The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) is offering voluntary separation packages to as many as 150 employees. BTC is 49 percent owned by the government with the controlling stake being in the hands of Cable and Wireless. The move to reduce staff at the telco comes as BTC prepares for liberalization of the cellular phone market. It currently has a monopoly on cell services in The Bahamas. Last week, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that the government intends to award a second cell license by May.
The Cellular Liberalization Task Force advised last Wednesday that it received submissions from Digicel (Bahamas) Holdings Limited, Cable Bahamas Ltd. and Virgin Mobile Bahamas Limited.
Companies always look for efficiencies when competition arrives. Costs are kept down, as there will be a drop in revenue once the market opens up. BTC's main problem, though, when competition arrives won't be its staff count. BTC's cell service is not reliable. Dropped calls are the norm. It often takes three or four tries before your cell call goes through. And the cell network goes down from time to time, frustrating Bahamians who want more from their national telecommunications company.
Echoing the frustration of thousands of Bahamians, former BTC Chairman Julian Francis has said he will switch to the new carrier because BTC's service is "horrendous". He added that there just does not seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel with the poor service BTC provides. It is unclear what BTC can do in the short time it has before its first competitor arrives. Its reputation for poor cell service since Cable and Wireless acquired it is now branded into the minds of many Bahamians. If the other cell competitor can provide consistent, quality service there will be a mass exodus from BTC. Many more layoffs will be necessary to keep the company afloat in such a scenario.
Change to letters policy
We are always pleased to get feedback from our readers on matters of concern. Our letters section is a place where you can have your say. In the past we accepted hard copies of letters from you via the mail. These letters were either typed in or scanned before being placed in the newspaper. These practices, however, are archaic and take up unnecessary man-hours.
Going forward The Nassau Guardian will only accept letters that are emailed to it at editor@nasguard.com. After you type your letter on your computer, or have it typed for you, just email it to us. We value your contributions and hope that more of you feel inspired to send us letters, adding your voices to the debates on our pages.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
