Despite the challenges ahead with restoration efforts to the southeast islands most impacted by Hurricane Irma, BTC continues to maintain a high level of service availability throughout the archipelago.
Interim CEO, Dexter Cartwright said, “We understand how vital our services are to our customers across the country.
As such we increased the sensitivity of monitoring critical systems and our network to ensure customer impact was mitigated and swiftly responded to prior to, during and after the storm. As a result, we have seen a measured increase in traffic of up to 33% in the critical days leading to and after the storm”.
“We’ve seen that in an environment of choice, consumers continue to be loyal to the true Bahamian brand of BTC for all of their communications needs, and our ability to scale to support the additional customer demand,” Cartwright continued.
Today, BTC’s technical teams travelled to Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Grand Bahama to assess damages and chart a plan for restoration.
The company noted that commercial power was its main concern during this storm.
“All of the islands affected by Hurricane Irma also suffered a loss of commercial power. Currently, our services in Mayaguana are still operating on back-up power,” continued CEO Cartwright.
“In instances like this, communities affected need immediate assistance. In the spirit of community and nation building, BTC immediately launched its “Each One Reach One” text to donate program, allowing all Bahamians to participate with hurricane relief efforts.
Sometimes people don’t know how they can help, or they feel like they don’t have enough money to make a donation, so we made it easier for all of our customers to get involved.
By texting the word “DONATE” to 5115, you can give a $1 towards this cause. BTC will match every $1 donated.
All proceeds donated and the funds collected will go to NEMA. We are also working alongside our community partners throughout the country including the Bahamas Red Cross and Our Grand Bahama,” Cartwright concluded.
BTC technician Wentworth Johnson on the ground in Crooked Island helping to restore services
BTC techs work to restore services in Acklins
ABOUT BTC: BTC is the first quad play provider in The Bahamas. The company offers a full suite of landline, internet, mobile and television services allowing customers to stay connected throughout The Bahamas. BTC is deeply rooted in community and supports a wide range of culture, youth, education and sporting initiatives. These include Junkanoo, Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival, IAAF/BTC World Relays and CARIFTA. BTC maintains a four year scholarship program with The University of The Bahamas and provides funding for the university’s endowment fund. Just recently, the company signed an agreement for the establishment of an Innovation Lab at the College. The company is jointly owned by Liberty Global and The Government of The Bahamas.
