The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The BAHAMAS Telecommunications Company (BTC) plans to extend its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology footprint throughout the this nation over the remainder of this year and into 2015, telling Tribune Business it will place the Bahamas on par with countries such as the US.

BTC executives said the launch will allow consumers to enjoy mobile Internet speeds up to five times faster that 4G, and put the Bahamas “up there” with mobile internet service offered in the US.

Alphanique Duncombe, BTC’s wireless product manager, told tribune Business: “What you see pretty much throughout the world is that customers are moving more toward data usage as opposed to voice.

“With the launch of 4G we saw the same thing happening here. Even from a handset standpoint we have more sales on our data handsets. With our customers looking for more means of accessing the Internet, what we have done is provided LTE service, which will allow our customers to get faster speeds.

“What it means is that you are able to browse the Internet faster, stream your videos, download your music. The things that you would normally do using your home broadband service, you’re actually able to do all of that on your mobile device. LTE allows our customers to get a better data experience than what they would have had with our 4G services.”

BTC has invested some $18 million in expanding its mobile capacity, including its launch of LTE technology, and is expected to invest millions more as it expands the offering throughout the Bahamas. The company officially launched its 4G LTE service yesterday, which will be available in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera.

Ms Duncombe added: “We’re very excited about it because we are the second country in the region to launch LTE service. The AT&T’s and the T-Mobiles of the world would have just launched LTE recently.

“Customers see those ads, and for the Bahamas to be able to launch a service shortly thereafter says a lot. We’re very in tune with what our customers want and what’s happening throughout the industry. We’re trying to bring services to our customers as quickly as possible.”

Ms Duncombe said BTC would expand its LTE footprint throughout the Bahamas over the course of the year and into 2015.

She added that BTC has partnered with Samsung, its largest provider of mobile devices, to offer LTE devices such as the Samsung S4 LTE, Samsung Note 3 and Nokia 920.