The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) sold more than 15,000 handsets during the Christmas shopping period, “far exceeding” initial sales targets of between 10,000-12,000 handsets.

Jerome Sawyer, BTC’s spokesman, told Tribune Business that this past Christmas season, the company’s focus was on getting customers to take advantage of its data offerings.

“This Christmas, a lot of our focus was on primarily data and getting customers to take advantage of our data offering. During our promotion we offered persons the opportunity to sign up for data and provided incentives through our sweepstakes, for instance. It was all a part of the thrust to get our customers to use data and smart phones. People today are using less voice and using more data,” said Mr Sawyer.

BTC chief executive, Geoff Houston, recently said the company has seen an increase of 28,751 per cent in mobile data since the launch of its 4G network in December 2012. The upgrade has enabled BTC to introduce improved mobile data services through handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy III.

Mr Sawyer said sales at BTC’s revamped retail outlets were strong this Christmas, led by its new location in the Southwest Plaza, whose performance rivalled that of its flagship store in the Marathon Mall.

“If we can use the Carmichael Road store, which is one of our largest stores, as an example in terms of sales and customers traffic, it has rivalled that of the store in the Marathon Mall, which is our flagship store,” he added.

“We recognised Carmichael as the fastest growing area in terms of population in New Providence. We have been driving a lot of business to our Carmichael store. What we want is for persons to be able access BTC wherever they are.”