It would take an estimated $28 million to upgrade Bahamas Telecommunications Co. cellular services to an acceptable level, according to senior vice-president and chief operations officer Leon Williams.
He told The Guardian on Thursday that the company is waiting for approval from Cabinet to go ahead with the improvement project.
New Providence and Grand Bahama cellular systems would be upgraded in the first phase and the other islands later, Mr. Williams said.
The company this week put a moratorium on any new celluar phones as the network reached near capacity, resulting in frequent call drop-offs and less than acceptable levels of toll quality voice services.
Minister of Public Works with responsibility for utilities, Bradley Roberts, told the House of Assembly on Wednesday that because Batelco’s TDMA network has virtually reached capacity, all new cellular connections are on hold.
He speaking in the e-commerce debate on a package of several bills, the Electronic Communication and Transaction Act 2002, the Data Protection Act 2002, and the Computer Misuse Act 2002, to provide for the legal recognition and framework under which the communications industry will be regulated.
Mr. Roberts said Batelco will hold a press conference next week to announce details of the “exciting and extensive” plans to upgrade its cellular network.
He also said a high-speed Internet service will shortly be available in a number of Family Islands, and that Batelco will complete the upgrade of the Central Bahamas Microwave Radio Link to Sonet technology by the end of the second quarter of 2003. The upgrade will provide a broadband backbone for Eleuthera, the Exumas, Long Island and Andros.
As outlined in the Policy Statement on Electronic Commerce and the Bahamian Digital Agenda, the Government holds the view that information and communication technologies are fundamental to the sustainable growth and development of The Bahamian economy
“My Government has set as a long-term broad-based objective, the transformation of the Bahamian economy to a digital one as a means of generating viable opportunities for Bahamians to participate in the global economy.
“The realisation of such opportunities will come through the pervasive use of the Internet to engage in activities such as e-commerce, e-learning, e-government services and certain niche markets within the supply chain,” Mr. Roberts said.
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
