FLOW rolls out Hosted PBX - How 100 MBs FLOW Ultra can power a Private WiMaX Community Network

While Telecom Provider Digicel  and Telecom Provider LIME have apparently gone to War against VoIP in order to recover lost revenue as I’d reported in my blog article entitled “LIME and Digicel blocking all VoIP Services - How Telecom Providers can make money from Regularizing Paid VoIP Services”, FLOW is taking it easy.

They’re unseemingly unperturbed by the furor in the Mobile phone World, mainly because they don’t have a Mobile 3G Network or sell smartphones. Their only connection to Telecoms is via their Data Services which also includes Data Centers as described in my blog article entitled “Digicel's Cloud Backup Service and Tier III Certification - Data Integrity via CRC is the Devil's Advocate”.

Truly, though, their only concern related to VoIP has to do with their Fixed Line Service, which has been battered by unfair Tariff Charges from Telecom Provider LIME. To that effect, Triple Play Provider FLOW’s is quietly awaiting the results of the LRIC (Long Run Incremental Cost) Study on Landline Services.

This may see Flat Rate Calling between all Fixed Line Providers in Jamaica as predicted in my blog article entitled “OUR to hire Consultant for LRIC Study on Landline - JA$1.49 per minute for Fixed Line and Landline Flat Rate as MNP, LNP Approaches”.

FLOW and Landline – Hosted PBX is a quiet push towards Landline Dominance

As we all know, MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and LNP (Landline Number Portability) have been sidelined till May 2015 as detailed in my blog article entitled “MNP and LNP coming in May 2015 - MNP and LNP in Jamaica delayed as Sheriff Julian Robinson caught in a Telecom Providers Standoff”.

This thanks to squabbling between Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME as it relates to Landline. Telecom Provider LIME says they’re having difficulty with getting the relevant information on their Landline Network to make it a part of Network Portability.

This is somewhat dubious but true, based on my experience working as a NMT (Network Maintenance Technician) at C&W (2001 to 2004) as can be seen from my Engineering Resume and Diploma and Degree qualifications that are laid out plain for anyone to see

What this means is Triple Play Provider FLOW has to wait until May 2015 to reap any benefits from MNP/LNP. To this end, they’ve begun to offer their Hosted PBX (Private Branch Exchange) Service, which is basically Cloud Based Telephony over High Speed Broadband Internet as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel Cloud Telephony to Make Switched Voice Extinct”.

Another way to look at it is as Corporate and Business SIP (Software Internet Protocol) landline phones using existing Broadband infrastructure without the need to have a PBX on your premises. 

Notice I’d mentioned High Speed Broadband Internet. Their Services are as shown below and are quite reasonably priced. It’s especially sobering to consider that their main #BreadandButter is really from their Cable Services, hence their current FLOW Summer Blockbuster Promotion.

The Prices as listed above are as follows:

1.      12MB/s FLOW Rock – JA$2679

2.      20MB/s FLOW Rave – JA$3800

3.      50MB/s FLOW Turbo – JA$8995

4.      100MB/s FLOW Ultra – JA$10,995

So with affordable prices like this, who really noticed that there was a VoIP Blockade? FLOW customers were quite fine as they already had alternatives via their Internet Broadband Services to make International Calls from the comfort of their own homes.

FLOW Ultra – How 100 MB/s FLOW Ultra can power a Private WiMaX Community Network

With that much Bandwidth and the fact that, this advertising push is really to grow the Cloud Based Telephony and High Speed Broadband Internet side of their business. Anyone with the Technical known how and a really fast Router and some Microwave Link Radios can resell Internet and Voice Telephony Services to other persons elsewhere in the island and make good money.

I know this is true. Because the Internet Link that I’m using here in Milk River, Clarendon to post this article is powered by a 100 MB/s FLOW Ultra as the Head-End or Internet Source. That Internet connectivity from FLOW is carried over a 66GHz Microwave Link from a Cell Site located atop Juan de Bolas in St. Catherine some 100 km to a receiving Antenna atom the Rest All Age and Junior Primary. From there, the signal is fed to everyone else in the community via a WiMaX Network.

That’s how we Milk River People FLOW. And with their ongoing Promotions, by the time May 2015 comes around or even when Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME have begun building out their 4G LTE Network, they may be surprised. They’ll discover that most people would have already begun setting up private WiMaX Networks in their far-flung communities instead of waiting on the Telecom Providers to see them as important enough to provide Internet Access.

I’m not sure who built it, as it wasn’t me, but the geniuses who realized that there was a demand for Internet Access in Milk River, Clarendon are really clever. More later as I try to contact them for an interview.