THE EDITOR, Sir:

The story goes that a LIME customer had his iPhone stolen. In the age when ALL SMARTPHONES CAN BE TRACKED, LIME willingly worked along with the police to locate the stolen phone, apprehend the thief, and return the former to its rightful owner. And they lived happily ever after.

The story goes that a hard-working young lady, we will call her ME, had her BlackBerry stolen in downtown Kingston by thieves parading as pedlars. She got in touch with Digicel personnel, who replaced the SIM and, when prodded, told her, "No, we can't track the phone."

Though they claimed TWICE to have shut down the phone, because ALL BlackBerry phones have a unique PIN, friends of the hard-working young lady who tried to re-add her to BBM, as she would have been removed when the thief 'flashed' the phone, were now friends with 'Tommy Conscious'.

The phone - supposedly 'locked down' and 'untrackable' by a now-complacent Digicel (with its virtual monopoly) busy reminding customers, through their actions, that they NO LONGER provide a service but, rather, are doing us a FAVOUR - was still in use. And Tommy Conscious and the stolen smartphone lived happily ever after.

The story goes that a company with a REAL monopoly, we'll call it Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd, sat complacently upon a people, squeezing every ounce of life out of them, seeming to want more blood every time it got a feeding. This company lived lavishly, constantly reminding customers, through their actions, that it DID NOT PROVIDE A SERVICE, but was doing them a FAVOUR.

SAVIOUR IN SHINING ARMOUR

Then came a saviour! A communications group in shining armour! Giving the people air to breathe, water to drink, cheaper rates - RIDICULOUSLY cheaper rates! And the people turned, and drank and ate and made phone calls and sent text messages with GREAT joy and ease and peace of mind. And so it was that the GREAT C&WJ FELL!

So it was that the words of the Good Book (for everything there is a season) and the words of my wise, old mother (only salvation lasts forever) came to pass - plunging the BEAST into bankruptcy, forcing name, campaign, rate changes that all appear to be in vain.

The beast still struggles today, and employees of this beast wish to distance themselves from the connotations and baggage it carries. The saying goes: He who knows not history is DOOMED to REPEAT it.

KALENE SUTHERLAND

kalene_sutherland@yahoo.com

Portmore, St Catherine