mobile arena back in 2002 - low-priced hardware that is attractive and easy to acquire, and on which the company would deploy its services.

Seven years later, Digicel has two million mobile customers compared to LIME Jamaica's approximate 660,000 to 700,000.

The US$22.7-million price quoted by the company for the network configurations does not, Linehan said, include the netbooks, just the upgrades to the infrastructure.

The company will not be adding new towers to its current network of about 1,000 sites, but will be reconfiguring them, starting initially with 200 towers, to deploy the 4G services. Linehan said the company will not be phasing in the service but would be going nationwide with its coverage when the big launch happens in the second quarter - between April and June - in 2010.

"Digicel Broadband will on Day One," the company said, "cover 60 per cent of the population in all 14 parishes."

Thereafter, network expansion will be driven by customer demand.

The build-out of the infrastructure is on a timetable for this month, but Linehan also told the Financial Gleaner that the job, which is being contracted out, had not, up to Wednesday, been awarded.

Digicel Broadband, the division established for 4G services, will employ 60 people and be run by Magnus Johansson. Staff recruitment is ongoing.

lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com