The Tribune

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) announced yesterday that it had officially activitated 4G services in Bimini and the Berry Islands, allowing customers to tap into better services and faster speeds on their mobile phones and wireless devices.

Jerome Sawyer, BTC's senior manager for public relations, said that bringing 4G to the northern islands would boost business and visitor satisfaction, as well as aiding education.

Mr Sawyer said: "Travellers won't have to worry about sluggish download speeds, long buffering periods when streaming audio or being chained to a Wi-Fi network when video chatting during their beach vacation or fishing trip.

"Upgrading our network with the most advanced technology ensures our local and visiting customers have access to the best products and services available."

Mr Sawyer said BTC's 4G roll-out was a result of what what he called "extraordinary teamwork on the part of dozens of dedicated people, relentlessly working to condense a three-year plan into a one-year reality".

The expanded 4G footprint comes on the heels of network launches in Grand Bahama and New Providence earlier in the year, with a goal of blanketing the entire country with by the end of the year. Abaco and Exuma are slated to be next in the launch sequence, with some sections of Exuma already live and others, currently in the testing stage, scheduled to be on stream by the end of summer.

"This is not your grandmother's phone company," said Mr Sawyer. "And one of the best parts about the transformation is taking it to small islands where people are thrilled to be getting service that is not even available in many parts of the United States."