BTC continued its series of Family Island roll-outs on Wednesday with a formal ceremony introducing GSM Cellular and Blackberry service for residents, visitors, businesses, fishermen and other boaters in Long Island.
Sen. Dr. Marcus Bethel, Minister of Utilities and the Environment and Lawrence Cartwright, former Parliamentarian for Long Island and Ragged Island, were on hand for the unveiling. They joined BTC President Leon Williams, BTC Vice President, Wireless & Internet, Tellis Symonette, local BTC managers and staff, residents and students.
For Long Island, known as the fishing and boat-building capital of the Bahamas, the launch was a sign of progress. Hailed as the most beautiful island Christopher Columbus ever laid eyes on, Long Island is divided by the Tropic of Cancer and consists of contrasting postcard-perfect coastlines. Boasting one of the country’s most popular regattas, it is also known as a land of industriousness.
With so many earning a living on the sea, BTC’s launch of what has become the world’s most popular form of mobile telecommunications, GSM cellular along with Blackberry, the sophisticated office packed in a phone, complete with Internet, e-mail and text capabilities, was welcome news for Long Island’s 3,000 plus residents. In addition to local users, visitors onboard yachts or staying in resorts or private homes from Cape Santa Maria to Cape Verde, from Stella Maris to Deadman’s Cay, will be able to use the BTC network to roam with Cingular or T-Mobile phones from the US, Rogers from Canada and Digicel from the Caribbean.
Today’s launch expanded the range of users of GSM prepaid or post-paid service that went live in The Bahamas in 2004. By December 2006, of the total population of 307,000, some 203,000 residents were wireless customers, with the majority using GSM, according to BTC President Leon Williams.
“The BTC network handles more than 2.1 million calls per day, over 181,000 text messages,” Williams noted recently, “and on any given day, up to 10,000 visitors are on the network.”
BTC will continue its roll-out this month, linking Inagua, Andros and Exuma to the network. The roll-out was officially launched April 4 with hook-up to Rum Cay and Ragged Island, followed by an official launch in the Berry Islands April 20. By the end of the month, the islands of Inagua, Andros and Exuma will join New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini which already enjoy GSM cellular service. BTC has poured $114 million into the Family Islands to provide cellular service, part of a total $353 million in cutting edge technology infrastructure in the past five years.
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