BTC has made customer service a "focal point" and is trying to improve its track record in this area, said Sheila Manderson, chief executive officer at KeyTech, BTC's parent company.

BTC has been criticised for its service levels for years, with complaints ranging from the time it takes to get repairs done to the length of wait for new telephone lines to be installed.

Ms Manderson claimed it looked like the levels of service had been improving under this new directive.

"Preliminary results have shown that progress is being made," she said in the section headed BTC, which saw income increase year over year, from $6.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2002 to $8.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2003.

She said: "Customer service has been the focal point for BTC's strategic planning as the company redefines itself and its process to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction."

In January, BTC and the Telecommunications Commission announced the introduction of a new Customer Service Credit Programme.

Under the programme, BTC customers were to receive credit on their accounts if their telephone services are not restored within a specific period.

It came into effect on February 1 this year and said that BTC residential customers will have $26 removed from bills if phone services are not restored within seven days; for single-line business customers whose lines are out of service for more than two days the reduction will be $32.

While customers will see the credits applied to their accounts after the service interruption, BTC also outlined several exemptions from customers receiving the rebated access charge.

They include: actions of the customer resulting in service interruptions, customer lines disconnected for non-payment, and service interruptions caused by third party infrastructure or excavation.

"Our goal is to provide the best quality product and the best quality service to the consumer," Telecommunications Commission director Greg Swan said at the time.

Last week Minister of Tourism, Telecommunications and E-commerce, Renee Webb said there had been improvements in service levels from BTC and Cablevision (which is also part owned by KeyTech).

And she said bringing in penalties for bad service for BTC had gone a long way to improving service as had the threat of competition from Quantum - a telephone company with a chequered history that has just been resurrected. "We used to just get calls of complaint about BTC and CableVision, and now that has almost stopped," she said.

"Complaints about BTC have dropped ten-fold and WOW (World on Wireless, a new cable company which due to be up and running later this year) has forced CableVision to improve things."

Ms Manderson added in his report that management was now involved in customer service in a bid to improve matters.

"The intent is to improve service interruption levels through increased focus on internal processes and productivity levels," he said. "Adding the customer service function to the portfolio of a senior level manager is yet another initiative taken to improve BTC's track record in this area."

Ms Manderson added that in general demand continued to be high for BTC's services and the company expected "that the strong growth will continue into the next fiscal year."