telebarbadosThe BU family has posted several complaints in recent days to indicate that there has been a drop in broadband service  being delivered by Cable & Wireless aka LIME, and that it has left a sour taste in their mouths. Many Barbadians seem clueless as to what their options are in the circumstances. BU family member Chris Halsall has been like a stuck record in his repeat that Barbadians who are dissatisfied with LIME’s service need to check out the competition. It seems however that one BU family member has achieved some level of success.

Early in the New Year BU proposes to instigate a Boycott LIME Day. At that time we will encourage LIME subscribers in Barbados to protest to LIME in a tangible way i.e. non-payment of bills for one month, transfer  of service where practicable to the competition, send emails and telephone calls to Customer Care/Contact Centres, write to the Public Counsel/Fair Trading Department etc.

In light of the above it was with interest we read a Press Release issued by TeleBarbados today:

…today announced that TeleBarbados, a dominant communication services provider on the island, has deployed the ARRIS WiDOX 700 MHz broadband access solution at multiple locations to deliver high-speed data service to its customers throughout the island

PRESS RELEASE

TeleBarbados Deploys ARRIS 700 MHz Wireless Access Solution

Last update: 10:30 a.m. EST Dec. 9, 2008

SUWANEE, Ga., Dec 09, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — ARRIS (ARRS: 7.32, +0.41, +5.9%) , today announced that TeleBarbados, a dominant  communication services provider on the island, has deployed the ARRIS WiDOX 700 MHz broadband access solution at multiple locations to deliver high-speed data service to its customers throughout the island.

“We are very excited to be deploying a high quality, reliable and secure high-speed internet experience for our residential customers,” said TeleBarbados CEO Brian Harvey. “Using this 700 MHz solution from ARRIS allows us to differentiate ourselves from the incumbent provider and uniquely positions TeleBarbados to easily expand our service offerings in the future.”

ARRIS WiDOX technology employs DOCSIS protocols in a wireless environment to deliver high quality data experience to customers in rural environments. The ARRIS WiDOX solution provides fixed wireless solutions from a single tower to cover large geographic areas, thus eliminating the need for high infrastructure costs in rural environments. ARRIS has successfully deployed this technology in regions around the world since 2004, with several operators supporting as many as 20,000 subscribers per installation. The topography of Barbados lends itself well to this technology by virtue of its terrain and population density.

About ARRIS

ARRIS is a global communications technology company specializing in the design, engineering and supply of technology supporting triple- and quad-play broadband services for residential and business customers around the world. The company supplies broadband operators with the tools and platforms they need to deliver, reliable telephony, demand driven video, next-generation advertising and high-speed data services. ARRIS products expand and help grow network capacity with access and outside plant construction equipment, reliably deliver voice, video and data services and assure optimal service delivery for end customers. Headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia, USA, ARRIS has R&D centers in Atlanta, Chicago, Beaverton OR, Wallingford CT, State College PA, Cork, Ireland and Shenzhen, China, and operates support and sales offices throughout the world. Information about ARRIS products and services can be found at http://www.arrisi.com .
About TeleBarbados, Inc.

Launched in June 2006, TeleBarbados has carved out a leading share of the local telecommunications market. As part of an ongoing multi-million US dollar investment in Barbados, a dedicated 940 kilometer, 20 Gigabit sub-sea fibre optic cable network from the US to Barbados was created, with branches in St. Croix and St. Lucia. TeleBarbados provides a full range of top-quality telecommunications solutions to a local customer base that comprises nearly all of the leading corporate companies, as well as Government departments and statutory corporations that require robust, reliable telecommunications services.
SOURCE ARRIS

http://www.arrisi.com

81 responses to “TeleBarbados Upgrades Broadband Solution”


  1. @Anonymous: ““LIME” will be a perfect case study at the UWI Business School as to how not to launch a new brand.

    With respect…

    I would argue that the LIME “experience” of re-branding would be a “grade school” lesson…

    An “undergraduate” level question might be how LIME has been allowed to get away with what its being allowed to get away with. (I’m thinking in the political sciences department.)

    A “graduate” level question might consider the tools available to the “regulators”. And the mistakes the “regulators” made.

