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New Telephone Concessions for St. Lucia
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New Telephone Concessions for St. Lucia
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Wednesday, January 26, 2000 – Cable and Wireless has announced a reduction in local trunk call rates for Dominica and St. Lucia. Officials of the telecommunications company say the reduction came after much discussion and deliberation with government and other stakeholders of the two countries. Cable and Wireless has done away with charging per unit for local calls and are now charging per call, regardless of the length of the call. From March 1st customers in St. Lucia will pay 75 cents per call during the day, 60 cents per call in the evening and 45 cents per call in the evenings. Customers will also pay 45 cents per call on weekends and 27 cents for calls made within a zone. In order to facilitate these changes the island has been rezoned bringing the number of zones down from eight to three. The new billing system for Dominica commences from February 1st . Customers will now pay 84 cents for calls across zones on weekends, 70 cents per call in the evenings and 56 cents per call on weekends. Customers will always pay 28 cents for calls made zones. The number of zones have been reduced from five to two.
Mr. Clarke indicated that Cable and Wireless will continue to work with Governments to accelerate the contribution telecommunications can make to the continuing development of the region. Cable and Wireless has just approved $US20 million to further develop its network around the region. The upgrade of the network is expected to increase the capacity of the Eastern Caribbean Fiber System from 8,000 simultaneous voice channels to 32,256 channels. It is hoped that the new upgrade system will be completed by August,2000. Another major focus for the company is its internet services.
Mr. George believes there is no justification for trunk charges since the system is all automated. "There should be no extra charge for artificially created trunk zones" he says.. |
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"As
you can see the new Cable and Wireless is more responsive and we are determined
to continue our efforts to meet the needs of the region and become the
telecommunications provider of choice. Cable and Wireless is changing. Some may
say not fast enough, but we are changing," says Trevor Clarke, Cable and
Wireless Area Director for Barbados and the Windward Islands. He adds, "As
our Caribbean businesses approach a competitive era, our focus and our
priorities are preparing for that inevitable future." 
Minister
for Public Utilities Sen. Calixte George says after much discussion and
deliberation Cable and Wireless has finally responded to government ‘s request
for a simple arrangement that will encourage the spread of telephone services
throughout the island. "The rate structure announced by Cable and Wireless is a
step in the right direction, and it suggest that Cable and Wireless is moving
from a position of intransigence to a more collaborative and partnership type of
arrangements; and this we commend you for. The concession are still not where we
in the region have to reach. My whole objective is that there should be
absolutely no trunk calls," says George.