A Scottish Telecommunications company which offers a FRA fixed radio access service has been given the go-ahead by the government to extend its operations throughout the UK. Atlantic Telecommunications Ltd, a subsidiary of Atlantic Telecom Group Plc, plans to build on the success it has achieved in just one year of operations in Glasgow, by expanding in key urban areas of England. The news will not only discomfort established carriers such as British Telecommunications Plc but also rival wireless telephony operator Ionica Plc, which revealed last week that it faced major technical problems in rolling out its network (CI No 3,295). While Ionica was unable to increase its penetration rate above 4% in any given area because of limitations in the software at its base stations, Atlantic, which uses a system licensed from Israel company Tadiran Ltd, is adamant that it does not have any capacity problem. Like Ionica, Atlantic can undercut BT because installation costs are so cheap as consumers can be connected with just a small aerial. Atlantic is now in discussions with advisers to find the nest way of raising money to finance the expansion. Graham Jackson, the group’s executive chairman, said: We have taken a huge step forward in our determination to build Atlantic into a key niche player in this dynamic industry. In another innovative move, Atlantic is offering Scottish customers the opportunity to dial London numbers for the price of a local call. It already offers local call rates for the whole of Scotland.
