The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NEWER and more robust internet and landline services are being promised to BTC customers when the corporation’s $80 million New Generation Network (NGN) system fully comes on stream by March of next year, senior officials at BTC revealed during a press tour yesterday.

When NGN fully replaces the corporation’s old “legacy” network system, customers will have access to the internet at four times the speed they did previously.

NGN will also provide BTC with the platform needed to make its long-awaited move towards providing access to local and international television programmes.

The Bahamas will be the first country in the region to be fully supported by the infrastructure which has only been around for a few years.

More than 50 construction and technical workers have already been moving among islands to implement the system.

Their work involves excavation, ripping out old cables and replacing them with fibre optic that will allow workers to complete repairs in far less time and while requiring less manpower than is currently needed.

The new system will help BTC save millions of dollars previously needed to maintain the legacy network system. The old equipment occupied an entire room, but NGN equipment consumes far less space and requires less electrical energy.

The majority of the Bahamas now uses NGN. New Providence, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera are the only islands that have yet to be completely converted to the system. Eleuthera will be fully converted next month while Grand Bahama and New Providence will be fully converted in February and March of next year.

According to the Senior Vice President, Anthony Stubbs, customers should not experience major disruptions in their services as BTC transfers to the new system.

As for the corporation’s venture into providing television services, Mr Stubbs said the move should come “sometime next year.”

The services are expected to be “interactive and dynamic,” a representative said.