Forty long-term employees at BTC have accepted voluntary separation and early retirement packages that the local phone company put on the table last June as part of a reorganisation to achieve increased levels of operational productivity.

KeyTech, the parent company of BTC as well as Mobility and Logic and part-owner in CableVision and QuoVadis, announced the updated figure on staff departures in its quarterly report to shareholders on Friday. Chief executive officer Sheila Manderson said that the changes at BTC were among a number of significant operational changes that took place during the fiscal year 2004/2005 to better position the company for the future.

?BTC undertook major organisational restructuring changes to better align their resources with the company goals of increased operating efficiency and improved customer service,? she said. ?BTC has also made significant investments in the construction of a centralised call centre and in the training of staff, as part of the restructuring process.?

The company?s cellular arm, Mobility, introduced a new billing system and ten new cell sites to improve signal coverage during the fiscal year.

Ms Manderson said that it also expanded its roaming partners to 125 in 82 countries, with GPRS roaming now available in the US, Canada, UK and Hong Kong. The company also launched a pre-pay product and is poised to launch corporate data services. The Internet arm of the company, Logic, saw revenue projections lowered for the short-term when it announced price reductions for its dial-up and DSL services. Competitors followed suit. Ms Manderson said: ?While this has lowered revenue projections for the short term, it was a strategic move that will better position the company for the long term.?

The company?s Cayman-based Internet business, WestTel, has now restored services to pre-Hurricane Ivan levels.

In May it will launch corporate voice services. Ms Manderson also announced the Bermuda Yellow Pages is expected to exceed revenues of the prior year.

She said KeyTech?s investment in QuoVadis is ?mutually beneficial? while BTC and Logic are capitalising on their synergies in Security and Business Continuity Planning.

The board of directors of KeyTech Limited also declared a common share dividend of 15 cents per share for the fourth quarter ending March 31.