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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
New BTC Cell Sites Increasing Capacity/Coverage for Improved Performance and in Preparation for 4G LTE, Now Testing
By Jerome Sawyer, BTC
Feb 4, 2014 - 11:56:05 AM
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New Providence, Bahamas - The need for additional mobile network capacity and coverage to support the BTC customer base increase is being met with six new cell towers on New Providence over the next six weeks. Three have already been installed on the Sir Milo Butler Highway, at Pinewood Gardens North, and Carmichael Road delivering improved cell phone service across the board on the South West side of New Providence. Many more are planned both on New Providence and in the Family Islands
“Significant additional mobile network capacity is needed to address the consistent demand,” said Marlon Johnson, Sr. Vice President Brands and Communication. “More cell towers in targeted locations help us meet the demand and the recent addition of specific network software is boosting data capabilities. These activities also support the faster, Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) mobile network, currently in pre-launch test phase.”
New Providence has the largest population of all the islands and is the seat of government. Grand Bahama, Eleuthera and Abaco are also thriving population centres of note. As BTC render them technology-ready all those islands with expanding commerce and population centres will follow in a planned 4G LTE roll-out.
“The LTE soft launch began on January 23rd. Terminal A in the Lynden Pindling International Airport, Pinewood and Sammy’s Chicken 2G/4G sites are expected to be on air by mid-February. Hamilton, Current Island, Pompey Bay and Half Moon Cay will be completed by February 21st and the remaining sites by March 14th. We are launching in the four major islands, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma also this month, with a focus on educating our customers on the benefits of LTE technology,” said Mr. Johnson.
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“Over the last nine weeks there have been a number of network improvements in support of current activity and in preparation for LTE. We’ve added significant additional capacity to address the consistently increasing demand for data and voice services generally. Our key performance indicators tell us that on New Providence our worst affected areas have shown significant improvement since mid-December, in spite of the heavy Christmas traffic. BTC customers are feeling the difference as dropped calls have reduced significantly, primarily in those areas impacted and reported by customers across The Bahamas not just here on New Providence,” said the senior vice president.
4G LTE compatible mobile phones and devices are already available in all BTC flagship and franchise stores. For those interested in the faster speed mobile network, the 4G LTE phones include: Samsung S4 LTE, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and Nokia 920. Other LTE devices such as the Samsung S4 Mini will be added to the inventory as they become available. See them all on http://www.btcbahamas.com/explore/products .
4G LTE, is a standard for wireless-communication developed to increase the capacity and speed of wireless data networks. Very fast, it typically delivers around 20 megabits per second (mbps) download speed.
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) is the leading telecoms operator in The Bahamas. BTC is jointly owned by Cable & Wireless Communications and the Government of The Bahamas Cable & Wireless Communications has both management and Board control.
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com
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