quality of its service, according to Minister of Telecommunications Renee Webb.

During the Budget debate in the House of Assembly last night on Telecommunications and E-commerce, the Minister said her Department was working with Bermuda's oldest local carrier to help it improve standards.

While acknowledging BTC had a lot on its plate at the moment, she said Government would look at fines for undue delays if service did not improve.

She said: "Maybe the final solution is increased competition and fines for long delays and excessive delays. This has proved to be effective in other countries.'' BTC customer service has come under scrutiny this week after a Bermudian hijacked a BTC van on Thursday in frustration with constant problems with BTC telephone lines at his business.

For more from the House, see story on Page 4