New TRC heads advised to hire attorney to address internet issues, if necessary
Premier Andrew Fahie has advised the new heads of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Board to hire an attorney, if needed, to solve the current internet issues affecting the territory.
Premier Fahie made the comments while passing the motion to have Vance Lewis and Vincent Wattley appointed as Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the TRC Board.
He said: “One of the things that I would encourage them to do is to get a telecoms lawyer because what I am seeing is that some of these companies trying to lose you in some of these legal languages.”
“So, if we want to sit down, playing ‘patty cake’ and don’t go get the necessary high-powered lawyers so that the people of this territory can get a better deal, then it’s our fault,” the Premier added.
Request whatever is needed
The British Virgin Islands has been rated as having one of the most expensive internet rates with underperforming internet speeds in the world.
Premier Fahie said he has therefore instructed the new TRC Board heads to make any necessary requests from the government to have this growing issue resolved.
“Whatever you need, let me know so we can get you what you need so that they can go and do what you need to do and fight the case for the people of the Virgin Islands,” Fahie said.
Meeting with internet providers
The Premier had met with the TRC and local telecoms providers in May 2019 to address many of the internet related issues.
Prior to the meeting, he had told members of the media that his office was going to inform the local regulatory authorities to look into the matter immediately.
He said that persons in the BVI were paying almost four times the price for the same type of service being offered in other Caribbean islands and were constantly forced to endure regular outages and poor customer service.
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me all night hugging me horn. why you think the net was born?
congrats and lower the price. the bvi is a country that has been exploited for hundreds of years and even today with this unstable market.
the companies here are milking people and it’s sad we don’t stand up as one and do something about it.
I with fahie 110%, them thiefing we poor people for too long. The other Caribbean Islands spending ec and tt dollars but dem milking our breast dry with high price and round and round internet. $45 US can get you net , land line and TV in UK, Santo and other places. You cant even get that at digicel their lowest plan. We fed up!!
The solution has always been there but we have lacked the politics will to pursue it.
We have the fastest internet cable running offshore.
Why haven’t we tapped into it and brought in more reliable service providers? Why is USVI operating at 10times
Our speed with 10times the reliability and 1/10th the cost?
Those 3 company’s are basicly acting as one and in agreement with each other , it beggers belief that all three have the same extreamly high prices, far higher then any other country and yet offer the slowest poorest service but act like they are the best in the world when you go into their shops, i hope these laywers are coming soon its pitiful trying to do anything here, the last 5 days the $150 net i am paying a months been useless , i bet i won’t be getting any discounts on my account for this
Not a damn thing will happen, just watch and see!! Money talks and we all know what walks.
Does the BVI have any sovereignty? Mandate a minimum level of service telco’s must meet to keep their licence. The high priced lawyers will work very hard, bill many many hours, take the money and get nothing done. The telco’s won’t care, it’s the price of doing business as usual.
It’s more profitable to have lawyers talk for the rest of time then to provide better service at lower prices.