Service to be launched in Jamaica before Christmas 2010

LIME, the leading telecommunications company in the Caribbean, announced today (Thursday) that it will be launching Mobile Television in Jamaica. This will make LIME the first mobile carrier to deliver mobile television services in the Caribbean.

Live television on a mobile phone is presently available in very few markets across the world but it will be a reality in Jamaica before Christmas 2010.

That is the promise from Chris Dehring, Chairman of LIME Jamaica and CMO of LIME Caribbean. “LIME customers will be able to enjoy some of their favourite TV channels anytime and anywhere they want to,” he said, during a glitzy media briefing at the SportsMax Sports Zone. “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. It will truly be a service for living, everyday.”

Mr. Dehring added that one of the very pleasing aspects of imminent launch of Mobile TV is that it has come out of a partnership between LIME and a group of “home-grown” technology experts at DC Digital, led by David Cassanova.

In a humorous reference to one of his company’s competitors, Mr Dehring added: “I’ve noticed one of our competitors is claiming to have 4G. Well if they have 4G… we must have “more G” since they don’t have this on their mobile network.”

LIME’s imminent launch of mobile TV follows on its historic first this year when the company streamed the Boys and Girls Athletic Championships (Champs) live to BlackBerry customers on its 3G network. It was the first time an event had ever been shown live on a mobile phone in the Caribbean.

Initially LIME’s mobile TV offering will be available in Kingston and St. Catherine but the company intends to expand the service island wide by early 2011.

All customers will need is a digital mobile TV-enabled phone such as the Nokia 5330 or the ZTE N290—two of several models that will be available from LIME to both prepaid and postpaid customers. The company is also working to deliver this exciting service to BlackBerry and other Smartphone devices in the very near future.

Chris Dehring, Chairman of LIME Jamaica and CMO of LIME Caribbean.

“Imagine being able to watch your favorite sporting events, entertainment or breaking news, while you’re waiting at the doctor, on the beach, going home on the bus…anywhere,” said Dehring. “LIME is Jamaica’s only full-service provider, and now we are putting entertainment and information at your fingertips.”

It was announced at the event that Sportsmax and Fox Soccer Plus would be available on LIME Mobile TV which would bring live matches from the Barclay’s Premier League to football fans on their mobile phones. “These are just two of the popular TV channels we will have available for our customers”, said Dehring.

At launch, LIME is anticipating to rollout 15 premium TV and five radio channels, all digital, including local and international news, sports and entertainment channels, most of which are now only available on cable systems.