Nassau, Bahamas, December 16th: The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) held a press conference today to bring the public up to date with the company’s performance and the exciting new promotions just in time for Christmas.
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer I. Kirk Griffin told the press that “By increasing vigilance on our expenditure and scaling back on many discretionary items, BTC is on track with a good December to approach near record revenues with profits within the $40m dollar range.”
The company noted that it was extremely challenged due to the economic climate. BTC admitted that it was perplexed as the company was faced with extreme pressure and competing realities. The company had a mandate to provide relief to customers while making products and services increasingly competitive and affordable.
BTC remained on track with installing the Next Generation Network, and also rolled out phase one of its new billing solution. The company also worked diligently to improve customer service and the quality and reliability of all BTC products and services.
“I would like to thank the Management and employees for their creativity, hard-work, unswerving dedication and personal sacrifice during this trying time. It is because of them that we have accomplished much and surpassed even our high expectations,” Mr. Griffin continued.
To help ease the burden for its consumers, the company gave back more than 13 million dollars to customers. Firstly, in December 2008, the company eliminated charges for caller ID, call waiting and three-way calling at a cost of $6 million in 2009. BlackBerry charges for unlimited internet access was reduced from $59.99 per month to $39.99 per month. The revenue foregone was $1.2 million. Secondly, the company eliminated texting packages, and lowered a la carte SMS pricing from $0.10 per text to $0.05 per text. The potential revenue foregone to BTC was $3 million this year. Thirdly, BTC ran its summer ‘Mad Minutes’ promotion for prepaid customers providing bonus minutes. The company gave away approximately 12 million minutes to its pre-paid customers during the campaign which valued some $3 million. Fourthly, BTC increased the ‘in package’ bundled minutes in the company’s re-launched “More Talk” postpaid packages offering which was introduced to the market in July.
Finally, BTC recently launched the “We gat your back” campaign which aims to restore service to customers who may have had their home phone or personal cell phone account disconnected with very easy terms to pay off their outstanding obligations to BTC. With this offer customers can make a minimum payment of 10% of their bill and have their services reconnected. The offer expires February 28th 2010.
Mr. Griffin also announced that the revamped BlackBerry packages. For as little as $99.00 down customers can leave Cyber World with their BlackBerry smart-phones in their hand. BTC also introduced the Storm, Bold, and Javelin, three of the latest BlackBerry devices.
The company’s Big Mobile Christmas Phone Sale gives customers the opportunity to purchase phones for as low as $39.99. There are three coupons on the Big Mobile Christmas sale advertisements in the newspaper and on facebook. The first coupon allows the first 25 customers on Fridays and Saturdays to get a FREE phone when they sign up for any More Talk package. The second allows the first five customers purchasing a $100 phone card on Fridays and Saturdays to receive a FREE phone. The third coupon gives customers a $10.00 discount on the Phone of the Week until December 31st.
Christmas time is always very hectic for as loved ones flock to stores to purchase gifts and attend gatherings and events. During this time BTC would like to implore drivers and the motoring public to “Be Smart”. Be Smart is the company’s mobile safety campaign that encourages our mobile customers to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times, to be courteous when using their cell phones in public places, and to use locks and passwords to safeguard their privacy.
On January 14th, the company will have its first “Be Smart” speech competition. Students from high schools in the country will participate. BTC also has a Jingle Competition to allow the public to prepare a 60 second public service announcement on the dangers of texting and driving. The purse for the Speech and Jingle competitions is one and two thousand dollars respectively. The dates for entries for the Speech and Jingle competitions have been extended to December 23rd. Customers can visit BTC on facebook (www.facebook.com/mybtc) for more details.
After six weeks of intense but friendly competition, the live finale for BTC Starmaker will be held on January 5, during which the 4 spokespersons will be named. The company would like to thank the Bahamian public for their support of the finalists and the competition.
BTC continues to be progressive in its forward thinking approach for the country. The company remains dedicated to providing efficient and competitive telecommunications services. Our goal is to serve customers throughout the islands while enabling the nation to maintain its competitive advantage in the areas of tourism and financial services.
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