Residents in uproar over BVI Cable rate increases
The rate changes, scheduled to take effect from March 1, 2014, did not find much favour with some customers despite their relatively nominal increase and was described by some as being unfair.
Host of the programme, Richard Courtney de Castro, said he is one of the customers who is not satisfied with the cable service provided at the moment.
“The Spanish version that we are made to accept, I don’t think it’s fair… I don’t think they’re offering any new service. I think they’re offering the same service for more,” de Castro stated.
One resident felt that this was unfair and noted that residents had the power to discontinue their service.
de Castro criticised the cable company’s inability to offer internet and telephone services noting that this was offered in other countries. “We’re begging for some competition,” de Castro said, “competition is really dynamic and competition forces people to do things that they won’t normally do.”
According to de Castro, the cable company should take advantage of the opportunity to offer the additional services and expand its revenue base in those areas.
Another resident felt that customers should receive additional services along with the proposed increases and said the company was taking advantage of residents of the Virgin Islands.
“Who is looking out for us here in the BVI?” another resident questioned.
One woman complained about an alleged increase in her rate package that she did not subscribe to and noted her surprise when she was confronted about the difference in cost upon turning up to pay her bill.
Meanwhile, Vice President and General Manager of BVI Cable TV, LuAnne S. Hodge downplayed the furore and told Virgin Islands News Online that the increases were the first to be done in five years and explained that several services had been added in the interim at no additional cost to consumers.
She further noted that the increases followed an application which was approved by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) earlier this year and expressed that residents were notified of the proposed increases through several print and online media.
Ms Hodge explained that the company’s basic cable package will be increased by $2, while other packages will be increased by $4. “We did a rate increase on just the packages only. Basic went up from $26 to $28 and Basic Plus and TotalTV went up by $4.” Other services, she advised, will remain the same with the same charges.
The rate increases were approved in January by the TRC and customers were given a 30-day notice at the end of January that the new rates would be effective March 1, 2014.
“We haven’t raised the rates for five years. During that time we’ve converted to digital, we’ve added channels to each of the tiers without any additional cost,” Ms Hodge related. She also noted that customers were granted a free 90-day preview of a new tier that was on offer.
The Vice President further offered that new channels will be added as soon as content becomes available and reflected on the company’s ongoing challenges with converting from Latin American to domestic channels.
“Some channels are going to be opened up shortly so we’ll be transferring a couple in March once the contracts have expired and then we’ll be doing some more later on once the contracts are available,” she added.
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42 Responses to “Residents in uproar over BVI Cable rate increases”
It is easy to route through your TV. You can cancel anytime and there are NO ads! HUGE bonus as far as I am concerned. You can also pause programmes and return to the same spot very easily.
I swear, if I had to listen to one more advertisement BLARING in Spanish, I would have gone nuts! I dumped cable a year ago.
Netflix was my solution and considering how little TV I watch anyway, this is a great (and much less expensive) solution! There are other "on demand" services available if you want a wider selection.
we want back jeanette she was customer friendly and very helpful but some of them now have sour faces every day and talk so hoggish especially the ... one and the 2 s..m ones no manners at all.