eSports in Jamaica

Retrospect on the movers and shakers in eSports in Jamaica

2014 has been an exciting year for Jamaica for gaming and the industries that surround it. The gaming communities have strived to bring competitive gaming to the forefront for years but has not really made any significant progress until now. I would like to take the time to look at the key players that have made a big difference in the gaming scene here in Jamaica. Here is my top 5 movers and shakers for eSports in Jamaica.

5. Dean Barnnett

If you play FIFA competitively in Jamaica then you will know who Dean is. Founder of the Silverbirds Steel Pan Band, Dean is also the Captain and Manager of Empire Arcadia’s FIFA video game team. Dean hosts monthly FIFA tournaments at the Silver Birds manor located at 21 WestLake Richmond Park.

Dean’s multi-talent in management between his band and eSports division has earned him respect throughout the gaming community and peers in business alike. His band is renown throughout Jamaica as well as his FIFA Division which not only won the International Caribbean Championship for FIFA in St. Maarten in 2013 but has also won the Digicel DigiCup FIFA eSports Championship in Jamaica over the summer.

Dean continues to host his monthly FIFA Tournament which you can find more information about here: http://bit.ly/1ugir4p for more information on Dean you can contact him on his team’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/EmpireArcadia or follow on twitter at: @EmpireArcadia   

4. Gregory Moore

One of Jamaica’s premiere retailers for video games is Str8Games; owned by Gregory Moore. Gregory has worked with countless companies in Jamaica to host a number of video game oriented events. From providing video game equipment to structuring the event itself, you name it and Gregory has played a part in it.

Str8Games is currently in the planning phases to set up a local tournament series in Sovereign Mall in Kingston Jamaica. With his experience in direct business sales via retail and business development Gregory is one of the key players in the development of eSports in Jamaica and is the one to watch out for. 

You can find out more about Gregory and Str8Games at the stores Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/str8games or follow him on twitter at @str8gamesja

3. Wayne Benjamin

It’s a shame that a lot of people in Jamaica have no idea who “Wayne Benjamin” is. The fact of the matter is, Wayne is single handily responsible for Jamaica’s sole gaming channel “The Lab Video Game TV”. Aired on FLOW Channel 100, the Lab Video Game TV show case some of the newest video games out to date along with what is going on in the video game industry.

This is a huge contribution to gaming in Jamaica on so many levels. Of late Wayne has been focusing his attention on eSports in Jamaica by lending his resources and multi-year talents in filming to help develop eSports in Jamaica from the media end.

Wayne recently launched season 6 of The Lab Video Game TV series which focuses on the core development strategies for laying down the foundation of eSports in Jamaica. You can view the episode here: http://youtu.be/H17D579S_90 for more information and video content on the Lab Video Game TV you can check out their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TheLabVideoGameTV?fref=ts  or follow on twitter at: @TheLabGameTV

2. Andrew Johnson

Andrew is no stranger to competitive gaming in Jamaica. Not only is he a competitor he is also Jamaica’s premiere tournament director. Andrew manages one of Jamaica’s largest online social communities for gaming via Fighter’s Allegiance Jamaica on Facebook.

Andrew’s passion to see Jamaica move forward in eSports is shown through his hard work and dedication as he self-funded the National Jamaican eSports Tournament “Mash Di Button” which he founded. Andrew is one of the core components in making eSports work in Jamaica as he was instrumental for bringing international support for eSports to Jamaica to help lay down its foundation.

Andrew is now working behind the scene with key eSports enthusiast of like minds to ensure that competitive gaming will be a huge industry in Jamaica. For more information about Andrew check out his Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fightersallegianceja/ or follow on Twitter at: @FAllegianceja  

1. TriForce Johnson

A Jamaican Native comes home to master mind a plan to put his home country on the map in the eSports world. Triforce has created a network with members in the Jamaican gaming community and major companies both in Jamaica and the United States.

TriForce spent one year working behind the scene with Digicel while in the United States to set up the country’s Virtual World Cup tournament which has now created a rippling effect that has gained the attention of other major businesses in Jamaica to help spearhead eSports in Jamaica.

Continuing his work abroad, TriForce is slowly giving Jamaica international exposure in eSports to officially welcome the country to the industry. When at the Digicel FIFA Championships, TriForce dedicated his team Empire Arcadia’s; World Record for the most documented Tournament wins for a gaming team to the country of Jamaica in respect to his late mother who was buried in Jamaica in 2012. 

