folks I emailed a couple days ago are starting to get the messages.

tho a few have slipped thru in that time, many were delayed. Please be patient and email back if you don't hear from a local business.

There have been intermittent problems with the phones also. so try to be patient...

Thanks...

We are getting ours now, too.
Rick

Marty:
Just a FYI for anyone trying to make contact by phone. BTL is providing more fun and games in this area....Just because you call someone and the phone rings on your end doesn't mean it's ringing in on their end. The person you are trying to contact may or may not be there--never know. We only discovered this because of answering machines not clicking on when they should. When fault reported, of course, there is no problem at BTL...

FYI: the btl maiserver is down again, second time this morning; they said it should be up in 15 minutes.

I am getting the impression that I am the only one calling btl about it; yesterday they wouldn't believe me because nobody else had called; complaints is: 119 and internet helpdesk is: 227 7333

I called on the 13th so they are giving a line of b.s.

As for the phone ringing an no one answers I know that this has been happening to me since OCTOBER 2002. My brother was an "installer technician" for Bell Canada for years. He told me that since the problem is happening to everyone there is only one cause...."THE POWER FROM THE COMPANY IS FLUCTUATING . THE RINGER NEEDS A POWER LEVEL OF A CERTAIN MINIMUM VOLTAGE TO SET THE RINGER OFF."

Can't see why they can't fix it. Most often I find I have messages on my "voice mail" when I was sitting right by the phone the whole day. With their "new improved" service I don't even get a tone telling me that I have a message. And so much for the save message feature....they disappear on you after 3 days.....I would get rid of this lovely "free service" that I did not want but at least I get a chance to know that someone called me even though my phone did not ring!!!!....

My other big beef is with these prepaid cell phones. There is no name listed with them. I tried to call the Sea Turtle Shop the other day. They no longer have a regular line and operate with these pre-paid cell phones...I could not even get their number from information....not good for business...then there is the ridiculous cost of calling a cell number and the fact that many of my calls to cell phones disconnect and
I have to make a second or third call....between the new numbering fiasco, the slow speed of the Internet service etc. etc. I am surprised we managed to stay in business. I think the B.T.B. or the Minister of Tourism should get involved. This is getting extremely detrimental to tourism.

What ever happened to the competition???

I doubt very much if any of this is the result of routine ineptness or unforseen mechanical breakdowns. It appears to me to be deliberately planned. There is a telecom shakeup going on, with two heavily pol-connected companies forming a duopoly. Perhaps I am paranoid but I believe that the bad service is deliberate and calculated, undoubtedly to serve some purpose aimed at putting money in the pockets of the owners of the duopolies and their pol cronies. At best, it is a deliberate decision by the Ashcroft/pol cartel to withhold spending any money on service.

still having intermittent troubles, if you are leaving for the island, and are worried because you cannot get ahold of your hotel by phone or email, i assure you everything is fine except the phone system.

several folks have contacted me today with this situation, feel free to email me at marty@casado.net if you have questions.

so how does all this affect, if at all, the Internet cafes?

Not, because they are all on sattelite.

I am getting messages bouncing back from 2/13,2/14,2/15,using btl.
The starband.net ones are going through just fine.

Jackie