    A “post-grad” level question might be: how to we correct the mistakes? “Please give exact values for your suggested “X-Factors”…


  2. I had exactly the same experience as Chris Halsall to the letter!!! They informed me at 9.00am yesterday that there was a widespread problem since the night before – so why wasn’t I told that in the first place instead of spending half the night on the phone trying to get an answer from St. Lucia!! They then reset my modem and I cannot even see my network now. Needless to say I am tiefin’ access from someone on Telebarbados!!!!
    Why are we sharing customer service with two other countries and why do they only take written complaints??
    I left a message yesterday morning on the CEO’s secretary’s phone as I was told to do by the telephone operator in Barbados – did she return the call?? Hell no…………


  3. It is now 4.30 on Tuesday and I am still not connected – in fact LIME had the nerve to call me last night to tell me that I was reconnected when in actual fact I still cannot see my network. When I called LIME in Barbados I was informed that they have no numbers for technicians, that only St. Lucia can contact them.When I again contacted St Lucia after queuing again for over an hour, they were not aware tomorrow is a Bank Holiday and that I will now have to wait until Thursday to get my service back….What is happening???
    This service is outrageous and yes I would happily boycott.

  4. A-Fish (formerly .22) Avatar
    A-Fish (formerly .22)

    LIME/C&W’s way of restructuring themselves and how they are doing it now is simply wasting the consumer’s time and money and productivity.

    This such irrelevance needs to stop.

    I don’t see the point having making so much profit and not putting it into their customer services and upgrading their services. Its all about the money.


  5. Please tune in to the Getting Down To BrassTacks being aired NOW, with executives of LIME on hand to answer any queries with LIME. Unfortunately being moderated with Stetson (Skinny Mout) Babb, shoulda had Mr Marshall fah dem!


  6. Mr. Halsall has made a phone call on Brasstacks to give his view.

    We would wish that Tony Marshall moderated Friday’s programme (best suited on this) to drill down on these executives of LIME.


  7. stetson babb is so pathetic.

    He just love to hear himself.I can’t believe he is congatulating the lime reps for coming on the radio to respond to customer complaints.

    Is this how low we see ourselves that even though we the public allowed Lime to make $91 million yet we should be so grateful that they come on the air to offer crap words after hearing person after person complain.


  8. I appreciated the opportunity to speak. I also appreciated the kind words of the gentleman calling in after me.

    Said caller suggested I be brought in as a guest to have my brain picked.

    An official offer — if any broadcaster would be willing to have me in as a guest, I would welcome the opportunity.

    And I’ve relatively good at picking my words carefully (read: avoiding lawsuits), even if I’m a little shaky the first few minutes when speaking in public…


  9. Go for it Chris, you tell ’em!! They are running scared already……….

  10. Disturbed Employee Avatar
    Disturbed Employee

    I work at LIME and I have always been troubled at the lack of concern for the plight of the customer. The decision makers have no committment to providing proper service so I fully support any effort made by customers to fight for their rights…even if it mean boycotting the services provided by LIME.

    I belive the problem stems from the head …Mr. Dodd and Mr. Austin have no respect for the workers at lime whatsoever! Friday would be the second time a closure date for the Contact Centre has been announced to the press without the staff being informed. The last communication the company made with the staff was via letter dated 30th December 2008 stating that talks were ongoing with the Union and they will be informed about the status of their employment when an agreement is reached. On Friday 23rd January, the Manager of the Contact Centre neglected to publish the weekly schedule and staff were left wondering if they should report to work on Monday, seeing that you have to be scheduled to work. Only to read in the press on Saturday that the Centre will officially be closed by the end of the week. Neither Mr. Dodd nor Mr. Austin has not once visited Centre to speak to staff or properly explain the company’s decison. In fact the 1st time the staff of the same said contact centre learned of the closure was in the same Nation news paper. One staff member told me “Imagine my embassasment when someone called me on Saturday morning to tell me my last day of work is Friday”.

    I heard with my own 2 ears the very British Mr. Dodd announce to us in a General meeting that air condition in our retail outlets were unnessesary and that the Caribbean operations are run like back yard garages. I also stated to the public on Friday that he will not apologise for the comapany’s profitability because C&W paid 68 million in tax to the B’dos govenment and in a nut shell that we should be greatful that they choose to operate here.

