February 2000 Table
of Contents
TELECOMMUNICATIONS DISRUPTION
Since Hurricane Floyd, the telephone and other electronic services from Abaco to the
outside world have been severely disrupted. The BaTelCo tower at Fox Town was brought
down in the storm and damage to other key facilities has made the job of communicating with overseas callers a precarious one at best as the number of circuits available
has been reduced significantly.
Business leaders on Abaco have protested that BaTelCo and the government have not
addressed the situation nor realised how severely this lack of communication is
impacting the Abaco economy. Orders for stores and other businesses are often unable
to be made, causing shortages on the shelves, and airline flights have sometimes been cancelled.
Some people have estimated that the lack of telephone and internet service costs
Abaco businessmen some quarter of a million dollars a day.
The effect upon the tourism industry is particularly severe. Craig Roberts of the
Out Island Promotion Board recently said that bookings at Abaco hotels and resorts
are being crippled by the lack of communications. "I have had calls from regularly
visitors to the island who told me that they got through to me on the ninth try over several
days. Those who know Abaco will do this, but those who are coming to Abaco for the
first time will not be so persistent."
Marsh Harbour lawyer Philip Lundy estimates he has lost thousands of dollars due to
the situation. He noted that one department - billing - is still very efficient and
is sending out bills for telephones that have not been in working order for months.
This Issue Table
of Contents - - Previous Issues
Other Abaco Bahamas Links
Home Page (oii.net) -
Message Board (AbacoBoard.com) -
Latest Happenings (AbacoToday.com)
HTML Copyright © 1996-2001, oii.net
All rights reserved.
webmaster@oii.net