members of the public -- and now, according to a story in yesterday's paper, could hurt Bermuda's plans to become an e-commerce centre.

There is no doubt that there are many hard-working and forward thinking people at BTC who are trying to change the culture of a company which for many years enjoyed the benefits of a shared monopoly.

The problems with service and installation delays which are at the heart of most people's concerns stem directly from BTC's efforts to modernise and become more efficient.

Faced with cuts in the rates which they can charge to the customer, they have to save money somewhere in order to remain viable and to invest in the next generation of equipment.

Those reductions have come in staffing and in overtime payments, by all accounts, shattering a relatively cosy relationship in which workers were paid well, service was relatively quick and the company made money.

Now, with the advent of increased competition, the customers have received lower rates and lost rapid and reliable service.

Unfortunately, many customers of the company are so frustrated by the failures of service -- eight weeks to install a second telephone line or to get a phone switched on -- that they would go to just about any competitor.

Of course, BTC's vigorous defence of its rights in the courts has enabled it to protect some of its turf -- especially against Quantum Communications, which wanted to set up a rival local phone system -- but has left a sour taste in the mouths of customers who may not understand the legal issues but see this as a way of denying them choice.

What can BTC do to get around this problem? It would help if employees could do more than one thing -- now it seems as if one employee has to attach the line to a pole and another has to come from Hamilton (next week) to pull the wire into the house.

What BTC must do -- not only for its own good, but for the Countrys -- is ensure that its service improves. "Bermuda: Where it takes two months to get a phone'' is not the slogan the Island needs to sell itself as a future centre of e-commerce -- or any kind of commerce at all.