Flow (SVG), the former monopoly fixed line and mobile provider in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, plans to launch its LTE network by the end of this year, the cellco’s general manager Wayne Hull is quoted by local press as saying. According to Hull, Flow (SVG) is currently preparing for the commercial switch-on which he claims will offer end-users download speeds roughly ten times faster than those available on its 3G/3G+ network. Mobile LTEcell sites have already been installed he said, with work ongoing to fully test the network ahead of a planned launch before Christmas.
In an unrelated development, Mr Hull has also confirmed that the mobile operator will begin offering mobile number portability (MNP) to its customers in early December, having signed an agreement contract to activate local number portability (LNP) on 6 November 2018. Commenting on Flow’s MNP systems, he said: ‘We have tested it already and its working fine. There are [some] hiccups here and there and testing that we’re looking to do with the international [side of it] … because you still have to be able to use that number internationally as well so there is some testing going on in that area.’
TeleGeography notes that in September this year, the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) – which was established under Treaty in May 2000 by five Eastern Caribbean States – Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – announced that LNP services would be launched in all ECTEL member states on 19 November 2018. The date was agreed at a meeting held on 12 September by the working group set up to oversee the implementation of LNP. The scheme will allow for fixed number portability (FNP) and MNP within each ECTEL member state, giving consumers the flexibility to move their fixed and mobile voice services to the provider of their choice.