B.T.L. having second thoughts on rates?

With thousands of Belizeans awaiting their December telephone bills with a mixture of defiance and trepidation, rumours swirled today that B.T.L. was having second thoughts about the implementation of their new rate structure, which was supposed to come into effect December first. Numerous calls to the company’s P.R. Department were met with the reply that a press release would be issued this afternoon to clarify the situation, but by newstime no such communication had been received by phone, fax or e-mail. B.T.L. has come under heavy pressure from the public and government over the new set of rates which result in lower costs for “high end” services like cellular, international and internet, but hit the average customer hardest with a more than doubling of charges for line rental and local calls. The company’s bills are usually sent out by this time with payment due by the end of the month.