The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Telecommunication Company (BTC) plans to invest at least $10 million more into its 4G network, according to the company’s CEO, Geoff Houston, who revealed that the company had already begun testing its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.

“The LTE network is a kind of overlay on the 4G network and it provides a data experience 10 times faster than 4G network,” Mr Houston said. “That opens up a whole new world of opportunity and particularly if you look at how customers are using the technology the majority of customers are using it for audio/visual as opposed to texting and reading and you need a high speed network to deliver that kind of customer experience. We are very excited about it. We are taking it one step at a time and that’s why we are doing a trial in parts of Bay Street, but it’s not open for commercial trial. We will roll that out in the Bahamas over the next 18 months to two years. We are going to invest at least $10 million but it depends on how the customers interact with the network.”

Mr Houston added: “We are already going to be investing a lot more into our existing 4G network to cope with demand and capacity. When we started out we said it was going to be a $48-$49 million investment but we are probably going to invest $10 million more on the 4G and I don’t think that’s going to stop. And that’s a reflection of the continuing demand on the network for our Bahamian customers.”

Mr Houston said that he was confident BTC would launch its TV offering by the second half of the year. “Our television product was no secret. We have launched it in other parts of the Caribbean. We are going to launch it in the Bahamas and we are giving it a trial it as we speak. I’m very confident that we will have that TV product in market second half of this year.