Cel*Star begins installing new cellular network
Stabroek News
June 5, 2004
Trans-World Telecom Caribbean Ltd (TWTC), through its local subsidiary, Cel*Star Guyana, has begun installation of Nortel Networks GSM (Global System for Mobile Commu-nications) solutions for a new wireless network in Guyana.
The network will provide wireless digital voice and data services to both local and visiting (roaming) customers.
"We are excited about offering new, competitive telecom services in Guyana," said Donald deLaski, chief executive officer, TWTC, a new telecommunications pro-vider in the Caribbean, a press release from Nortel Networks said.
"We selected Nortel Networks GSM solutions because we believe they are best suited to deliver the kind of high-performance, reliable infrastructure that will enable us to offer leading-edge services to our customers today and in the future."
TWTC's GSM infrastructure from Nortel Networks will include radio access and core equipment and will be both GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution)-ready, positioning TWTC to provide advanced, high-speed data services in the future, like streaming audio and video, mobile Web browsing and multimedia messaging, the release said.
Earlier this week, the Guyana government ordered that GT&T stop all its work on a new cellular system it has already installed. This appears to be a spin-off from the refusal by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company to go forward with an interconnection agreement with Cel*Star and the stalled talks to break GT&T's monopoly.
According to the Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA), the protracted delays in opening up the market for competition are resulting in the inefficient use of the GSM 900 MHz band by limiting its use to a single operator.
Nortel Networks has designed, installed and launched more than 300 wireless networks in over 50 countries across the globe, and was the industry's first supplier with wireless networks operating in all advanced radio technologies. It is also the only end-to-end provider of all next generation wireless solutions, the release informed.