Manx Telecom has announced the launch of its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in line with its previously set timetable, Telegeography.com reported on July 30, 2014. With the operator saying that the development was the “culmination of several years of planning and months of engineering work to install an entirely new network infrastructure.” It is committed to investing some 10 million pounds ($17 million) in 4G technology over the next three years. It has also confirmed that for those existing customers on pay-monthly smartphone plans, there will be no additional cost to access the faster download speeds offered by the new network. Meanwhile, in terms of coverage, it has also claimed to be on track to reach 95 percent of the population by “the end of the summer.” Under the operator’s license terms it was, in fact, only required to offer 33 percent population coverage at launch. Commenting on the decision to go beyond that, Manx Telecom CEO Mike Dee noted: “Our 4G license commitment was to achieve a minimum of 33 percent coverage at launch and 95 percent two years after launch – but we know how much our customers love new technology, so right from the outset we were determined to exceed those initial commitments.”