Layoffs likely as BTC closes telephone sales and rental business

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BTC officially hangs up on its telephone sales and rental business next month.

The closure of the longtime Customer Premises Equipment department as of June 30 could affect up to a dozen jobs.

A BTC spokeswoman said yesterday the final number of layoffs was still being worked out with the union.

“Effective June 30 the maintenance and equipment rental period will cease, customers will keep the equipment they have in their possession and will be able to choose a new supplier for the maintenance of that same equipment,” a BTC spokeswoman said.

Plans to close the department were announced in 2010 as BTC faced growing numbers of customers ditching landline phones for cell phones.

“Two years ago the then CEO of BTC, Mr Francis Mussenden, announced in a letter to customers that BTC would be getting out of the telephone sales and rental business, also known as Customer Premises Equipment or CPE,” the BTC spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette. ”Mr Mussenden in a similar public statements announced the change in business strategy noting the decline in landline business and the fact that many retailers were selling telephone equipment at discounted prices.

“Since that announcement BTC stopped selling new equipment but continued to maintain and service existing customer equipment.”

Asked how many jobs would be affected, the spokeswoman said: “At the same time staff were also notified of this change in business strategy and a related and planned reduction in headcount began. Today we are nearing the end of that process and are working with our union partners to reach an agreed upon final number.”

She said the CPE area currently has 12 employees, down one from September of 2010 when plans to close the department were announced.

The union did not respond to a request for comment.

Ultimately more than 12 jobs throughout BTC could be cut.

But BIU president Chris Furbert told The Gazette in January that there had been talks with BTC management about structural changes “needed to transition BTC from a traditional landline based telephone company”.

He said: “I can confirm that the BIU has had talks with management since late last year, and with the understanding that they are looking to make about 30 percent of our members redundant, which translates into about 30 workers. We have about 105 in the BTC-BIU division.”

At the time it announced plans to close the department, BTC had said it was “labour intensive and yields low margin for BTC, and customers today have a wide choice of experienced telephony system providers independent of BTC”.

“We evaluated the future revenues on telephone equipment rented to customers and associated inventory and determined that an impairment to the carrying value of these assets of $4.1 million was appropriate in the current period,” BTC had stated.

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