Basics
On the Caribbean island of Jamaica there are 3 mobile network operators:
- Digicel Jamaica
- Flow (by Cable & Wireless)
Caricel(4G/LTE only)
Mobile service in the Caribbean had been under the control of Cable & Wireless, the longtime provider of telecommunications services in the region. Cable & Wireless had little competition or incentive to change and service was considered expensive and poor in quality.
In 2001 Jamaica decided to open its phone market up for competition. Digicel, owned by Irish entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, first established itself in 2001 in Jamaica. It grew to 100,000 customers there in approximately 100 days. Now Jamaica is home to over 3 million mobile users, with Digicel claiming around 2.2 million and Flow having around one million.
In 2016 Jamaica's cabinet approved the award of a third license to Symbiote Investments that has paid US$ 20.8 million to roll out a 4G LTE service under the Caricel brand. They started in 2017 but face a regulatory investigation into the circumstances of their licensing and in 2018 their license seems to be revoked.
All prices are given in Jamaican dollar (J$ or JMD), that is a free floating currency not linked to the US dollar. All taxes are not included. All transactions are exclusive of the 25% Special General Consumption Tax (GCT) on all Telecoms activities.
Digicel Jamaica
Jamaica was the first market where Digicel started in 2001 in the Caribbean. It's considered as their home base and they soon became market leader on the island with a major share of the customers.
They run a dual CDMA and GSM network. CDMA is on BC1 and only for inbound roaming. Their GSM 2G is on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz and 3G is on 850 MHz up to DC-HSPA+. They started 4G/LTE on 700 MHz or Band 17 on June 9, 2016 in Kingston, St Andrew and around the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, with hopes of it reaching other parts of the island soon. Recently, they've expanded coverage to Montego Bay, Falmouth and a few other places on the North Coast and South Coast. On their 2G/3G networks they claim to cover 99% of Jamaicans: coverage-map.
Digicel has more widely available rural LTE coverage than the competiton. Digicel is also planning on deploying LTE on Band 4 with a bandwidth of 10 MHz, pushing peak speeds up to 150 Mbit/s when aggregated with Band 17.
Digicel is also the only carrier to offer HD Voice in Jamaica, available on its 3G network for AMR-WB or VoLTE capable devices.
Availability
Their SIM card is around JMD 500-700 in their stores (locator) and other locations. Be prepared to show a passport for purchase.
Top-ups can be made online by credit card or PayPal, where you can buy plans directly too. Alternatively, you can use vouchers sold all over the islands without surcharges.
Dial *120# to check your account balance & dial *120*9# for your data balance.
Digicel, is active on social media and offers assistance through that medium to its customers in addition to the traditional means,
Data feature packages
Default data is JMD 20 per MB. They offer these plans including their new 4G/LTE:
| Data | On-net Voice | Time | Price | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 MB | 100 mins | 2 days | JMD 100 | |
| 200 MB | 2 days | JMD 100 | ||
| 300 MB | 2 days | JMD 175 | ||
| 300 MB | 250 mins | 7 days | JMD 250 | |
| 500 MB | 7 days | JMD 270 | ||
| 700 MB | 500 mins | 14 days | JMD 500 | |
| 1 GB | 14 days | JMD 500 | ||
| 200 MB | 5 mins | 30 days | JMD 150 | |
| 500 MB | 15 mins | 30 days | JMD 350 | |
| 1 GB | 30 mins | 30 days | JMD 700 | unlimited WA |
| 1.5 GB | 1000 mins | 30 days | JMD 1,000 | |
| 4 GB | 150 mins | 30 days | JMD 2,500 | unlimited WA |
| 4 GB | 2000 mins | 30 days | JMD 2,000 | |
| 5.5 GB | unlimited | 30 days | JMD 4,000 | unlimited WA |
Activate by *147#, online or by app, check balance by *120*9#. On all plans roll over data from your previous plan, when a new plan is activated prior to expiry of the current plan or plan is renewed. All plans auto-renew. These add-ons are offered for their plans for more data:
- 24 hrs unlimited social media: JMD 150 (for Quick Pick Plans only)
- 100 MB social media: JMD 50
- 50 MB data: JMD 50
- 1 GB data: JMD 750 (for Quick Pick Plans only)
Add-on data packs expire with existing data plan. You must have an active data plan in order to purchase data pack add on.
