Members of the public yesterday gave local internet service providers generally positive reviews, despite some complaints about slow speeds.

In the wake of the announcement that the Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC) would launch its own complete home internet service (see separate story in Business), The Royal Gazette took to the streets of Hamilton to see what people thought about their service providers.

Overall, those questioned scored local providers fairly positively, although several complained about costs and slower-than-desired speeds.

Sonia Francis, a 44-year-old childcare provider from Paget, said she uses Logic.

She said that she would give their service a seven or eight out of ten, saying: “I never really have a problem with it.

“First I was charged about $89 monthly, then they merged with North Rock and the fee was cut in half which I think is reasonably priced. It is really fast, I got the 4MB package.”

Deja Rashee, 18, gave Logic the same score, but voiced some concerns with the service, saying: “We ask for a certain speed but don’t get what is asked for. At times it would be fast, then it’ll go back to being really slow but we don’t have the speed that we pay for.

“But I pay at least $60 a month which is actually reasonable for internet in Bermuda.”

Meanwhile 31-year-old media specialist Jei Swan said he had switched to TBI, adding: “After using all of the internet providers I’d have to say that they provide the best service. With that being said I’ll have to rate them an eight to ten.”

“When I was in school in Canada, a speed of 25MB was below the standard of average speeds and Bermuda is barely touching that. Overall, both providers are the same price but one offers the better service.”

Ereico Outerbridge, 21, from St George’s, said he hasn’t had any issues with Logic recently, giving them an eight out of ten.

“Before the merge we had North Rock, which I would rate about a six because it was slow and eventually stopped working,” he said. Another Logic customer, 22-year-old Dashun Cooper, gave the company a nine out of ten, saying: “They’ve never really given me any problems.”

Dan Briere, 50, rated Digicel favourably, giving the provider a nine out of ten.

“I pay about $79 a month which I of course do not think is reasonable,” he said. “The speed is 3MB which is good for just surfing the internet and streaming Netflix really good but only on one device at a time. If two people try to use it, it is really slow.

“For now, the service we receive is enough for my family. My daughter will probably grow into it though and we’ll probably have to switch.”

Contacted about the comments, CableVision CEO Terry Roberson said he was appreciative of the feedback, saying the company wishes to remain competitive in the marketplace.

“We will continue to review our costs associated with providing the service so that we can lower pricing in the future,” he said. “We currently offer speeds up to 25MB, which we have found to be popular with our customers. People looking for higher speeds can upgrade to this option, which enables users to do everything they want to do online — from playing games to streaming video. Furthermore, we have tested 50 and 100 MB and hope to launch these options in the not too distant future.”

•Business, Page 23