The Tribune

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company's (BTC) has promised customers they will experience improved quality, speed and consistency of cellular service when it completes critical milestones in an 18-month, $42 million upgrade this June.

Marlon Johnson, BTC's vice-president of brand and communications, said: "We are very excited about what the service of the near future will be. Meantime, we know that there will be some disruption as we move toward the new platform, and we want to assure the public that we are trying to keep that interruption to a minimum and we will keep people informed every step of the way."

Mr Johnson said service disruption could reach its peak over one or two weekends leading up to the migration to the new platform in June.

"We are replacing platforms that are five to eight years old," he said. "In this industry, there are significant upgrades every few years, and if you do not keep up, you get left behind in the dust. But the platform we are in the process of installing will prepare BTC for competition and prepare customers, including businesses, in the Bahamas to take advantage of all the new devices that are coming to market.

Mr Johnson added: "Once the new platform is in place, BTC hopes many issues related to dropped calls, late text messages, problems with topping up prepaid phones and voicemail access challenges will be "like a page in a history book".

He said: "The interesting thing is that the changes will improve both 2G and 4G network capability for cell phone users around the country. So whether you are using a modestly priced flip-top phone that is designed primarily for making and receiving calls, or you have the greatest new BlackBerry, iPhone or Android on the market, you will enjoy uninterrupted, high quality calls and service."

The replacement involves cutting over from the aging Nortel Network to a state-of-the art Ericson operating system that will direct the majority of the cellular voice traffic to a newer 2G Network, with the data traffic then migrated to BTC'S new 4G Mobile Network, which was introduced to the market late last year.

Because a major part of that work is scheduled for June, BTC officials wanted customers to appreciate the volume of work to be completed, the fact that hundreds of persons are involved and that the June phase will cause some disruptions during the migration period.

Mr Johnson said: "It will be during June when we will push our major core network upgrades. That includes upgrades to our text platform as well as a brand new prepaid billing system. In addition we are going to start the migration from the Nortel 2G Network to the Ericson 2G network.

"Presently we have an Ericson 4G Network and the old Nortel 2G Network. This represents our final push to deal with a lot of the legacy equipment issues, and have a single operating network with compatible equipment. As we transition and cut over to the new network, there may be some bumps in the road.

"We will do all we can to try to minimise the disruptions, but we want to let our customers know what is happening. We do not want our customers to be caught off guard. The best analogy we can give is like changing a car's engine while the vehicle is still speeding along an interstate highway. There is no way to just shut down the network and say give us a week. We are doing all we can to make it as painless as possible, but we have to be realistic about what our customers may experience."

BTC has attributed many of its customer issues to outdated equipment. Issues such as delayed text, call failures and call drops are linked to the old elements.

"By the end of the summer we want to show customers a brand new cellular experience," said Mr Johnson.

Simultaneously with cellular service upgrades, BTC is completing work on its fixed line systems, a $60 million-plus upgrade that will allow the company to offer better landline service. That work is to be completed by year-end.