Summary

  • The Spectrum Management Authority is seeking expressions of interest in 100 MHz of Jamaica’s 2500–2690 MHz band, split across three blocks that can accommodate up to three licensees.
  • For qualifying licensees able to begin commercial service immediately after a grant, the invitation sets 50% population coverage within 12 months and 95% within 24 months, both for the general population and designated underserved communities.

Jamaica has put a very practical question to the market: how much 2600 MHz spectrum would you use, where would you use it, and how quickly could you make it useful? The country’s Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) opened an expression-of-interest process on 26 October. Responses are due by 4 p.m. on 20 November.

The invitation covers 100 MHz inside the broader 2500–2690 MHz band, known as 3GPP Band 41. The available pieces are 50 MHz at 2500–2550 MHz, 40 MHz at 2635–2675 MHz and 10 MHz at 2680–2690 MHz. The band plan can fit up to three licensees. The invitation asks respondents to identify how much spectrum they want and which frequency ranges they prefer; the three pieces are not equal slices served on a silver platter.

The first gate is institutional. An applicant may already hold a Carrier or Service Provider licence from Jamaica’s Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), or may be a prospective entrant intending to obtain one. The SMA’s invitation then ties rollout duties to applicants who meet the eligibility criteria and demonstrate that they can commence commercial deployment immediately after a spectrum licence is granted.

Those duties are unusually legible at headline level. General population coverage must reach at least 50% within 12 months and 95% within 24 months. The invitation sets the same milestones for designated underserved and unserved communities in an appendix that names places and lists population figures. It asks respondents to put forward a deployment schedule and coverage targets as part of their submission.

The document uses “population coverage” for both the national target and the named communities, but gives no test for the second measure. Does 95% apply across the combined population of the listed communities, or must each place meet the target? The invitation leaves that operational definition open. A percentage without a stated denominator and test can turn a strong promise into a weak audit.

The EOI is SMA’s demand check. The authority retains the decision on whether to assign any of the band or grant licences. Prices will follow separately under its pricing framework. Individual expressions of interest and the identity of each respondent will remain confidential. Applicants are being asked to reveal their plans before the public can see who raised a hand or what price might follow.

That makes the next public steps more important than the first deadline. The SMA may assess responses as they arrive and ask for more information. Once it decides whether and how to assign spectrum, the decisive documents will be the final award terms, price, coverage definitions and evidence required to prove delivery. Jamaica has attached a two-year timetable to the spectrum question. The public will need a matching timetable for checking the answer. Official sources: SMA invitation for expressions of interest, 26 October 2026; Ministry announcement.