Centennial Communications Launches Digital Wireless Service in Dominican Republic With 3G-Ready Lucent Technologies Network Infrastructure
NEPTUNE, N.J., Oct. 11, 2000 - Centennial Communications Corp. today announced it has brought high-tech mobile communications to the Dominican Republic with the launch of its digital wireless service, enabled by equipment, software and professional services support from its strategic supplier, Lucent Technologies. The wireless service uses the latest digital technology called CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), providing voice quality comparable to fixed line telephones. Thanks to Lucent's base station design, Centennial can effectively double the capacity for voice traffic without additional base stations. What's more, Centennial will be able to offer increasingly faster mobile Internet and data transmission services from the same network infrastructure.
"Centennial Dominicana is offering a truly personalized mobile communications service that is on a par with our highly successful service offered by Centennial de Puerto Rico," said Michael J. Small, the company's president and chief executive officer. "With the strong community of interest between the largest and the fastest-growing economies in the Caribbean, customers traveling to and from the Dominican Republic can be assured of consistent, reliable service."
Centennial Dominicana offers all-digital Personal Communications Services in the same frequency as Centennial de Puerto Rico. This commonality allows customers to use the same phone in either market, with identical calling features and advanced services like voice mail.
"Centennial was one of the first operators to partner with Lucent in the launch of commercial CDMA, and we're gratified to continue our close collaboration as they begin operation in a fast-growing market like the Dominican Republic, " said William Wiberg, president of Lucent's cellular and PCS business.
Lucent's Flexent(TM) wireless networks meet Centennial's growth needs way into the future, featuring both a capacity and data-handling technology that can grow incrementally. CDMA technology is evolving to so-called third generation (3G) wireless. With improvements currently under test, by next year Lucent's CDMA networks will support data transmission rates faster than those available from the typical home Internet dial-up service.
Lucent's Flexent CDMA base station enhancement is based on one of the new global 3G standards established by International Telecommunication Union to improve data transmissions over mobile networks and promote global roaming capabilities with the same device. With higher data transmission, Mobile Internet access will be enriched with more graphical display capability such as digital maps featuring directions to a retail store offering discounts when a customer arrives in the neighborhood.
CONTACT: Centennial Communications Corp. | Peter W. Chehayl | 732/919-1000, ext. 379
Lucent Technologies | Fernando Figueredo | 305/569-3747 | ffigueredo@lucent.com |
