PHILIPSBURG–United Telecommunications Services (UTS) will be carrying out a major upgrade of its core network infrastructure starting this evening and continuing until the beginning of September.
UTS said in a press release on Monday that customers may notice interruption to their data service during night-time hours during this time period. The change will improve the browsing experience of customers using Chippie 3G and 4G LTE mobile internet service. The company will be adjusting its network infrastructure to create a more direct route to the internet cloud for its Chippie mobile customers in the Eastern Caribbean region. The shorter route will result in decreased latency, increasing download speed and offering an even more enjoyable surfing experience for Chippie customers. UTS said the Chippie mobile network “is already the most reliable mobile network on St. Maarten. The redesign will further increase network reliability because it will also minimize the island’s singular reliance on few major undersea fibre optic cables.”
Should there be a fault on one specific route, UTS will be able to choose from and switch to back-up routes to continue serving customers. UTS said it has identified this as a much-needed enhancement based on the island’s role as a major regional hub for commerce and tourism. The redesign also makes the infrastructure future proof, offering the best possible performance on the 4G LTE network now and in future, as well as confirming readiness for the introduction of 5G technologies.
The network adjustment also brings the company in line with international standards in terms of telecom regulation, allowing for Chippie mobile users to be identified more accurately, based on their actual country location. This means that Chippie mobile internet customers will access the internet through a new IP block range in the future.
This requirement is set by international telecom registrars such as International Telecom Union (ITU) and Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC).
This change in IP block designation will allow for correct identification and authentication based on IP address in applications where this is needed, UTS said.
The change in IP block range will mean that applications, where a verification takes place based on IP address, will notice a new IP address compared to the old situation. Most applications and services will recognise the new IP address automatically and connect as normal.
However, for services where the IP address has been configured manually for connectivity, the new IP address will need to be added in the settings. This can apply for specialized services such as VPN access and Cloud-hosted email exchanges. Access to these types of services is based on IP address, which will need to be reconfigured manually to open access for the new IP address.
“We knew that this change means that our customers will browse even faster in the future and took steps to prepare our plans and infrastructure” UTS marketing and Communication Officer Ivy Lambert said. “Anticipating that you’ll be able to access even more information in the same amount of time, we increased the amount of data offered in our Chippie prepaid data bundles in April of this year. The bundles already offered an attractive combination of data, free minutes and SMS, but the highest package for example now offers 12 gigabytes of data instead of 7 gigabytes. The best part? We gave our customers more, but for the same price. You can’t beat that.”
UTS said there is one group of customers who will miss out on the increase in speed, which are customers who are still using the slower 2G-based NET ON mobile internet. “Although our overall network is faster, the maximum speeds on this older technology are simply too low to enjoy browsing fully. We encourage anyone still using this service to visit us for an instant upgrade. We even have an in-store special where you can upgrade to a new prepaid bundle, with a new phone for only US $75. We also have a parking lot sales event this Saturday where we will have a variety of very attractive phones and upgrade options,” Lambert said.
Additional information on the network upgrade, access configurations or Chippie data bundles, persons can surf to: www.uts-ec.com, visit UTS stores or contact Customer Service by email at: infosxm@uts.sx, by phone at tel. +1(721) 588-1010 or look for UTS EC on Facebook.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/68764-uts-conducts-major-upgrade-mobile-browsing-to-accelerate
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