International roaming
Roaming bundles allow Digicel customers travelling to the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland and some others to roam at discounted rates. You will need to connect to AT&T or T-Mobile in the US, Rogers in Canada or all Caribbean Digicel networks. To activate a roaming bundle dial *153#.
- for 1 day: JMD 350 including 50 MB data
- for 7 days: JMD 1,500 including 250 MB data
- for 30 days: JMD 5,000 including 1 GB data
To check data balance, dial *120*154# Note that domestic data bundles don't apply while on the Roam Like You're Home plan. You will be charged the domestic default rate of JMD 45 per MB while roaming beyond the included quota.
More info
- APN: web.digiceljamaica.com
FLOW Jamaica
FLOW, previously called LIME is the incumbent provider in Jamaica. It's operated by Cable & Wireless Communications which is owned by Liberty Global.
FLOW's 2G network is on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz. FLOW's 3G network also resides on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz and is capable of up to DC-HSDPA on 1900 MHz in some areas. Both their 2G & 3G networks are available islandwide.
FLOW started its 4G/LTE rollout in the Kingston Metropolitan Area in December 2016 and expanded it to Jamaica's second city, Montego Bay (and its environs) and the resort town of Ocho Rios as well as the towns of Spanish Town, Portmore in St. Catherine and Mandeville in Manchester in late 2017 (see coverage map). FLOW's 4G/LTE network, as a result of using the mid-band frequency called AWS (LTE Band 4), has less in-building penetration. As a result, it doesn't propagate as far as lower frequencies like 700 MHz (like what their competition uses). Despite this, even at low signal, the network can serve adequate data speeds thanks to its capacity. Their network offers twice as much theoretical speed and network capacity than its competition because it sits on a 20 MHz channel. As a result, this allows FLOW to avail customers access to network speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s down and 50 Mbit/s up. FLOW, at one point, actively throttled prepaid customers to speeds around of 50 Mbit/s down and 10 Mbit/s up on its LTE network but it now allows full network access to Prepaid and Postpaid customers (except for those on Unlimited data plans, who are still subject to the 50/10 limit). Customers may however see speed restrictions to 50 Mbit/s down and 10 Mbit/s up during peak network congestion.
FLOW has also began deploying LTE Band 2 (1900 MHz) with a max speed of 75 Mbit/s in places like the city of Montego Bay, pushing aggregate max. speeds up to 225 Mbit/s. It provides further indoor coverage and capacity in addition to the network's primary band. This makes FLOW the only LTE Advanced network in Jamaica, currently. Sites are being availed of Band 2 and Carrier Agreggation on a rolling basis.
FLOW has also voiced its intentions to complement the network with low band spectrum and higher quality calling audio but a timeline was not provided.
FLOW is also the roaming partner for inbound roamers on Verizon and AT&T in the US, Rogers in Canada, 3, EE, O2 and Vodafone
Availability
Their SIM card is sold in their stores (locator) for JMD 500. Be prepared to show your passport at the point of purchase. For LTE, you need an LTE-enabled SIM card which is available at any FLOW Store. Simply ask the sales associate for one which should be labeled "Prepaid Mobile LTE". Also, ensure that your phone is compatible with LTE Band 4 (AWS) (and in some cases, Band 2, PCS) and is at least a Cat. 4 LTE device in order to realize the network's full potential. Category 6 LTE Phones and over can aggregate both bands for even faster speeds when in certain locales (like the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay).
Top-ups can be made online or in top-up kiosks, supermarkets and gas stations all over the island.
Any top-up stays valid for 90 days irrespective of the amount. Check your airtime balance by dialing *120# and check your data balance by dialing *129*6*1# or *146*0#.
FLOW, like Digicel, is active on social media and offers assistance through that medium to its customers in addition to the traditional means. Support is also offered through their Local Toll Free number 1-888-CALL-CWJ (1-888-225-5295) or internationally, 1-800-804-2994.
Data feature packages
FLOW has two types of data plans, one called "FLOW Lyf" and another called "GigUP". FLOW Lyf comes with 'Bonus' data buckets for Social Media (inclusive of Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) as well as allotments of data for Deezer music streaming and access to FLOW Sports, a network similar to ESPN, available to all mobile & TV subscribers (provided you sign up for a FLOW ID; essential for using the MyFLOW App for Android or iOS and the FLOW Sports app as well).
