telecommunications environment, the Bermuda Telephone Company Ltd. (Telco) is half-way through a five year restructuring plan.

To break with the old, there's even a push for a new acronym, "BTC''.

With the changes came redundancies, which have, to some extent, served to deflect attention away from what Telco is attempting to do, the utility's assistant vice president, public relations, Karla Lacey Minors said.

Telco, which currently enjoys a local telephone service monopoly, is in favour of competition and feels there should be a Bermudian-owned long distance service provider to compete with Cable & Wireless Bermuda (C&W), the Island's lone provider of international services, and with TeleBermuda International Ltd., the company given a conditional long distance licence, Mrs. Lacey Minors said.

Government also gave TeleBermuda permission to be 80 percent foreign owned while over 90 percent of Telco's shares are held by Bermudians, she said.

"We're looking at growth. A Bermuda company should be a player in providing an integral service (international telecommunications) to Bermuda,'' she said.

"The market will dictate who benefits are far as profits go.'' Telco currently has an application before the Telecommunications's Commission to offer long distance service.

As well as possible competition, Telco must also confront local phone subsidisation which is under pressure, she added.

Through a subsidy agreement with C&W, revenues from international calls, because they use local infrastructure, help lower the cost of local telephone services. As a result, Bermudians enjoy one of the lowest rates in the world for domestic telephone service.

"We don't own the long distance part, so we can't subsidise it ourselves,'' she said.

Mrs. Lacey Minors estimated local rates are 50 percent less than what the service costs.

On the subsidy, Telco has applied to the Telecommunications Commission to rebalance rates. Telco proposes to decrease the portion of the subsidy that comes from C&W and increase the cost of domestic service, she said.

Regardless of whether or not it gets its long distance licence, the company is preparing for change. Its divisions, from planning and economic development to information systems and public relations as well as finance, are now linked to customer service.

Historically, the need to be customer-focused just wasn't there. Management looked internally, she said.

"The management diagram is a circle and at the centre of that circle is service.'' To operationalise the philosophical change, individual teams will have the collective expertise and experience to handle an individual client's needs.

Also part of the reorganisation has been the incorporation of three new subsidiaries, BTC Services, BTC Mobility and BTC Telecommunications. The Bermuda Telephone Company will be the holding company parent of the group.

The reorganisation also includes dividing the company's business and residential into two arms.

On the residential side, teams will focus on servicing customers based on their Island location, east, west and central while on the business front clients were divided into four areas, assistant vice president, business, sales and service, Mr. Winston Robinson said.

The areas include; Financial services -- banks, big insurance companies and larger exempt companies.

Public service -- Government and utilities.

International and commerce -- retail and tourism industry related businesses such as hotels.

Middle market -- small family run businesses or individual contractors.

Prior to this new structure, "the key thing that was lacking was leadership and accountability.'' In the new structure, the customer's account rep is key. That rep will be responsible for service from the initial request to dial tone. This individual can "manage the whole account,' he said.

Mr. Robinson, an accountant, has been with Telco for ten years.

Prior to the changes "we failed to understand our customers,'' he said.

"We've spoken with key accounts about the changes and they've been very understanding,'' he said.

Mr. Robinson, one of a dozen Telco assistant vice presidents, said under the previous structure, he looked at the company from an economic point of view, now, he sees his role as one of bringing a "total solution to the table'' to service the client.

Karla Lacey Minors