    IF THERE IS A TIME FOR ACTION IT IS NOW. LETS BOYCOT LIME!!!!!!!


  11. It now appears that VOB is selling promotional slots on its call-in programmes to corporate Barbados.

    The LIMERS offered little, if anything at all, to help callers in their quest to obtain at least reasonable service from the company.

    Too many people liming.


  12. @General Lee

    Even with those questionable ads I’ve been hearing on VOB 92.9 that doesn’t say anything about better/improved service besides one of the ads indicating some lowered costs on some cellphones.

    C&W/LIME doesn’t care about the service they care about the money and cost-cutting to rake up even more ridiculous amount of money.

    These Heads of C&W/LIME of their operations are “very questionable” to the very public. After hearing the complaints raised on Brasstacks to the Heads and those Heads prematurely left the show, I’m disappointed.

    What kind of promises they are making to the people of Barbados while they are doing things that are ridiculous to this nation???


  13. STATISTICS ………..thats all it is !!!!!
    i was giving some nudges to read some reports and articles about call centre operations …. it is plan to see that anyone going the route of calling a particular arm of there business a “call centre ” mainly looking at ” STATISTICS ” ….. it has nothing to do with customer satisfaction .. if that happens then that is a bonus … this part of the business should be called ( get this) .. *** MAKE CONTACT WITH THE CUSTOMER CENTRE *** cause thats all the decision makers would want yuh to do .. (1) listen to the caller (2) take a contact (3) tell then someone will get back to them shortly . >> the guidelines given to the workers in these centres are not adequate to provide “TOP CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE”


  14. @All…

    Just putting this out there…

    Have any of you read the “revised” Reference Interconnection Offer?

    http://www.ftc.gov.bb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99&Itemid=82

    Please pay particular attention to the “Service Description” document (page two).

    Please note that there is no service description for “Out going…” anything.

    Just who is looking out for “us”?

    More to come….


  15. Good to see this issue it at least being commented on here… Can’t seem to find much about the issue with the traditional news sources… One would think that the lost of reliability of basic utility services (phone, water, electricity) that are key not only to the people of Barbados but is vital to our Tourist industry would have tons of coverage


  16. My LIME dial-up internet connection has been working very poorly for about a month now. Many times the computer states that it’s connected when it really isn’t. (Well, it may be connected to LIME but not to the Internet: When that happens and I place the mouse over the connection icon on the taskbar, it states that 218 bytes have been sent and 1093 bytes received.) At other times it connects for about 5 minutes and then stops. If I wait long enough (sometimes as long as half-hour or even longer) it starts working again. My anti-virus application (AVG Free) needs updating to version 8.5 but that’s a 59 MB download (practically impossible with this nonsense happening. I tried downloading it via my download manager but that method isn’t working for this particular download.)

    I thought it was a problem with my modem until I discovered a few weeks ago that my niece was experiencing the same problem. Then I found out that they’re people with high speed connections experiencing similar issues.

    LIME hasn’t even had the courtesy to send me an email about the situation. Why on earth am I paying $59 a month for this lousy service?

    ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, LIME! 🙁


  17. There is something like a standing order existing within entities that have monopolies or just above average market share in this country.
    That standing order is called “cockiness”.
    You can protest, boycott whatever you wish to do, but very little if anything will be changed. If changes are done they are very subtle and only” appear to be beneficial” at first to customers. The company continues on its merry way knowing that in reality/final analysis there is no iron fist exercising control over their actions. All the public showings with the FTC, rebranding etc, are what they are. Just showings.


  18. @ abajan

    You can try TeleBarbados services because it appears to be more reliable. It’s quite Slower a bit more expensive but keeps you connected. If you want reliability here it is. Give it a try if its Wireless Internet services are available to you.

    Well I certainly can’t because I’m a heavy Internet User and relies both reliability and connection speed and reasonable cost.


  19. @ A-Fish
    Thanks for the suggestion but my connection started working properly again a few days ago and my niece’s says hers is back to normal too.

    I’m so happy about it that to celebrate, I’m attempting my biggest download ever (in separate chunks via a download manager, of course). It’s the 550 MB version of the Tomb Raider Legend Demo.

