Local resident praises Hon. Fraser for Communications Liberalisation efforts
“I would like to thank [him] for liberalising telecommunications, because if it wasn’t liberalised, what would we have done today with one phone company here in the [Virgin Islands]?” Mrs Daniel asked.
Hon. Fraser had been widely credited with helping to break a previously existing monopoly in the mobile phone market of the Territory after being appointed as Minister for Communications of Works in the general elections of 2007.
Hon. Fraser had also acquired the moniker of ‘the Liberator’ as a result of this.
According to Kishmet Daniel, many persons would not have been able to make calls and would have had a bad New Year as a result of the frustrations being experienced in connecting to the CCT network by local customers.
Mrs Daniel further related that she had tried unsuccessfully to reach out to other persons who were on the CCT mobile phone network before an intervention was made to stem the tide of technical difficulties experienced by the network.
She was critical that there were allegedly no representatives available by CCT or detailed instructions publicised to assist subscribers on how to have their devices configured correctly to access the network once the issues had been addressed.
According to Mrs Daniel, persons within the community who were more technologically proficient had to show others how to get their phones switched over correctly in order to access the other carriers’ networks.
She said there were elders and other persons within the community who didn’t understand what to do and suggested that tents set up by representatives of the companies might have been helpful in this regard. “Some of those people don’t use their phone for internet… they just use their phone to dial a number and that’s it.”
“Even though Digicel and Lime stepped in to help”, she said, “they were not helped... It had to take people in the community to help them.”
CCT had stated in a press release that customers needed to “turn off and on [their] CCT phone” in order to “initiate emergency voice services”.
The release sent by CCT also expressed that “interim emergency arrangements have been put in place with local carriers to restore CCT’s GSM voice and text services to our customers”.
“Where there is no vision the people perish”, Daniel said before adding, “Who else could have liberalised telecommunications and liberate the people other than Hon. Julian Fraser the Liberator?”
18 Responses to “Local resident praises Hon. Fraser for Communications Liberalisation efforts ”
So let's see, since Liberalisation, the BVI has had:
1. The most expensive internet, landline and mobile services in the Caribbean and probably the WORLD (per capita).
2. The lousiest internet, landline and mobile services in the Caribbean and probably the WORLD (per capita).
3. The most outdated, expensive and lousiest Cable TV service in the WORLD perhaps.
4. The most unreliable internet/communications infrastructure especially for a Financial Services Mecca as we usually refer to ourselves.
People need to have at least two internet providers and some people even have 3 cell phones to ensure proper service and value for money (so they think at least) in BVI. And we are proud of this? LMAO! Okay, let me join the bandwagon. Thanks Fraser!
AMEN to BVI man! As for the sheep heralding the "Liberator" above outlines the significant issues with telecomms in the BVI. This also plays into why Russel's idea of a new 3rd economic pillar (Tech) is so damn far fetched that he makes himself look like Bozo the clown (not name calling but making reference). Thanks Liberator!
Buswacker Bill....We certainly came make tech work in the BVI.....Its no longer about hardware ist accessibility and bandwidth! that was what Russell was referring to.......does anyone every use a computer without having access to the NET????? thats what you need to ask yourself.....are you aware that BVI last year has a series of access points available, yep right here in the BVI that we can actually sell domain names???? guess u didnt know...that and a lot more...we poised to take advantage of this C n W knows and has access however they are finding ways of slowing the process down to make as much money as they can on poor service....they ultimately have all the access to these services....
and has nothing to do with nothing else.
Other people are reading and learning how ignorant our people
is in this little country.
is in this little country. U talkin to me home bowy, must have read my mind!!!
aint she the one who say the cotton picking days r over.....the cotton picking free double top up days are OVER!!!!