By year-end, the Bahamas Telecommunications Company's (BTC) current high-speed, wireless, 4G network will have undergone upgrades to deliver Long Term Evolution, or 4G-LTE, a "lightning-fast" wireless communication network for high-speed data on mobile phones and data terminals, the company said yesterday.
BTC Senior Vice President Brands and Communications Marlon Johnson said that the advances are in keeping with the company's goal of remaining the leader in the telecommunications industry by delivering the most advanced and fastest networks to its subscribers.
"This further upgrade to a completely new network is in keeping with BTC's goal of remaining the leader in The Bahamas telecommunications market by creating a world class experience. BTC is moving at a very rapid pace given the 4G launch in December 2011 and already moving subscribers seamlessly onto LTE, the fastest world-standard network available," said Johnson.
"LTE will mean that everything on your mobile will be that much faster due to more sophisticated applications. Data downloads and video streaming for instance will be noticeable faster and coverage extended."
Johnson said delivery nationwide would be in two phases. Phase one is scheduled for a December completion on New Providence in time for Christmas.
Phase two will see the delivery of LTE in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera by mid-2014. The other major islands of The Bahamas will follow thereafter.
He indicated that BTC will announce a range of LTE capable phones as part of the campaign to launch the service.
"This new LTE network will put BTC on par with any mobile carrier in the world in terms of data performance. It will also allow for exciting commercial applications - allowing businesses to conduct commerce wirelessly on a very fast and ultra-reliable platform," noted Johnson.
"Not only are we the only telephone and Internet service provider across The Bahamas, but we also facilitate the latest and greatest communication opportunities across the length and breadth of the country," said the senior vice president.
"4G-LTE, available on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera by year-end, and country-wide by next year, is currently as fast a network as you will ever need; the BTC workforce and new technology solutions provide further enhancement to the world-class communication technology already in place."
BTC will also expand the facilities that allow mobile phone usage in heavy traffic areas such as Concourses B and C at the Lynden Pindling International Airport, major hotels, the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium and the malls on New Providence.
Additionally, technology partner Huawei provided a solution that led to an improved BTC CDMA outdoor telephone infrastructure that caters to visitors to The Bahamas, and the transmission for the police CCTV network. BTC will also invest $4 million with Huawei for the upgrade of the BDNSI fiber optic that connects all of the islands in a ring.

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