High tech companies have blasted BTC over their failure to fix data lines which left them without vital communications for two working days with no end in sight.

The phone company blame the problems on lightning damage overnight on Monday and yesterday flew in an expert from Canada to help the fix damage affecting internet, long distance and cell lines.

However BTC admit repairs have been affected by an unofficial sick-out.

BTC spokeswoman Ona Fletcher said the company had not been officially told of action but she admitted there was unhappiness about the hiring of an assistant manager whose post was not advertised.

She said the appointee was local, had six years of summer experience and was perfectly qualified. She said non-union posts did not have to be advertised.

Around 16 staff were missing from network operations said Ms Fletcher. She said: “It's slowed us down somewhat.”

She said an emergency plan had been put into place but she could not say when the problem was likely to be fixed or whether residents as well as companies had been hit.

The Royal Gazette understands more than 30 firms may have been affected but Ms Fletcher said she believed it was fewer than 15.

Some companies were angry over BTC's failure to move quicker and advise the public about the extent of the problem.

Firms affected by failed data lines include Tyco, Max Re, Trimingham's and Island Wide Security.

Information Technology officer Jonathan Howes, of chartered accountants Arthur Morris Christensen, said his company had been without internet and e-mail for 37 hours.

He said: “It makes us look bad. Customers don't understand why they can't get through. Everyone is faxing and phoning and the lines are jammed.”

He said his company was now incurring long distance costs by phoning clients to warn them to expect problems.

“BTC should have been able to find an alternative solution because the problem is isolated.” he said.

“They should have done this in a reasonable time but at this point BTC can't even commit to when they can fix it.”

He said he had found a way to by-pass the problem because the log jam was killing business but it would add further costs.

“You can't rely on BTC. BTC has really dropped the ball. That's the bottom line.”

TelecomBermuda President Charles Marshall said his cell phone clients relied on BTC links to communicate with land lines but around half the mobile switching sites on the island were out of action meaning service would vary according to where the phone was used.

He said a number of insurance companies which used the high speed T1 lines were affected.

He said: “It's very disheartening. As soon as we can get the decision on Quantum so we can have a competitor to BTC the better it will be for the whole community.

“It's frustrating and the worst part of it is no-one at BTC says anything so we can make a public statement. You sit there waiting and talking to machines.”

He said around 2,000 of his cell phone users were suffering intermittent faults while up to 5,000 pager users were also suffering erratic service.

He said that when BTC finally did return calls they could not say why the fault was taking so long to fix.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb said the storm damage was an act of God.

“We were told BTC didn't at first know the extent of the problem but now they are working diligently to get it resolved,” she said.

But she said gripes over how long the company took to rectify problems could be assessed by a service level agreement currently being thrashed out with BTC.

She repeated her call for more competition in the telecommunications sector.

“All this shows we need another option,” said Ms Webb.

But she said efforts to revive defunct local phone service provider Quantum continually floundered despite interest from 12 parties.

“They fail not because of the purchaser but because they can't come to an agreement with the sellers.”

Bermuda Industrial Union President Derrick Burgess said he was not aware of any industrial problems at BTC but said he would investigate.