Paradise Mobile is close to finishing its 5G network build-out, it has told observers at an international 5G conference in Austin, Texas.

The system could enable near immediate usage by a slew of companies eager to test new technologies in a small, experimental way in a consumer market that can be made to model Europe and North America.

CEO Sam Tabbara provided an update to Light Reading, the independent B2B digital media platform, pointing out that companies are seeking a way of testing new ideas sooner rather than later.

And with almost nowhere else to get this testing done, the system Paradise has put in place will be a valuable platform.

In a video interview with the industry media company, Mr Tabbara said Paradise will have islandwide 5G coverage within a few weeks and some testing and tweaking is already under way.

He wants to launch innovative new products and services in Bermuda and create a hub for Internet of Things innovation on the island, eventually for wider markets.

Paradise sees itself as a key player in the acceleration of 5G’s future.

For one thing, it begins with technology that no Bermuda providers have in play at present.

Mike Dano, the interviewer and editorial director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, previously reported: “The company's goal isn't to capture market share there [Bermuda], however. Instead, it wants to use the country, whose residents and visitors are wealthy, as a proving ground for new 5G applications and services. Paradise then hopes to export its learnings to other network operators around the world.”

In addition to mobile service with what was previously promised as “a very competitive monthly bill”, Paradise is also ready to kick off the next step in a broad strategy: opening its operations to developers.

Headlined: “Paradise prepares a 5G platform for developers”, the Light Reading article accompanying the interview said the initial goal is to provide “speedy 5G services to residents and tourists on the island.

“But Tabbara explained that the company also plans to offer its network to developers looking to test next-generation services on a cutting-edge, cloud-based network architecture.”

And in the video, Mr Tabbara said: “The current Premier and the current government have visions to diversify the economy, which is heavily based on financial services, simply because they’re not big job creators in the future.

“So, it’s a very unique place. GDP per capita is top three in the world. You know, you’ve got a lot of unique aspects that makes Bermuda a perfect sandbox for next-gen technology.

“If you look at the personas; we mentioned travel or education, but even something as simplistic as phones, you’ve got 55 per cent Apple, 37 per cent Samsung. There’s 95 per cent plus of your base that is the very model, is very similar to any North American or Western European neighbourhood.

“And that becomes a very interesting use case because you’re not just doing technical talks. You’re actually validating market penetration, feedback and all the other pieces on what we believe is the most scalable, flexible, agile, advanced 5G network that exists.

Mr Tabbara explained that Paradise Mobile’s 5G network requires only a handful of transmission sites because of the small size of the island.

Paradise has regulatory approval in Bermuda and the Cayman lslands for this year and their strategy is to be a pan-Caribbean player over the next five years.

It is open RAN and deployed mainly in the Amazon Web Services cloud using software and hardware from vendor Mavenir, with a design that is far different from most established telecom networks.

Ultimately, Paradise Mobile hopes to offer its network as a kind of public test bed that others in the 5G ecosystem can use to prove out new technologies and business models that they can then export to larger markets.

Asked about this last week by The Royal Gazette, after the Light Reading interview, Mr Tabbara would only release a statement saying: “Bermudians deserve real choice for their mobile provider, and we’re working as hard as we can to deploy the best, most cutting-edge network in the world for Bermuda. We are confident we will deliver a great experience with competitive pricing for Bermudians.

“We’re excited to launch for consumers in Bermuda because they deserve better options. That’s our first priority. There will be more coming but this is our focus right now.”