A disgruntled Warwick resident who has been waiting for a phone since February has voiced his anger at being passed from pillar to post by BTC.

Richard Pickett reached the end of his tether with the company after his phone service failed to materialise when promised. And he was further upset after numerous phone calls to BTC saw him being passed from one department to another.

But now BTC has said a new customer care phone line should end customers' frustrations when they require help and information regarding their phones.

And it is understood that Mr. Pickett's phone was put into service yesterday -- although he could not be reached at his office yesterday for confirmation.

US citizen Mr. Pickett, 52, of Faraway Apartments, Dunscombe Road, moved to Bermuda in October, and after applying for a phone line, was told he would be connected in February.

But he was told there was a problem with the service in the area and there wasn't the equipment to connect his phone.

Mr. Pickett -- a superintendent at the Southampton Princess waste plant -- called BTC on a regular basis but claims he never received a satisfactory conclusion to his problem.

In the meantime, he is without contact with his family back home and cannot be contacted by his employers in an emergency.

BTC assistant vice-president of corporate communications, Karla Lacey-Minors, said this week BTC was working with Mr. Pickett to solve the problem.

She said the new 811 service would enable customers to call one number and be dealt with by one operative, when they had problems with their service.

That person would then be responsible for getting the customer an answer, from start to finish, she said.