| James Kon |
ROAD users will now be able to receive mobile phone coverage and connectivity in certain parts of the Telisai Highway after Progresif Cellular Sdn Bhd launched its latest cell tower at a site along the stretch of road yesterday.
The tower is one of the three new ones going live in selected sites along the highway as part of Progresif’s network expansion plans to improve its network coverage and strengthen the overall experience of its customers.
The new tower was officially unveiled in a ceremony onsite by guest of honour Haji Azhar bin Haji Ahmad, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Chairman of The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI).
Also present at the unveiling were YB Haji Ramli bin Haji Lahit, Legislative Council member and Penghulu of Mukim Telisai; Dr Norimtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, Acting Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance) at the Ministry of Development; Edwan Zukri bin Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Adnan, board member of Progresif; Pengiran Haji Mohd Zain bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Razak, Chief Executive of AITI; and senior officials from Progresif.
Commenting on the new milestone, Progresif CEO Paul Taylor said, “Coverage and connectivity is now available into the immediate area. As we are all aware, this highway location is one of the must-have areas for mobile connectivity.”
“Progresif has over 250 sites around the nation serving more than 160,000 subscribers to date and continues to grow rapidly.
“The growth in the number of customers drives us to improve our coverage and services especially at previously underserved areas such as this,” he said.
He revealed that in the last six months, Progresif has added four new sites per month to their network.
“We recently invested approximately B$2 million in enhancing the capacity available to our customers at more than 120 sites. Simultaneously, we added capacity to our terrestrial network to enhance user experience at 52 sites.
“This investment is driven by two goals: firstly, to provide additional areas of coverage, and secondly to improve the customer experience in areas where coverage previously existed,” Taylor said.
YB Haji Ramli, meanwhile, applauded the launch of the new tower to provide connectivity to road users and residents in the surrounding areas of the highway.
“The new tower is a convenience facility for the public, especially road users. With connectivity, road users can call for assistance in case of an emergency in the areas. Before the new tower, there were few instances of accidents and there was a delay in calling for assistance,” he noted.
“I hope that the problem of areas in Danau currently receiving less coverage will be addressed soon.”
Commenting on the new tower, Tony Hanley, Chief Technology and Information Officer of Progresif added: “The number of sites [for the towers] has increased by 20 per cent, with 40 new sites going live over the past year.
“We have invested to enhance the capacity for our customers at over 120 existing sites. By making these continued investments, we can deliver a network that is readily able to keep up with the heavy demand for communications and data use.”
“We have also worked hard to increase our overall capacity by 50 per cent and built sites in less well-served areas such as Temburong.
“We are planning to extend our network into more rural areas of Brunei so that more of the population can have access to Progresif’s network,” Hanley said.