#SpeakingOut – FTC’s missed call

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

It is difficult to comprehend how and why the Fair Trading Commission is about to place such  high and rigid demand on service provider FLOW when the company is not in control of the total quantity and quality of the landline service that is offered to the paying public.

There will only be an improved guaranteed standard of service when the regulator recognises and demands that the landline service is of a quality and kind where
power outages do not create dangerous, difficult and disadvantageous situations for consumers, especially the elderly and the incapacitated.

In days of old when technology was not so far advanced as it is today, the existing telephone system in Barbados operated with copper.

Then, no electrical power outage had the opportunity of preventing prince or pauper from initiating or completing a telephone call.

In today’s world with the highest applications of technologies at their zenith, our local telephone system has been allowed a diversification that is detrimental to the ease of doing business for both the corporate and the private customer.

The Fair Trading Commission, with oversight and responsibility for the telecommunication sector, has allowed the business trading as FLOW to transition from copper to fibre optics without any regulation in place to prevent the loss of service
when there is disruption to the local power supply.

Regulations for the new year should not only include installation and transfer or a faster service, and faster response time by the interactive voice system, but a provision should have been made for all existing customers to be provided with an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) at the time of the transition to fibre optics.

The disadvantages of being “incommunicado” by power outages can leave a significant swath of individuals helpless.

If government Ministries and departments can become involved in electricity rate hearings, then there is also need for something to be done about our local telephone service.

Looking forward to “fairer” trading in the new year.

Michael Ray