Feb 24 - Gibtelecom To Roll Out 4G Services By Autumn
Gibtelecom has today announced a capital investment of over €5million in an upgrade of its Ericsson mobile equipment and network which will enable customers to use 4G mobile services by this autumn. Together with the development of a new technology centre at Gibtelecom’s Mount Pleasant premises and support costs, the total project value is around €10million. Gibtelecom estimates that around 70-75% of Gibraltar will be covered by the service by October/November this year.
Supplementing the Company’s existing GSM (2G) and 3G mobile networks, the upgrade to fourth generation (4G) LTE (Long Term Evolution) services will provide customers with even higher speed internet access on their mobile devices, with data download speeds of up to 150Mbps. Gibtelecom’s CEO, Tim Bristow, who signed the contract with Ericsson, said: “Gibtelecom continues to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to providing the latest technologies. Although operating in a limited market size, this substantial investment ensures the Company delivers to customers the same type of services provided by telecommunications companies in much larger countries”.
Jansen Reyes, Gibtelecom’s Director of Technology, added that “the introduction of 4G services will enable the Company to meet ever increasing demands from customers for higher internet access speeds on the move. 4G represents a significant leap forward and would allow for some of the best features of the mobile age to be provided. This includes downloading videos, documents, or other media in a matter of seconds, and much improved live-streaming of visual content as well as better video-chatting”.
Gibtelecom’s Mobile Radio Principal Engineer, Martin Candeas, a Gibraltarian who has spent over ten years working as a mobile engineer overseas for multi-national operators, commented that “I see the introduction of 4G services heralding a new age in the Gibraltar telecommunications market, revolutionising the way we use data on the move. In fact, the Gibtelecom network is being upgraded in such a way that it will, in time, be able to offer the next generation of 4G technology, known as 4G+. This would allow much faster access speeds of up to 300Mbps”.
Gibtelecom and Ericsson have a long-standing relationship which commenced in 1994, when Gibraltar Telecommunications International Limited introduced mobile telecommunications to Gibraltar. Gibtelecom and Ericsson have since worked in partnership to ensure that Gibraltar’s mobile telecommunications market continues to develop, introducing GPRS (2.5G) in 2004, 3G and prepaid in 2008 and now 4G LTE.
Attending the announcement and signing ceremony, Jose Antonio Lopez, President Ericsson Iberia, said “Ericsson is delighted to continue its fruitful partnership of over two decades with Gibtelecom. By upgrading its network to 4G LTE, Gibtelecom shows that it is on a par with other multinational operators and provide the local community with the latest in mobile technology”.
(Pic shows Gibtelecom CEO Tim Bristow (on the left) and Jose Antonio Lopez, President Ericsson Iberia)
