TDMA NATIONWIDE SHUTDOWN BY NOVEMBER 16

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New Providence, The Bahamas, October 30, 2008 – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC) will cease TDMA services nationwide on November 16, 2008, preceded by a shut down in the Family Islands on November 9th.
 
Originally, TDMA services should have been turned down on October 31, however due to natural disasters this date had to be adjusted slightly. BTC VP for Marketing, Sales & Business Development, Marlon Johnson reported “The TDMA Migration project was delayed due to the recent hurricanes. However, we are still happy to state that in just a few weeks, we will have migrated all of our customers to the new and improved GSM network.”
 
The island of Inagua experienced major catastrophic damage as a result of Hurricane Ike. BTC also suffered damage to equipment and its office in Inagua. This led to the delay in the completion of the project as company resources had to be shifted to critical restoration needs in the affected islands.
 
On October 14th, BTC turned down TDMA in Exuma and Long Island, marking the beginning of the turn down process in the Family Islands. With the exception of Grand Bahama, the TDMA services in all remaining Family Islands will be shut down on November 9th.
 
The TDMA networks in New Providence and Grand Bahama will be turned down on Sunday, November 16, meaning that at that time, the TDMA service will be fully shut down nation-wide.
 
“We want our customers to be aware that in the immediate aftermath of the shutdowns in New Providence and Grand Bahama, we still would not have completed the GSM upgrade in these islands. However, the nature of the technology and dense traffic patterns mean that for these two islands, we could not have run the upgraded GSM system and TDMA network at the same time. Thus, there will be a few days lag between the turn down of the TDMA and the full launch of the upgraded GSM system. By end of the month of November though, customers should have notably improved GSM services in New Providence and Grand Bahama – and indeed all over the country”, noted Johnson.
 
Since early 2007, BTC embarked on a strategic and aggressive plan to improve the overall quality of GSM service. With the addition of new GSM cell sites and the introduction of the 850 MHz frequency, BTC has expanded GSM coverage areas in New Providence and the Family Islands to provide a more reliable GSM network. 
 
The company’s investment in the more robust and higher capacity 850 MHz network and turn-up the new cell sites will provide the islands with continuous and ubiquitous coverage. This new network will blanket the islands increasing cell site density, providing better call quality, stronger signals and more coverage, while making GSM more accessible. The only TDMA technology is antiquated and replacement parts have been manufactured discontinued. Almost all TDMA systems around the world have been turned down already. 
 
In New Providence, BTC began turning down TDMA for pre-paid customers at the end of September. All of the ‘Quik Cell’ TDMA pre-paid customers in New Providence will be shut down by the end of the week 
 
BTC began the ‘Switch it Up’ campaign earlier this year to encourage customers to make the switch early to avoid the hassle of migrating during the final days. The company extended its hours in the BTC Wireless Department and Cyber World in the Mall at Marathon until 8:00pm to allow customers more flexibility in making the switch. Also, switching customers can take advantage of a sale prices on selected GSM phones, including a telephone for under $50 for persons making the switch. 
 

Copyright, Spice Media Group, Eleuthera, Bahamas.

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