Manx Telecom has warned customers that there could be ‘reduced localised mobile coverage’ as it installs its 4G (fourth generation) network.
The phone company’s 4G network ‘roll-out’ starts on Wednesday.
As part of the company’s £10 million investment in the technology which it says will bring superfast mobile broadband to the island this summer, the project involves the creation of an entirely new mobile network.
The latest phase requires infrastructure to be installed at mobile network sites around the island but in the short term may cause some localised disruption to the availability of the mobile network.
David Smith, Manx Telecom’s marketing director, said: ‘We are determined to bring our customers a world class 4G service and our technicians and engineers will be starting a new phase of work this week, with the aim of launching the network this summer.
‘Work now has to be carried out on our mobile sites across the island starting on April 9 running through to May 19, ensuring all scheduled work is complete ahead of the busy TT period.
‘For each mobile site we have allocated a time slot for this work to take place, and within each time slot there may be reduced localised mobile coverage for anything from one to six hours.
‘In addition, there are a few areas that will be without mobile coverage because there are no nearby mobile sites which can offer alternative coverage.
‘The safety of engineers is of paramount importance, so this work must take place during daylight hours.
‘Our aim is to minimise service disruption for customers and whilst the work will be carried out as quickly as possible, there may be delays due to bad weather – for example, if it is unsafe for engineers to scale masts due to high winds. We are contacting all of our mobile customers by text to inform them of what’s happening and we’ll also be providing them with the following link to our website, to ensure they can find the latest information and progress online at {www.manxtelecom.com/4g|www.manxtelecom.com/4g}.’
When 4G arrives this summer it will allow customers to download music, upload photos, play games, stream films and watch HDTV, faster than ever before with upload and download speeds up to seven times faster than those currently experienced on their 3G network.
The company said that trials had also given clear indications that 4G would mean better mobile coverage indoors and outdoors.