C&W completes test call on new GSM/GPRS network
published: Friday | March 28, 2003
Cable and Wireless Jamaica's head of Corporate Communications, Errol Miller (right), is very animated as he completes the first test call on the company's new GSM/GPRS network on Wednesday. Looking on are, from left, Jon Pearce, Vice-President, Engineering, CWJ Mobile; Michael Holgado, head of department, Radio Frequency (RF) Engineering and Claude Petgrave, head of department, Network Maintenance, Kingston. - Contributed
ABLE and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) announced on Wednesday that it has completed its first test call on its new GSM/GPRS mobile network, the latest of a series of preparatory tests that have all been successful.
The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a standard for carrying data over mobile networks and is a system used to access the Internet, intranets, e-mail and many other applications in the same way one uses a modem, but at a significantly higher speed than is currently available on mobile networks.
Commenting on the development, C&WJ's President, Gary Barrow, said that when the system is up and running, it "will be the most sophisticated state-of-the-art mobile network in Jamaica."
In a release, the company also quoted Mr. Barrow as saying that "we will bring unparalleled service capability and the most advanced features to our customers. We have some very exciting plans for our service offerings here in Jamaica. This is a critical and strategic investment for us as we vow to maintain our leadership position as the provider of the latest and best telecoms service in Jamaica."
Errald Miller, chief executive of Cable and Wireless (West Indies), said the network would be an added advantage in delivering the most cost-effective, feature-rich mobile service across the Caribbean.
"Our platform will be 3-G ready and will provide great flexibility for providing the most advanced voice and mobile data services, including e-business type applications and 'always on Internet'," he said.
In November, last year, Cable and Wireless (West Indies) announced a partnership with Nortel Networks to provide the Caribbean's first GSM/GPRS network at a cost of more than US$100 million.
"Nortel's experience in deploying mobile networks across all major access technologies and spectrums, combined with their expertise in IP core networking, gives them a big advantage in delivering the most cost-effective and efficient mobile solutions available today," said Thomas Perez-Ducy, executive vice-president for C&W Mobile operations across the Caribbean. "We are very pleased with their performance to date and we are fully on track for a commercial launch in the first quarter of our financial year," he said.
Jamaica has now joined more than 180 countries world-wide to offer a full GSM/GPRS network. This will give customers of C&WJ mobile service unparalleled roaming capabilities. C&WJ has dubbed their expanded service the "best of three worlds" as there are now GAIT/tri-band telephones that work on, and take full advantage of TDMA, GSM and GPRS network standards something that only Cable and Wireless will be able to provide, the release said.
