Bermuda's sole cable provider last night released copies of its new improved standards that are set to enhance service around the Island - and promised a refund for last week's two-day blackout.

CableVision's new service level agreement, which was signed off by the Ministry of Telecommunications on Friday night, is to be posted on its website for public inspection, and is available at the company's office for collection.

The Ministry demanded the company improve its standards before it granted a new 11-year licence last week.

However, a stalemate between the Ministry and the cable provider led to CableVision pulling the plug on its service for two days until the agreement and new licence were signed.

Included in the new agreement is a commitment that where customers lose their service for more than 24 hours after the problem has been reported, their bills will be credited.

But there will also be provision for credits if residents suffer a partial loss of service. And, where CableVision technicians fail to turn up for a scheduled installation or service call, residents will receive a $10 credit.

But the agreement also insists that CableVision develop and conduct independent customer satisfaction and needs surveys bi-annually, which are to be forwarded to the Ministry.

The survey must then be used to identify service weaknesses, so improvements can be made.

CableVision's customer solutions manager Alan Smith said: "With the new customer service standards, we are proud to renew and strengthen our commitment to our customers.

"Some points of the agreement reiterate policies we have had in place for quite some time, such as credits for loss of service, while others are new, such as a $10 credit for missed service calls. Still, others cover issues that have been longstanding, such as a review of our phone system by the contractor and a timetable for fixing the ongoing problems."

And Mr. Smith said with the technical training programmes underway now, CableVision was poised to make many service improvements.

"As most everyone is aware, our entire Bermudian technical team has been in training since August 5 and our customer service representatives started their training in April and have nearly finished," added Mr. Smith. "We will be announcing a new customer care pledge soon."

CableVision general manager Jeremy Elmas said the company was happy to be servicing customers again.

"That was the hardest part, knowing they felt caught in the middle by the unfortunate circumstances in which we found ourselves," he said.

"Again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to them and we will be issuing refunds, as is our usual policy."

Also included in the agreement is a raft of new standards on how CableVision should deal with telephone calls and complaints, detailing how quickly a call should be answered, and the latest a response should be given.

It states that CableVision should have a telephone service in place where complaints can be received any time, day or night, seven days a week, and guidelines that state calls to the customer service department should be picked up in no more than 60 seconds.

Where calls are made out of hours, they can be picked up by an answer machine, but the complaint must be responded to by the end of the next working day.

And where messages have been left by customers, they must be returned within four business hours.

The agreement states that these standards shall be met no less than 90 percent of the time.

The cable provider's chairman Rod Hansen last night reiterated his commitment to working with the Ministry of Telecommunications. He said: "The agreement is now complete and we are pleased to make these commitments to our customers and to the Ministry.

"We are also grateful to the Ministry for recognising that CableVision will only be able to commit fully to some of the points in the agreement once we complete our new cable system.

"We hope that they, and our customers, will understand this."

Mr. Hansen said working with an antiquated and worn-out system had put a huge strain on CableVision customers and this, in turn, had put tremendous pressure on its employees, who were trying to provide service to everyone in a timely fashion.

"We look forward to completing the new cable system, which will bring outstanding benefits and crystal-clear, high quality pictures for all customers," he said.

For further information about the agreement, visit www.cablevision.bm.