www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Comcel (Voila), a local mobile operator in Haiti has been granted 12MHz of additional spectrum in the 850MHz band by Haitian telecoms regulator Conatel. The decision was taken to support the relief work in the wake of the devastating earthquake on January 12.

The extra spectrum was crucial as networks were being stretched to the limit with the surge in traffic.

According to Stewart Sherriff, CTO with Voila’s US-based parent Trilogy International, the 12MHz granted by the government will aid enormously in relieving the congestion they had in the network.

Currently, Voila has 47MHz (2×23.5MHz) in the 850MHz band, whilst just a small 2×1.5MHz block remains set aside for emergency purposes.