News

—26th November 2009—
Smart would like to advise its customers and the public that on Wednesday November 25th, BTL removed an antenna belonging to Smart located on a building in the BTL compound. Because of this action by government controlled BTL  Smart customers are currently unable to make or receive international calls and roaming services are inoperable as well. In addition BTL has also disconnected our connection to two key cell towers, one in Lake Gardens, Ladyville and the other at Bennys in Belize City. These disconnections have caused a drastic reduction in the quality of service to our customers in these areas.
These actions by government controlled BTL have once again effectively denied all Smart customers of their ability to communicate freely and in our opinion can only be seen as an outrageous abuse of its dominant position in the industry. The presence of Smart  has resulted in lower prices, improved access, wider coverage and the development of the telecommunications industry as a whole.
Smart once again calls on its customers and the public at large to support free competition and the availability of choice in the telecom industry by calling-in to the PUC or visiting a Smart showroom and signing our petition requesting the PUC to intervene and mandate BTL to allow Speednet to reinstall its equipment and restore the connections to the two cell sites at Bennys and in Ladyville. Though you may not be a Smart customer we hereby ask for your support in recognizing the right of all Belizeans to free choice.

We take this opportunity to thank customers for their loyalty and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

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November 24th, 2009—Today at 2:00 AM SMART completely restored its international voice and roaming services to its customers.  On Friday, November 20, 2009, Belize Telemedia Limited terminated the circuits that carry international voice and roaming services to Smart’s 90,000 customers without providing reasonable notice.  Although the service was restored that same Friday night, there were some technical difficulties with the provision of outgoing and roaming calls up until Monday November 23, 2009.

Smart’s Network Services staff has been hard at work to address the technical difficulties. We are pleased to inform that an alternative solution has been put in place separate and apart from BTL’s network. We assure customers that you will experience the same excellent and cost effective international services that you have come to expect from SMART.

SMART takes this opportunity to thank all our valued customers for their patience, loyalty and support during this time.  Please note that all international calls that were made from Sunday 22nd to 23rd, 2009 were free of cost.  Calls made after the 23rd of November 2009 will now be billed at the normal rates.
SMART continues to provide excellent quality and efficient service while giving its customers value for money.   We encourage all those persons who have not yet made the right switch, to become a part of the SMART family. Thanks for choosing Smart!!!

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—November 22nd  2009—
Smart would like to inform you our loyal customers that although our international services have been restored we are experiencing some technical difficulties.  Some attempts at making international calls may be unsuccessful and the voice quality may not be of the high standard you are accustomed to.  Rest assured our technicians are working diligently to restore our service completely over the next few days.

We at Smart greatly appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience caused.  We thank you for your understanding and we will advise you as soon as our services are fully functional.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our loyal customers who called on Friday 20th  November 2009 to lodge their complaints with the PUC concerning this most serious matter.

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—November 18th 2009— On Friday, November 13th 2009 the government owned and controlled Telemedia served notice on Speednet that it would be terminating the circuits that carry its outgoing international voice and roaming services as of November 20th, 2009.  The effect of terminating these circuits without reasonable notice and without first negotiating and putting in place a viable alternative service will mean the loss of international voice and roaming services to over 90,000 customers. Requests for clarification from Telemedia have resulted in a statement that in fact no alternative service will be proposed and made available to Speednet.

Speednet has requested that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) intervene by instructing Telemedia to refrain from terminating the circuits until alternative arrangements have been put in place for the provision of international services which are acceptable to Speednet.

Smart would like to urge its customers and the public at large to lodge a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission and their Area Representative.  To this effect, Smart will allow its customers to call the PUC Toll Free to lodge their complaints regarding this very serious matter.

Smart is committed to providing the best possible service to our loyal customers and the thousands of new customers who have joined the Smart family during our “make the right switch” promotion.
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