Cayman is regional leader in 5G network availability
At the Caribbean Spectrum Management Conference held in Jamaica earlier this year, the Cayman Islands was singled out as being ahead of the curve in the region when it comes to wireless broadband connectivity. Both Flow and Digicel launched 5G services in June.
Speaking at the conference, Richard Marsden, Senior Managing Director at NERA Economic Consulting, emphasised the need for available spectrum bandwidth to be made available to operators, “When you look at the Caribbean countries in terms of the amount of spectrum they have released for mobile, it varies a lot. The Cayman Islands is unusual in the region in that they have got the spectrum out.
“The operators in the Cayman Islands already have the spectrum they need to deploy the latest 5G technology, including deployment of high capacity, high-speed networks using larger blocks of spectrum allocated in the 2300, 2500 and 3500 MHz frequency bands.”
According to the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), this means that mobile operators in the Cayman Islands have been furnished with the necessary ‘raw material’ from which to build state-of-the-art connectivity solutions. “It is now down to operators to invest in the infrastructure that will provide the next generation wireless services for both consumers and businesses, which will enable applications such as virtual reality, 3D streaming and calling, and remote education and healthcare.”
OfReg Acting CEO Sonji Myles said that planning and preparation were key for ensuring the potential for the opportunities that 5G presents. “The Cayman Islands is one of the first countries in the entire region to bring 5G network services online for consumers and businesses and, quite rightly, they would expect us to have done the necessary planning and preparation to ensure it is fit for purpose.”
He explained, “A completely new cellular technology network is not something you just install new equipment for and switch on. It requires careful planning and management of our available radio spectrum before any of that happens.
“As the industry’s regulator, it is OfReg’s role to open up that bandwidth and allocate it effectively to ensure our operators’ and licensees’ networks have the capacity to provide the innovative new opportunities that 5G presents. We are working to monitor and evaluate safe operation, 5G connectivity performance and licensees compliance with their obligations under the terms of their licenses.”
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If anyone from flow comes and tries to sell you any bundle just say no. I have had flow for literally 5 hours and they are coming to remove this garbage tomorrow morning. Everything from wifi to customer service with flow is horrendous.
Some other leading aspects:
– lowest minimum wage
– highest cost of living
– highest paid politicians
– worst social healthcare
– lowest level of public education
– most uneducated population
– etc
My old dial up had better speed than 5G in Cayman.
I can appreciate the hyperbole but anyone that believes this has never once used a 56k or lesser connection.
Bring back Stan Green. He would fix it with Timmy Adam.
Yup just like the Turtle Farm
And I have some oceanfront property for sale in Arizona.
Let’s hear it for Starlink. Oh wait, they aren’t allowed. Offreg looking out for the people. LOL
5G? In Cayman? Maybe in name only!
BTW…. Why can’t OfReg act expeditiously to get StarLink approved for the local market?
Well I should hope so.
We are the wealthiest country in the Caribbean, aren’t we?
The most officially bankrupt in the Caribbean. That’s why the development train can’t stop. It is the true first pillar of the economy.
Hopefully one day you’re smart enough to recognize how stupid statements like this make you sound.
If we knew CIG was hiding at least $2.1 billion from the liabilities column, then who can say how much more isn’t being reported? The OAG has issued adverse opinions for every year that’s ever been reviewed.
Didn’t say anything about Cayman being the leader with exorbitant pricing and crap service. My international calls drop more times in an hour than OfReg drops the ball on customers.
And the highest cancer rate in the world.
Can you please provide your source, otherwise sit down
Source: Trust me bro.
Just authorize Starlink
Lol – I don’t even have internet in East End and most of all, ya all service is S#&T!!!!
LTE is 15-year-old technology. 5G has been commercially available in other Caribbean countries like Puerto Rico since 2019. 5 years ago this would have been news, but now? What’s next? A press release from OfReg stating that, compared to poorer Caribbean nations, we have electricity almost all year-round?
of course. cayman leads in almost every area, including worse MP in the world.
Lagging quite far behind in grammar as well.
Just signed up for the Flow1000 gigabit service. Hasn’t managed to break 450mbps after two weeks.
FLOW = Effing Lime only worse.
At least you get to work on your patois when you have to call in issues repeatedly. Silver linings!
How are you testing your speeds? Most devices cannot get 1000Mbps over WiFi.
Even with Ethernet, you will not get the full 1000Mbps. With a single device over Ethernet, you are likely only going to get 928Mbps because of Ethernet, IP, and TCP overhead.
i was gonna say that but I see you got here ahead of me
So what you are really saying is that the gigabit deals offered by local providers are based on fraudulent misrepresentation?
Did you genuinely not understand or is this a facetious “gotcha” claim?
They can sell you 1000Mbps, but if your home devices only operate at 802.11g, you’re not going to get that 1000Mbps even if there is only a single device on there. Many (arguably even most) home PCs still operate on 10/100, and those that operate on GigE might not be using Cat5e or above, so your home cabling might be an additional problem. Just about all of the local providers suck, but realistically they are not responsible for ensuring that you’re using the appropriate hardware to take advantage of their product.
Ha ha ha ha ha
Really?
It’s so slow… and in little cayman there was no signal near the airport at all!
There are sections of main road in Little Cayman where there has never even been copper line. And these are stretches of road, one is three miles long, with houses and apartments with actual people live and need service (aka customers).
Still waiting for 4G
I hear a lot of buzz-words but very little substance.
Cayman is three times the cost of telecom in the real world, who are already on 5G Advanced, and looking ahead to 6G deployment. We are almost a decade behind, still being served sub-LTE 3G data transfer speeds at high latency, and at an enormous price premium. The sister Islands, without any obstructions or topography, still have land-based holes in that service coverage map. Let’s not be too proud of all of this exploitation of the Cayman Islands consumer. It’s appalling.
Available, yes, but 5G speed? NO.
Ready, but not available, for that we wait…
Stop patting yourself on the back lodgja.
its not difficult on an isolated island.
This must be a different Cayman.