    Wish me luck! 🙂


  20. So…

    Lets assume you were a corporation, wishing to buy services, and were trying to in touch with LIME…

    If you were in Barbados, you might find yourself at this web page:

    http://www.time4lime.com/content/6/node/678

    There are two numbers listed here:

    1. 246 292 2677

    2. 1 800 804 2994

    The first number, if called from a LIME landline in Barbados, plays a recording which says “The number you have reached is not in service

    The second number, if called, places you in contact with the LIME call centre in St. Lucia, who can’t actually tell you the phone number to use to contact the corporate sales office in Barbados (although they’re happy to forward you to Directory Assistance, although you’ll pay for the information…

    Hmmm….


  21. It’s no better in Nevis. What Cable and Worthless need is some SERIOUS competition. Imagine I can call from the USA to England for US$ .07 per minute, and US$ 1.35 per minute to Nevis. Who ripping off who? Steuuppppppps

  22. Eyes Wide Open Avatar
    Eyes Wide Open

    I just love how Lime uses the script from telecom companies in other countries and say “thank you for choosing Lime” at the end of a telephone conversation with their staff. My answer is always…..I don’t have a choice, do I? …and there is either a dead silence or a laughter on the other side of the line. It is a blood sucking, abusing and corrupt company that should be expelled from the Caribbean


  23. I recently installed a modem for adsl , I installed it right all four lights r green but when I tried to accses the internet it said told me the webpage can not b veiwed yea I know u guys r going to say I maybe did not set it up right but to make sure I called customer care after. waiting four an HOUR for some one to answer the phone as so as I was about to put down a person anwers the phone. I explain the problem(MY POWER LIGHT IS GREEN, LAN1 IS GREEN, ADSL IS GREEN, AND INTERNET IS GREEN)but I am not getting a webpage.She gave me introutins to follow and I did them, when the process was over she says that she can see I am online and if I am still not getting through try truning of the fire walls.Curently I am using dailup and hating ever mintue of it if there is any one with simlar probs or if u have a solution plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz let me know by emailing at ja-van@hotmail.com


  24. @Javan…

    From the Command Line (read: click on your WinBlows “Start” Icon, click on the “Run…” menu item, and then in the pop-up window type “cmd” and press your “Return” or “Enter” key”.) (I’m assuming from your above you’re not running Unix / Linux.)

    When you run the command (you’ll have to type this exactly) “tracert -d http://www.google.com“, what do you see?


  25. When I first applied for licenses in Barbados I was told that I will have to pay the bag man, and we refused to. I also want to state for the record that we were granted a loan based on the terms outlined in the term sheet from Bank of Nova Scotia. The new General Manager, Mac Anderson froze our account claiming that we were only suppose to use the loan to pay the invoices of the guarantor, WireIE, a Canadian company that also uses the same law firm, Cassels Brock as the Bank. Locally WireIE is represented by none other than Dale Marshall.

    To date the bank has refused to accept responsibility for crippling the company by breaching the loan agreement, and breaching the confidentiality of our relationship with them by sharing our information with others as we have confirmed.

    Though this bank has the proclivity to do this sort of thing to their customers who are primarily black, they reckoned wrong this time.

    Mac Anderson told us not to say anything for fear that WireIE sues the bank. What he did not know is that my military training and certain expertise allowed me to preserve every word he uttered for future use.

    The bank apparently followed someone’s orders to freeze account because whoever that person was seems afraid to see us finally launch.

    The bank expected us to pay an invoice for $ 900,000.00 USD that most would expect for that kind of invoice would have some detail to support the invoiced amount, well this invoice had a single line.

    What the bank wanted us to do was tantamount to money laundering a very serious crime. Compounded with the other two charges of breach of contract and confidentiality and now this i was compelled to inform the authorities.

    As a U.S Citizen we provided the full details to the Department of Justice and the Dept of the Treasury and an investigation has been launched. There are more facts that have sent come to light but due to the investigation I can not share them here.

    I have exposed my real name because we have nothing to hide and will see to it that the senior executives of this bank are held accountable


  26. Folks:

    WireIE will not be building a dam thing for AccessOne barbados, Inc. I cannot give all of the details here but will say that we were presented with invoices from WireIE for services and fiber that were installed by LIME for our interconnection at our new offices. These invoices represented a 400% markup over what we paid LIME. First off WireIE had no authority to invoice us for these services and we had already paid LIME.