FLOW's GigUp plans are combo plans that include bundled on-net talk and text allotments as well as data, similar to their S, M, L & XL plans in other FLOW territories.
Default rate outside packages is JMD 50 per MB. These data packs avail users of their 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE network:
FLOW Lyf
| Data | Time | Price | Social Media | Deezer | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 275 MB | 2 days | JMD 150 | 25 MB | 600 MB | *146*2*1# |
| 400 MB | 3 days | JMD 250 | 50 MB | 600 MB | *146*3*2# |
| 600 MB | 7 days | JMD 400 | 50 MB | 600 MB | *146*7*1# |
| 850 MB | 30 days | JMD 700 | 100 MB | 1.2 GB | *146*30*2# |
| 1.5 GB | 30 days | JMD 1000 | 100 MB | 1.2 GB | *146*30*3# |
| 3 GB | 30 days | JMD 1750 | 100 MB | 1.2 GB | *146*30*4# |
GigUP Combo Plans
| Name | Cost | Time | On-net Text | On-net Voice | Data | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gig Up 2 Day | JMD 250 | 2 Days | 250 | 250 Minutes | 1 GB | *147*2# |
| Gig Up 7 Day | JMD 899 | 7 Days | 500 | 500 Minutes | 2 GB | *147*7# |
| Gig Up 14 Day | JMD 1999 | 14 Days | 1000 | 1000 Minutes | 4.5 GB | *147*14# |
All plans rollover, regardless of duration. Do note that Combo Plans cannot be supplemented by FLOW Lyf plans i.e. FLOW Lyf plans cannot be used as add-on data for Combo plans. Both are handled as two separate data allotments. FLOW allows for data to decrement from the Combo plan first and then from any exisiting FLOW Lyf plan on that prepaid wireless line thereafter.
All weekly and monthly packages auto-renew (except the 275 MB, 2-day plan and the 400 MB, 3-day plan). To stop auto-renewal dial *787#. To check data balance, dial *146*0# or *129*6*1#. Social media bonus can be used for Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Plans can be activated through via USSD codes or through the MyFLOW app.
International roaming
Recently, FLOW Jamaica did away with their MyRoam packages and now only offer roaming data plans to 47 countries including the entire FLOW Caribbean, US, UK, Canada, Spain, Australia, Turkey, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana and much more with access to up to 4G/LTE speed. They come in the following variations:
- A Combo Plan with 30 Anywhere Texts, 30 Minutes of Voice (in the visited country and to Jamaica) and 100 MB of data for 7 days: JMD 1299, activation: use the MyFLOW app or dial *129#
- 250 MB for 7 days: JMD 999, activation: use the MyFLOW app or dial *129#
- 500 MB for 7 days: JMD 1749, activation: use the MyFLOW app or dial *129#
These plans offer rollover data, talk and text. They are cross border; they can work while traveling between multiple countries whilst having bought a plan only once. They are also subject to FLOW's Fair Usage Policies. FLOW steers customers to specific roaming partners for subscribers on these plans. FLOW will send a text once you have exhausted 75%, 99% and 100% of your plan allotment(s). Pay-as-you-Go rates while roaming are the same or similar to that of local rates. This offering is harmonized across all FLOW markets. To see the roaming countries or for more information, see here.
More info
- APN: ppinternet (works with tethering, even while roaming)
- Website: https://discoverflow.co/jamaica/
Caricel (on LTE-only)
Caricel, a local brand of Symbiote Investments won a license as 3rd operator in 2016 under disputed circumstances. In 2017 they started their 4G/LTE-only network on 700 MHz (band 13) in Portmore, Kingston and St. Andrew. Without any fallback to 2G or 3G they don't cater for the mobile market, but for home internet through Mifis and modems. That's why they can't be recommended for travellers.
In October 2017 Symbiote agreed to sell its business to South Africa-based Involution for an undisclosed price. The sale was made public in February 2018, only for the regulatory authorities to protest that Symbiote had not sought government approval for the transaction. In March 2018 the relevant minister declared that Caricel will have its licence revoked for breaking conditions and regulations. On April 11, 2018, the Government of Jamaica's Ministry of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mining (MSTEM) finally pulled Caricel's licenses.
- Website: http://www.caricel.net/