Cayman Islands premier campaigner Sandra Catron has started an online petition for a decent Internet in the Islands.

Speaking to iNews Cayman Catron said:
“In our business we have had the need to go into a lot of homes over the past few months and I have been appalled at Internet speeds persons are getting compared to what they are actually paying for. In some instances we have seen people paying for “fibre” from providers and getting less than 2MB and not able to stream online content. Sadly, the average consumer doesn’t realize how to conduct a speed test to verify their speeds. The evenings and weekends are the times when most users are at home and there’s a considerable drop in the speeds that they are getting. Providers are at a loss for any real justification as to why this is happening. I feel as a consumer and business owner it is time that we had regulatory enforcement to ensure that what we are paying for we are actually getting. I don’t mind a small variance but when you are only getting 1/3 of what you’re paying for…. We need consumer protection in this regard.

“The petition has started after numerous complaints.

“3 years ago I was posted on social media about the same issue and nothing has been done as yet. Consumers continue to pay top dollar for these services but we are not getting any guarantees for that money. I think it’s time that the government protects it’s citizens against such poor business practices and implement some sort of penalty regime for companies that are consistently not delivering on Internet speeds. In one case (Logic) customers in Frank Sound are only getting 512KB for $40!!! That’s absurd really. I saw another customer who was a ¼ mile from the main exchange for a fibre company and getting 1.4Mbps.”

iNews posted the petition under iNews Briefs on June 11 titled “iPetitions – WE WANT DECENT INTERNET!” at http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/inews-briefs-more-community-events-13/

One of our readers sent us an email after she read the posting saying:

“I’m very pleased that anyone is complaining about Internet service eg
the govt. in their “wisdom” does NOT fund the libraries instead they
rely on donations which quite often are older models etc.

“Therefore, there’s only one (1) server for three floors and quite
often computers are down etc. which the library staff can do nothing
about etc. The Boyz are always concerned about their “image” so the
tourists that come to use the library which are numerous quite often
go away with a lousy image of this 5th largest financial centre for
good reason!

“Bravo! I don’t like to be the lone person complaining about what goes
on the Cayman.”

To sign petition go to: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/we-want-decent-internet