on the Island.

The pledge comes after years of complaints from the public about the poor quality of service provided by the monopoly.

One woman told The Royal Gazette she went three and a half months last year without telephone service.

"I called every single day after my phone went dead,'' said the woman, who did not wish to be named.

"There is a certain channel you go through if you want to get any service. I spoke to Lorraine Lyle (BTC CEO) and that's when the phone finally got fixed.'' And she said she had encountered numerous other problems, including a crossed line and a constant buzz on her phone. Both problems took months to fix.

She said BTC also managed to cut off her Internet line but continued to charge for it.

"I'm terrified of them,'' she said. "I'm terrified of anything going wrong.

"There is always a long wait. I don't think its the workers or the repair guys' fault. I think there is a lack of communication between the people in the office and those who do the physical work.

"I don't think the pricing's worth it for the service and competition would definitely solve the problem,'' she said.

When The Royal Gazette contacted BTC's 811 customer care line and left messages last week, no-one responded.

But BTC spokeswoman Karla Lacey-Minors said last year BTC began a major project to modernise its network and thus improve customer service.

"The network has evolved over the past decade in a manner that no longer suits future demand,'' Ms Lacey-Minors said. "So BTC has in effect committed a significant portion of its revenue to completely upgrade the network. This will result in shorter delivery times, fewer faults and quicker response time to any troubles.

"This is a targeted, phased-in programme in which we are approaching systematically troubled areas Island-wide. By the middle of next year significant improvements will begin to be seen in completed areas with the entire programme slated for completion by the year 2002.'' BTC to improve service She said the company would be creating new fibre-optic loops which will also provide customers with new data lines several times faster than normal telephone lines.

And Ms Lacey-Minors said one of the company's eventual goals was to offer service on demand, whereby customers could walk in and ask for telephone service and have it ready by the time they got home.

It currently takes at least four to six weeks to get a phone line installed, according to a customer service spokesperson.