Spectrum Who? Residents Complain About Telecom Service

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Melissa Edwards/BVI Platinum News

(PLTM) - Many are furious of the thought that their sighs of relief to the mobile and internet woes were in vain, since despite the recent Spectrum Award from the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) to local providers, the telecom services seem to be getting worse.

Late August 2016, TRC awarded each telecommunication service provider in the Territory with frequency authorisations for the spectrum awarded earlier that month. The aim of the award has been to provide the three mobile operators with spectrum they can use to deliver improved services and provide a greater reach to their respective clients.

In interviews conducted by BVI Platinum News, there was a shared sentiment among residents that the providers and their services are no better quality and have gotten worse over time.

This issue has now become a national discussion, as it affects the lives of all residents within the Territory.

“Every night you get a text saying your service or internet will be off because they are fixing something, but it never gets better; you see no kind of improvement,” said Carise Mitchum of East End, a CCT customer.

Other persons argued that they are paying for services they hardly use because of the many faults in their daily connection.

“I am paying monthly for a service that is on less than half the month. I cannot receive or make calls in certain areas. This is what I'm going through and every month the bill comes on time and without a discount,” said a customer of Flow.

Additional inquiries from BVI Platinum News garnered some laughs from persons, who stated that spectrum made no difference to the situation. “Just a truck load of false hope,” a resident noted.

“The news was big, everybody was happy about it and thought things would've been much better with the spectrum thing, but not one thing changed,” he went on to say.

“Spectrum? I don't think they get it yet. I don't want to believe so,” said anther resident.

The issue of poor service has also garnered comments from various politicians.

While in the middle of his presentation in the House of Assembly last Friday, September 23rd, Hon. Julian Fraser spoke to some personal difficulties he encountered with Flow. The Leader of the Opposition went on to chastise Flow for their negligence and stated that the company is being ungrateful to the people of the Virgin Islands.

“You making money, you got money, but now I’m talking about the people. I'm talking about your customers, people who made you what you are on this island. Today you're so big, you can turn your back on them.”

He added, “Better has to be done; they need to do better.”

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BVI Platinum News

Hon. Marlon Penn, Representative of the Eight District and Junior Minister for Trade, Investment, Promotion and Consumer Affairs also commented on the matter and agreed with Hon. Fraser’s comments.

Hon. Penn challenged TRC to do more work to improve the telecommunications infrastructure in the Territory.

He noted that the local telecom providers need to stand accountable for their services and ensure that consumers are paying for services they are enjoying.

“There is no reason why we should be having substandard services as it relates to, especially broadband service in the BVI, at this point in our development. It's an issue; it has been an issue of concern for me for quite some time now and I think the time has come now for us to see some change. We pay for them and people deserve to get proper service. I would wait patiently to see how they change.”

On a similar note, Hon. Mark Vanterpool, Minister for Communication and Works stated that with spectrum, local telecommunication companies have no excuse for not being able to deliver high quality broadband at the right speed and for the right cost.

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