THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) says it has sought the assistance of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) and the Government in crafting strategies to deal with electricity theft in a more effective manner.
“The root of the problem is crime and poverty, and no technological solution is going to fix that,” said JPS President and CEO Kelly Tomblin, in addressing questions regarding the failure of the recently implemented Resident Advanced Metering Infrastructure (RAMI) system to eradicate electricity theft.
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Jamaica Public Service President and CEO Kelly Tomblin speaks with Gary Barrow (centre), senior JPS vice-president, and Keith Smith, information technology director at the light and power company, before Thursday
Digicel Group has deployed an energy saver across its network in Jamaica, which is expected to cut cost by US$1.4 million ($130 million) annually. The eVolution Networks’ Smart Energy Solution (SES) is a fully-automated, intelligent software solution, which deactivates base stations during low traffic demand, while ensuring that subscribers are provided with continued high quality of service.
“The solution fits seamlessly into any multi-vendor, multi-technology network, eliminating the need for Digicel to invest additional capital in base stations and allowing Digicel’s engineers to continue working as usual without having to divert any time and energy to system maintenance,” said a release issued by the telecommunications company yesterday. Digicel began testing SES in early 2012, achieving significant reductions in energy consumption. In October, Digicel fully commissioned SES network-wide, becoming the world’s first mobile operator with the “green solution”, which should result in energy and carbon savings of 2.8 gigawatt-hours and 1,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) respectively. “eVolution’s SES is the most mature and cost optimised energy saving platform on the market,” said Stephen Curran, network design director for Digicel Group. “It provides a valuable solution for cutting energy across our base stations and best positions us to capitalise on the shift to a fully green network. “Having successfully completed the deployment of eVolution’s solution across most of our base stations, we are now ready to demonstrate the full capabilities and unique advantages of the solution across our 30 other markets across the globe.” As soon as it became operational on the Digicel Jamaica network, SES conducted both a thorough radio coverage analysis and a deep study of the typical daily traffic patterns of each existing base station across the network. These two steps allowed SES to create individual traffic profiles for each base station across Digicel’s network
Digicel Group has deployed an energy saver across its network in Jamaica, which is expected to cut cost by US$1.4 million ($130 million) annually. The eVolution Networks’ Smart Energy Solution (SES) is a fully-automated, intelligent software solution, which deactivates base stations during low traffic demand, while ensuring that subscribers are provided with continued high quality of service.
“The solution fits seamlessly into any multi-vendor, multi-technology network, eliminating the need for Digicel to invest additional capital in base stations and allowing Digicel’s engineers to continue working as usual without having to divert any time and energy to system maintenance,” said a release issued by the telecommunications company yesterday. Digicel began testing SES in early 2012, achieving significant reductions in energy consumption. In October, Digicel fully commissioned SES network-wide, becoming the world’s first mobile operator with the “green solution”, which should result in energy and carbon savings of 2.8 gigawatt-hours and 1,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) respectively. “eVolution’s SES is the most mature and cost optimised energy saving platform on the market,” said Stephen Curran, network design director for Digicel Group. “It provides a valuable solution for cutting energy across our base stations and best positions us to capitalise on the shift to a fully green network. “Having successfully completed the deployment of eVolution’s solution across most of our base stations, we are now ready to demonstrate the full capabilities and unique advantages of the solution across our 30 other markets across the globe.” As soon as it became operational on the Digicel Jamaica network, SES conducted both a thorough radio coverage analysis and a deep study of the typical daily traffic patterns of each existing base station across the network. These two steps allowed SES to create individual traffic profiles for each base station across Digicel’s network
Downed Jamaica Public Service Company utility poles on Paradise Street in Kingston last Sunday wreaked havoc for Jamaicans in the city who were eager to watch the 100m finals at the London Olympics. The damage was attributed to wind from the outer bands from Tropical Storm Ernesto. – Rudolph Brown/Photographer
THE EDITOR, Sir: No Olympics, no Independence. Thanks, Jamaica Public Service (JPS)! And while Digicel would like to boast of its islandwide coverage, perhaps both were working in tandem, because while JPS locked off the electricity on us for more than two days, every time the power went out we had little or no signal on our mobile phones. We couldn’t even surf the Internet on our phones and had to use our car chargers to power our mobiles. Quite frankly, we do not live ‘inna bush’, and this is certainly not the Ice Age, where ‘likkle breeze’ blows and we didn’t even get an opportunity to watch the Grand Gala activities on television. Oh, yes, Usain Bolt won the 100 metres race at the London 2012 Olympics in fine style. Our friends had to record and then send commentary of the race, via voice notes, on our phones, which took ages to get to us because the reception, all of a sudden, was also down. Now, you may think this is all ranting and raving over nothing. But we are law-abiding and paying customers of the light and power company who have, over the years, had scant disregard for us. All-island blackout A friend of ours who was so distraught over the fact that we, after nearly 24 hours, were still without electricity, and the fact that we have a seven-month-old child did some enquiries. We were then informed that it was an all-island blackout, and parts of St Catherine, St Mary, Portland and St Andrew, where we live, were still to receive electricity – this at 11 p.m. on Monday, August 6. This is an absolute SHAME and DISGRACE! Yes, we had battery-operated radios and flashlights, but what excuse will JPS give us now for what we call another heartless attack on us, and, by extension, Digicel! We are not idiots, because we know the transmission towers are powered by electricity. But what about the backup? Come on, Digicel! If we had an emergency, were we to have used carrier pigeons or stand on our roofs and bellow for help! This is the 21st century! The Office of Utilities Regulation needs to conduct a thorough investigation into what really happened. Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Philip Paulwell, we NEED some answers! We shudder to think what if Tropical Storm Ernesto had really continued on its initial projected path, we would be looking at no electricity for weeks and, perhaps, months. Kelly Tomblin, JPS’s CEO, you are relatively new here in Jamaica, but we would like to know ‘wha really gwaan’ and ‘weh unnu plan fi do’ should we have another tropical storm or hurricane threat. Albeit we are still in the hurricane season and at the very least August and September are the two most active months. Maybe we should resort to using ’tilley lamps’ or bottle torches as in the olden days. Certainly we cannot afford solar energy like Minister Paulwell! Keisha Hill Stoney Hill, St Andrew 
THE ongoing debate about the rising cost of electricity has gone viral. Yesterday, a full-page advertisement was taken out in the Sunday Observer, which asked people to join a Facebook initiative called Fight For Your Light, which gives Jamaicans a forum to express their frustration against high electricity bills and to mobilise support to break the monopoly on the distribution of electricity. Today, the fight was taken further when telecommunications giant Digicel tweeted, |