    WireIE went on to invoice us for the BIDC offices which we occupy. THe other thing they did was to invoice us for $ 910,000.00 USD for what we are still trying to find out. I am serious here. The Invoice stated ” Progress Payment- Network”. We asked for a detail invoice to as to ascertain what we would have been paying for and to date no detail.

    The next astonishing thing that happened is that happened is that after we refused to pay $ 1,212,000.00 USD in fraudulent invoices it appears as if someone call the Asst. General manager of a Canadian bank who then froze our account causing us to loose $ 21,400,000.00 USD as of September 2009.

    Needless to say that that had we paid these invoices we would have been violating local money laundering laws as well as that of the USA.

    WireIE is going around the region trying to buy their way into the market, but I call on all to rebuke them for this kind of highhanded racketeering practices.

    Not in my back yard and no on my watch


  27. With the increase cost of landlines hanging over our heads, now is the time for the smart executives at Digicel and TeleBarbados to offer more attractive rates to Barbadians.

    Digicel should now offer packages that make consumers, that do not really need a landline, seriously consider going 100% mobile with them.

    Telebarbados needs to set up its game and broaden access to its network. Partner with Digicel, if that is allowed, to compete with this Goliath.

    AT&T wants out of landline business
    (AFP) – 2 days ago
    WASHINGTON — US telecom giant AT&T has asked US regulatory authorities to waive a requirement that it and other carriers maintain costly landline networks.
    AT&T, the oldest US telephone company, made the request in a filing last week with the Federal Communications Commission in which it also asked the FCC to set a “firm deadline” for phasing out wireline service.
    “The business model for legacy phone services is in a death spiral,” AT&T said. “With an outdated product, falling revenues, and rising costs, the plain-old telephone service (POTS) business is unsustainable for the long run.”
    The AT&T filing was in response to an FCC request earlier this month for input on plans to extend high-speed Internet broadband to the entire country.
    It was published online by technology blog GigaOM.
    AT&T said the high costs of maintaining the legacy phone network were “diverting valuable resources, both public and private, that could be used to expand broadband access and to improve the quality of broadband service.”
    The company said it was being forced to “dedicate substantial resources to an antiquated network and outdated service.”
    AT&T said that with the rise of cellphones and Internet communications such as VoIP less than 20 percent of Americans now rely exclusively on landlines for voice service and 25 percent have abandoned them altogether.
    It said 700,000 lines are being cut every month.
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hUZo87X2Kjw_tHbPPziSNwlraRog

    Coincidence or what?

    Ill-advised, misguided leaders, create nothing but problems for the people they seek to guide.


  28. Heard a statistic that in the USA one third households have replaced land lines with mobile.


  29. Just joined Telebarbados’ waiting list. One of the customer service reps said they may get to me in a month. Once they come and test the signal at my location and find it satisfactory, I am getting my internet and fixed line service from them. That same day I am going to Careless and Wutless or LIME (Less Intelligence More Errors) and begging off their “exemplary” service. In this day and age I want to have a reliable broadband service. I don’t want to be watching youtube and keep having to pause to wait for it to load (I have the $99.00 package, dammit!!). I don’t want to be clicking streaming links and hoping that the video will play during the hour or so I have free. I can’t stand the service dropping every few minutes to an hour and having to turn on and off the modem – I even moved it from across the room to right next to me on the desk so I can do so in comfort and frequency – only to call the “Customer Service Rep” at LIME when I am outraged at how low I had come to and have him or her suggest that I do that very thing (reset the modem). AARRGGGHHH!!!! I can do your job you moron!! Or for them to suggest that I can have a technician out to my house for a (substantial) fee to fix their own crappy service (can I say “crappy” here?) I mean is this the norm? Do I really pay $150.48/month for this when I earn $1200.00-odd per month? Obviously my internet is important to me and LIME just doesn’t give a s++t! Just please let Telebarbados work out… That is exactly why people are still putting up with Careless and Wutless: the uncertainty…


  30. telebarbados is the available in my area st joseph


  31. Alan Kaplan …I was thinking of coming to your country to start a Call Center I was hoping for good Internet Service but reading this form I am having second thoughts ,

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