EPIC CYPRUS
EPIC ' S ROUTE TO NO1 MOBILE OPERATOR
The plan
• 2018 : the preferred network project to become the # 1 mobile network in Cyprus starts by putting a plan in place , to tackle with priorities all the weak points of the network , starting from excelling first in voice , through improvements in coverage with Umts900 , through the rollout of several new sites and through the activation of HDvoice and VoLTE .
• Then we planned how to increase data speeds , by improvements in the 4G indoor coverage , the use of lower spectrum bands , the ' reframing ' of more spectrum towards 4G and the addition of several 4G bands that allow the extensive use of carrier aggregation in the network .
• In parallel , we wanted to put solid foundations for the future 5G network . We acquired the maximum spectrum possible in both the c-band and the 700mhz band .
• A good plan is just a wish if there is not equally good execution ! Our team , through their efforts and commitment , work in parallel with our strong partner Huawei .
What did we achieve ?
• We have upgraded base stations ( antenna systems ) all over Cyprus , from urban centres to remote rural areas , utilising all the investments in frequency bands that Epic has made so far and especially the low frequency bands that offer wide coverage in both 4G as well as 3G .
• At the same time we prepared the network for the transition to 5G , by upgrading antenna systems .
• We have rolled out new base stations , in various areas of the island , with the aim of maximising network coverage , for seamless access to 4G and 5G services .
• We implemented over 500km fibre optic links to route the increased data traffic from every corner of Cyprus to the Epic backbone network in Nicosia .
• We invested in a new international capacity , beyond 800Gbps , to the international network of our new Group in France and from there to the major European internet centres . This capacity will serve the growing needs of 4G and 5G networks , as well as our new FTTH network and our corporate customers .
• We completely upgraded the core network , aiming not only to offer extremely fast speeds , but also high definition voice and VoLTE calls , with very much faster calls and simultaneous use of voice and data during a call .
• We improved the management of our network , transferring it to the network operations centre ( NOC ) of our Group in France , where the management of the other networks of our Group is done , thus taking full advantage of the wide know-how available within our Group .
• We needed a reliable and independent way to continuously monitor the results , to benchmark ourselves , against our previous performance and against our competitors . As such , we selected umlaut to measure our performance using its proven methodology , monitoring how the network was changing week by week .
• We have migrated our pre-paid / pay-asyou-go customers to our new in-house developed CRM system , transforming the way we interact with the customers at all touch-points .
62 November 2021