Additional Information Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the Prepaid and Postpaid mobile rates per minute?
• What are the best handsets for roaming?
• How will I benefit from the new Plans?
• How much less will I be paying as compared to prepaid
• Do I get Free Text Messages in my Postpaid Packages?
• I see the New Postpaid Plans refer to something called Anywhere Minutes. What is that about?
• What are the Postpaid packages?
• What do Out of Plan rates mean? What is On-Net and Off-Net?
• What are Rollover minutes and how does it work?
• Can the bucket of Minutes in my plan be used for International or Roaming Calls?
• What happens if I use up all the data allowance in my plan?
• What is a "credit limit"?

• Q: What are the Prepaid and Postpaid mobile rates per minute?
  A:

  PrePaid

  Peak – 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. – $0.33/minute*
  Off-peak – 7:00pm to 7:00 a.m. – $0.15/minute*
  Weekend – Saturday and Sunday – $0.20/minute*

  PostPaid

  Postpaid plans - Overage rates On-net vs Off-net

  Pay Per Use - $0.15 - $0.20*
  Talk 120 - $0.10 - $0.20*
  Talk 200 - $0.10 - $0.20*
  Talk 450 - $0.10 - $0.15*
  Talk 800 - $0.08 - $0.15*
  Talk 1200 - $0.06 - $0.15*

  *VAT excluded

• Q: What are the best handsets for roaming?
  A:

  Handsets are categorized according to the following:

  (a) Dual Band - refers to the capability of GSM network infrastructure and handsets to operate across two frequency bands. This type of handset works in most of the Caribbean, USA and Canada.
  (b)Tri Band: A tri-band mobile will operate on three different frequencies; depending on the available network. This handset will work in Trinidad & Tobago, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Europe and the UK and the US.
  (c) Quad Band: A quad band handset is operational on any of the four GSM frequencies. This is the ultimate global handset works anywhere in the world, provided we have a Roaming agreement with that country.

  Note: Check that your phone battery is fully charged before you, travel and be sure to take along a power charger. For some countries you may require a power converter to change from 100V to 220V

  Also, please note that the above affects voice only. Data may vary as each carrier has their own frequencies for mobile data and it may not work on all, but will work on most. Please check our listing of roaming partners for which allow data.

• Q: How will I benefit from the new Plans?
  A:

  With the new postpaid plans, you get flexible choices that suit your lifestyle combined with real value for money.

  • One time monthly billing. No having to search for prepaid credit throughout the day and night when you run out of minutee.
  • Lower per minute calling rates than postpaid. (In plan rates range from $0.05* per minute to $0.17* per minute, compared to $0.33* peak prepaid rates)
  • Lots of FREE texts in every Postpaid package.
  • Unused in-package Minutes roll over into the next month (NEW!)
  • Data and Bonus Minutes is select Postpaid packages (NEW!)
  • Always better prices on BTC handsets
  • Faster Data speed (4G)
  • More roaming destinations

  *VAT excluded

• Q: How much less will I be paying as compared to prepaid
  A:

  It depends on which package you take up.  Your in-plan rates will be as little as $0.05* per minute, but will not be more than $0.17* per minute.  Compare that with the $0.33* per minute peak charge for prepaid and you can see how you can save more than 80 percent on what you would pay for prepaid.  PLUS, every single postpaid package comes with hundreds of free text messages and our top three plans come with mobile data included.

  *VAT excluded

• Q: Do I get Free Text Messages in my Postpaid Packages?
  A:

  Yes you do.  And even more than before.  You now get as many free text messages as you do voice minutes.  That means more free ways to contact persons – even your friends and family who still do not have smart devices or use instant messaging. 

• Q: I see the New Postpaid Plans refer to something called Anywhere Minutes. What is that about?
  A:

  Anywhere Minutes are the minutes in your postpaid bundles that can be used to call any other Bahamian mobile customer or local landline customers. So if you are making a mobile call, or a local landline call within the country, your “Anywhere” Minutes buckets are used. If you have one of our packages that offer “BTC Bonus” Minutes, your “Anywhere” Minutes bucket are used before your “BTC Bonus” Minutes bucket which represent the amount of included voice minutes for each billing period cycle which can be used to make calls Off – Net/ On- Net and on island mobile or landline customer anytime, 24 hours a day.

   

• Q: What are the Postpaid packages?
  A:

  If you have our top three packages ($59.99* +), you are entitled to “BTC Bonus” Minutes.  In any month, after you used your “Anywhere” Minutes, you have access to “BTC Bonus” Minutes which allow you to call other BTC mobile customers. BTC Bonus Minutes can only be used for calls to and from BTC mobile customers.  Once “Anywhere” Minutes are exhausted, calls to and from other local operators and BTC land line customers will be charged at the Out-of-Plan Off-net rate.

   *VAT excluded

• Q: What do Out of Plan rates mean? What is On-Net and Off-Net?
  A:

  Your Out of Plans rates are the per minute rates for local and domestic calls made once you have used up all the Minutes in your plan and any applicable roll over minutes.  You will now have two separate rates though.  Your “On-Net” rates apply to On-Network calls made to other BTC mobile subscribers.  Your “Off-Net” or Off-Network calls apply to call made to or received from other domestic phone carriers such as Cable Bahamas and BTC Land line customers.

• Q: What are Rollover minutes and how does it work?
  A:

  BTC is pleased to introduce “Rollover Minutes” to all of its postpaid plans. Your Rollover Minutes are those Minutes that you do not use from your current month’s allocation of Anytime and BTC Bonus Minutes (for applicable packages). These unused minutes are “rolled over” into the next month and are available for use in that month. Rollover Minutes can be used ONLY for call made to other BTC mobile accounts. They cannot be used for calls to or from other local telephone providers and BTC land line customers.

• Q: Can the bucket of Minutes in my plan be used for International or Roaming Calls?
  A:

  No they cannot.  The bucket of minutes in your plan cannot be used to make International Calls or calls when roaming.  These calls are all out of plan calls and will be billed at the prevailing International and Roaming rates.  BTC is examining the possibility of special international rates and special roaming plans for our mobile customers who require these services.

• Q: What happens if I use up all the data allowance in my plan?
  A:

  To help manage the data experience for all customers, we are changing the way data caps are managed.  Instead of throttling down the packages (slowing down the speeds), we are introducing overage rates.    This means that once you go over your data plan allowance, you will pay a per kilobyte fee (minimum $0.01 per event) for data use outside of your plan.  Note that to avoid unmanageable bills due to inadvertent excessive data use, all data overage will be capped at 3 gigabytes (GB).  If you hit that overage cap, you will be required to contact BTC to move up to a higher data plan.   

• Q: What is a "credit limit"?
  A:

  A credit limit is a specified amount that is assigned to each postpaid cellular subscriber on a monthly basis. It is put in place to help you manage your account and to avoid “bill shock” from inadvertent use.  If you exceed your credit limit, your account will be suspended until payment has been received.  Note though that managing your accounts remains your responsibility.  You are still responsible for all charges against your account – even those that exceed your credit limits.  Pay particular attention when roaming, as the voice and data rates are high in most places.  The roaming records are not processed immediately and some can take weeks to get back to BTC.  This, in particular, can cause you to run up charges well in excess of your credit limit.