The company continues to expand its coverage area, making multiple improvements to its network and contributing to Puerto Rico’s development
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, April 24, 2017 – Liberty Puerto Rico continues its expansion and service improvements program, adding thousands of new homes to its coverage area and increasing its bandwidth to 1.2 GHz. These efforts will expand broadband internet access in Puerto Rico and improve the island’s telecommunication platform - crucial factors for socioeconomic development.
To date, Liberty Global, Liberty’s parent company and the largest international TV and broadband company in the world, has invested billions of dollars in similar types of projects across Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. The combination of higher bandwidth and the latest in DOCSIS technology leads to higher Internet broadband speeds, in addition to higher network service stability and reliability.
In 2017, Liberty plans to add approximately 25,000 homes to its coverage area. The highest impact areas include the municipalities of Morovis, Naranjito, San Sebastián, Las Piedras, Salinas, Patillas, Corozal, Hatillo, Bayamón, Carolina, Guaynabo and, later this year, Maricao, the only municipality in the main island that was not previously covered by Liberty. These new homes would join the other 30,000 that Liberty has added since 2015.
“Through these projects, we are providing equal access to urban as well as barrios and rural areas, and providing Puerto Ricans the same opportunity to have access to broadband Internet regardless of their socioeconomic level,” commented Naji Khoury, president and CEO of Liberty. “Broadband Internet is a very important tool for economic development and a better quality of life. Making this service available for everyone is essential for Puerto Rico’s recovery and economic development.”
At the same time, Liberty has been making improvements in its existing infrastructure through its 1.2 GHz project. This will provide all homes in the expansion project broadband speeds of up to 400 Mbps. This initiative began in 2015, along with the new build project, in Puerto Rico’s eastern region and has been gradually expanding westward. Among the municipalities that are already enjoying this service are Caguas, Luquillo, Fajardo, Ceiba, Loíza, Naguabo, Humacao, Yabucoa, Gurabo, Juncos and Las Piedras. Upgrades in the entire island should be completed in the next three years.
The bandwidth upgrade will give all these homes a state-of-the art connection that will provide an Internet service with less congestion and higher speeds. This will not only accommodate a growing demand for this service, but also facilitate the use of multiple electronic devices without sacrificing bandwidth or speed. In addition, subscribers will also have access to more digital channels and On Demand options.
Crews in most of the new build zones are using a procedure called Fiber Deep, in which fiber optic cables are installed closer to the homes. This means that customers in these areas will have higher speeds and a more stable and consistent broadband Internet signal.
The new build zones and bandwidth upgrade are part of the improvements that Liberty Puerto Rico has been implementing to offer the best customer experience possible. In Netflix’s March 2017 report (https://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/country/us/?small=True), Liberty Puerto Rico was ranked as the best Internet provider in Puerto Rico and 20th among all Internet providers in the United States.
The company is investing in its facilities, opening new service centers, remodeling offices and increasing its technical services vehicle fleet. In addition, the company continues to hire and train Puerto Rican professionals, sustaining 947 direct jobs, outsourcing approximately 461 people, and generating approximately 1,500 indirect jobs in Puerto Rico. This year, Liberty will hire 40 additional employees.
Last year, Liberty started to offer 24-hour customer service and technical service appointments seven days a week. The company also implemented several efficiencies to reduce wait time for technical service appointments, at-store service, and customer representative calls. Liberty also expanded its customer service options with Liberty Alerts, through which customers can carry out several service options such as checking balances, receiving statement alerts and payment reminders, verifying if there are any service outages in their coverage area, and confirming technical service appointments.
About Liberty Puerto Rico:
Liberty Puerto Rico is a subsidiary of Liberty Global and has approximately 799,000 RGUs in 75 municipalities in the eastern, central, northern southern and western regions of Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.libertypr.com.