For more information on TriForce you can visit his Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/EMP.TriForce.GameMaster or follow him on Twitter at: @EMP_TriForce_GM

The future for gaming in Jamaica is bright and I would like to know your thoughts on other movers and shakers in Jamaica for eSports. So please leave your comments below and tell me who you think should have made this list. I’m really interested to know who else out there is helping to push the cause because they need the recognition as well. You can also follow me on Twitter at: @Mr_Gamehead and visit my Facebook page for more news on gaming in Jamaica and worldwide. 

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The impact of the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector on the Jamaican economy, culture and communications

Digicel is a privately held firm owned by Denis O‟Brien a Boston College educated, Irishman. Forbes magazine in 2010 estimated his net worth at US$4.2B placing him 254 on the Forbes rich list. In April 2001, when Digicel launched its GSM mobile service in Jamaica, the company anticipated reaching the 100,000 customer plateau by the end of its first year in operation. Instead, it hit the 100,000 mark a mere 100 days after launch. Never before in the country's history of mobile telecommunications had such tremendous growth been seen in a network, as Digicel broke record after record on its way to surpassing its major competitor as the mobile provider with the largest customer base in the island.

Digicel raised the bar where an acceptable level of network coverage was concerned. Jamaicans living in rural parishes finally had a genuine option for mobile communications. With an island-wide network of over 1,000 cellular towers spread across all 14 parishes, Digicel firmly established itself as the mobile provider with the premier network coverage across the country. The company's approach of affordable phones, a user-friendly approach and mass marketing earned Digicel a leading place in the market that it astutely defended. From its inception to this very day Digicel has helped mold and shape Jamaica in a wide variety of ways, their arrival in the island was truly a catalyst that set the telecommunications sector in motion.

Liberalisation of the telecommunications market commenced with the granting of two new carrier licences for the provision of domestic mobile voice, data, and information services. Each mobile entrant used a different technology for its mobile network. Mossel (which operates under the trade name Digicel) commenced service in April 2001 using Global System of Mobile (GSM) Communications; later that year Oceanic Digital Jamaica (now Claro) commenced operation deploying Code Division Multi Access (CDMA); while C&WJ, who had been offering mobile services in Jamaica since 1991, employed Time Division Multi Access (TDMA). CWJ subsequently switched from TDMA to GSM, similar to Digicel except that they operate on different frequencies. Competition in the provider market is always beneficial to the customer so as to ensure maximum value for their money.

FLOW

Flow offers what it calls its Triple Play services to residential consumers: digital cable TV, digital landline and broadband internet access. Flow has the highest capacity broadband network in the country with 320 Gbps capability with excess capacity of approximately 75%. Since the entry of Flow in 2005 the cost of ADSL and other broadband services have fallen in excess of 60%. This has impacted our culture as well being able to bring Jamaicans that much closer to a first world technological experience even though we are considered a third world country. Allowing information of all shapes and sizes to be readily accessible by the masses; this has help speed up the cultural imperialization of our country to better match the ideals and values of the world of large. 

DIGICEL

Digicel has made a large impact on Jamaica economically through bout their corporate actions and through the Digicel Foundation's exemplary charity work. Most recently though the building of a US$65M headquarters in downtown Kingston, an area that has been blighted by urban flight. The headquarters is expected to house 1,000 employees and politicians and real estate agents are expecting that this will be a catalyst for growth and renewal in the downtown business district. This is poised to bring in a lot of new businesses and interest in the area. We can see this already with the introduction of a Domino's pizza store and increased pedestrian traffic down by the waterfront properties.

LIME

In response to Digicel entering the telecommunications market; C&WJ in 2008, embarked on a new high risk transformation strategy which included corporate re-branding and changing its name from C&WJ to LIME. Since the emergence of Digicel LIME has essentially been playing a constant game of catch up trying to hold on to what little of the market-share they still have. This has led to a fair amount of promotions and network improvements beneficial to the customers such as their 3G network upgrade and launching the Caribbean's first mobile television service. This show of technological improvement pushed Digicel to one up LIME by implementing 4G technology and upgrading their own network to better facilitate their customers growing mobile needs. Most recently LIME launched a $2.99 campaign on call rates to which Digicel countered with a flurry of call plans to give the customer the best available call rate to suit their needs. In our currently declining economy value for money is a major concern for customers no matter what company you side with.

With all that being said it seems like Digicel was one of if not the biggest catalyst for technological change in the recent history of Jamaica. This is seen from the direct impact they have made on the telecommunications industry as well as indirectly pushing the competition to step their game up and not just rest on their laurels. This primarily helps Jamaica as a whole to step forward into the technological information age and become self aware that just as they take notice of other countries they are being watched as well. As stated previously the impact can be seen in a variety of ways but more so on Jamaica's economy, culture and communications advancement.

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