UPDATE 2
BTC UPDATES ON HURRICANE IRMA
Nassau, The Bahamas. September 10, 2017. BTC continues to monitor the effects of Hurricane Irma on our national network. We are pleased to report we have had limited interruption of services across the 17 islands being serviced throughout The Bahamas.
Services remained available throughout the storm in the following islands; New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, Eleuthera, Berry Island, Moore’s Island, Abaco, Inagua, Mayaguana, Rum Cay, and San Salvador. BTC Business Services also remained operational.
Our National Network Operations Center has identified localized outages in the Southeast and Central Islands, and we continue to monitor post Irma status of BTC’s landline, Internet, Flow TV, Flow To Go, and mobile services. Our preliminary analysis shows that Hurricane Irma impacted approximately 15% of our subscribers and services have been restored to 12%.
For the Southeast Islands most significantly affected, our Technical Teams stand ready to begin assessments and repairs in the affected areas once the national “All Clear” has been issued and conditions and passage are safe.
As of 6pm this evening, BTC can report the following:
Crooked Island & Long Cay
- There are intermittent mobile issues in Pitts Town.
Ragged Island
- The BTC exchange building in Ragged Island remains offline. A technical team will travel to the island make assessments following the national “all-clear”.
Acklins
- Commercial power has not been restored. Mobile sites at Mason Bay, Pompey Bay, and Pine Field are affected.
Long Island
- There are intermittent issues at the mobile sites in the Gray’s, Miller’s and Stella Maris communities.
Exuma
- There are intermittent landline, internet and mobile issues in Moss Town.
Andros
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UPDATE 1
Nassau, The Bahamas. September 9, 2017. BTC advises that its network has been resilient and has fared well during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
The BTC Command Center and Emergency Teams, have been fully mobilized since Thursday for twenty four hour intense observation of the landline, internet, mobile and television networks and systems across the country. Most of our concerns are related to power, as there was a loss of commercial power in most islands. Based on our initial assessments, our local teams should be able to address most of the minor power issues in the islands.
We suspect major damage to our facilities in Ragged Island. Once the national “all-clear” has been provided, we will dispatch a technical team to assess the damage and begin the process of restoration.
The BTC Command Center will continue to monitor the hurricane until the “all-clear” has been provided for the rest of the country.
We are unable to give a comprehensive report at this time as we are still assessing the damage. As of 10am this morning, BTC can report the following:
Southeast Bahamas: The “all-clear” was given for the Southeast islands shortly after 10pm on September 8th.
All landline, internet and mobile services in Mayaguana, Rum Cay and Crooked Island are fully operational with localized service disruptions.
There is a loss of commercial power in Inagua affecting the Morton Salt mobile site. Once power is restored, the local team will assess the issues.
There is roof damage at our Cabbage Hill site in Crooked Hill. Our mobile sites in Long Cay, Cripple Hill, Majors Hill and Pitts Town are down due to a loss of commercial power.
There is a loss of commercial power in Acklins. Mobile sites at Mason Bay, Pompey Bay, and Pine Field are affected.
Our exchange building in Ragged Island is currently offline. Our teams will be dispatched to the island to investigate further once the national “all clear” is issued.
Long Island: There are intermittent landline and internet issues in Deadman’s Cay, Mooresville, Dunmore, Sunset Beach, Miller’s, Grays’s, Glinton, Mortimer’s settlements due to a loss of commercial power.
There are intermittent mobile issues with the Gordons/Mortimer’s, Stella Maris, Roses and Gray’s sites. There was a planned shut-down at the Lloyd’s Bar mobile site.
Exuma: There was a loss of commercial power. We are experiencing intermittent issues in Forbes Hill, Bay View, Steventon, Ramsey, Moss Town, Tar Bay, Hooper’s Bay and Ferry Bridge. There was a planned shut-down of the Fish Fry cellular tower. There were no issues on the Exuma Cays. There are intermittent landline and internet issues in Moss Town.
Cat Island: There was a loss of commercial power in Cat Island. We are experiencing intermittent issues in Hawks Nest.
Andros: There was a loss of commercial power in Andros. Customers in Kemp’s Bay and Mangrove Cay are experiencing intermittent data issues, however voice services are fully operational. The following sites are experiencing intermittent issues, Nicholl’s Town, Driggs Hill, Mars Bay, Little Harbour and BARC. Customers in Little Creek, Andros are also experiencing intermittent landline and internet issues due to a loss of commercial power.
Berry Island: Our networks and systems are operational
Eleuthera: There was a loss of commercial power. Mobile sites at the Governor’s Harbour Airport, Palmetto Point, Cape and Kohinoor are experiencing intermittent mobile issues. Landline and internet customers in Hidden Treasure are experiencing intermittent issues due to a loss of commercial power.
Grand Bahama: Our networks and systems are operational at this time.
Bimini: Our networks and systems are operational at this time.
San-Salvador: Our networks and systems are operational at this time.
New Providence: Our networks and systems are operational at this time.
There were no outages to our Flow TV and Flow to Go services being delivered thoughout The Bahamas. Mobile subscribers with a current data package were able to receive essential TV channels via our Flow To Go Mobile app.
We have been in direct contact with our business customers. Additionally, we’ve kept in constant contact with our critical service providers. All business services are operational and there are no issues to report.
BTC encourages the public to report any issues they may be experiencing to CALL-BTC (225-5282) or on our social media pages. We will continue to provide updates as we have additional details.
