Minister Vanterpool said the service provided by BVI Cable TV is a vexing issue that must be addressed early by the TRC. Photo: VINO

The Minister, speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday December 21, 2011, highlighted that such issues include the service provided by the BVI Cable Television and the service and competition of the Telecommunications providers.

“One such issue Madam Speaker is the issue of Cable Television and the channels that are offered to us here in the Virgin Islands. I did complaints on a daily basis from constituents all over this territory and I certainly will be asking the commission to look into this matter very urgently and very early in the new year we will be pushing for some resolution to satisfy the people of this Territory because, Madam Speaker, the commission is not an entity onto itself. The commission is put there from a regulatory standpoint to ensure that their constituents, the people of the Virgin Islands are satisfied with its service that is expected to come from the operators in the Virgin Islands who provide these services to us.”

Hon. Vanterpool further said those service providers in the telecommunications sector are also not bodies unto themselves and they should understand that Government is responsible to ensure that the people are satisfied with their service and when they are not the TRC has to make that service right. “Up to this point it is very obvious that we know, Madam Speaker, what we had before in terms of cable television service. So we are not prepared to continue to go backwards. We are not prepared to accept mediocrity as the norm as it may seem to be Madam Speaker, since they have been operating a little while under the new ownership of BVI Cable TV.”

He further said it is expected that the cable channels that are provided are provided in “our language so that we could understand and they will be provided to the satisfaction of our people”.

Other important matters to be speedily addressed, the Minister continued, include the “battle of the giants in providing telecommunications and sometimes they are tempted as sometimes happen in business practice, to practice unfairness or to carry out unfair or unethical practices...Ultimately we want to ensure that the clients, we the people of the Virgin Islands, receive fair practice at a reasonable cost...”

The Second House of Assembly (HOA) on Wednesday approved the appointment of Attorney At Law Ayana Hull-Braithwaite as Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) in the Virgin Islands for a period of three (3) years with effect from December 15, 2011.