The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday hinted that the Government could be open to extending the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) cellular monopoly if Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) relinquished majority control of the company.

Mr Christie, who was a keynote speaker at CIBC FirstCaribbean International’s Conference, ‘Public Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Development & Financing’, said that anything was a possibility, but noting that the Gvernment was committed to the liberalisation of cellular services in its current term.

The Government currently owns a 49 per cent stake in BTC, with CWC owning 51 per cent.

“The question is whether or not I extend the time for them to hold and extend the date for liberalisation,” Mr Christie said.

“These are all issues that are on the table in my discussions. There is a clear point that I will not compromise on, which is that liberalisation must happen in my time, and that means I have a four-year window left before the next general election.

“Whoever is coming in as a result of liberalisation must be in and active with lower, competitive rates.”

He added: “Anything is a possibility. If they’re saying that I want you to think about this for the 2 per cent, then I’ll think about it. There are issues on the table for discussion.

“BTC, in the meantime, is going ahead with its work. We are acting on behalf of 49 per cent ownership of the people of this country. And it’s very important that we do not destabiliae the company by any discussions that are running parallel to their operations in the Bahamas.

“I have a date in mind. Liberalisation is supposed to take place in March 2014. Clearly, I have to move relatively quickly to be able to determine whether it’s going to be in April, May, June and July in terms of any extension or not at all. Our discussions are all-embracing. They involve good faith with the Government, whether or not it happens.”

The Government has appointed a four-member negotiating team comprised of Arawak Homes chairman Franklyn Wilson; former BTC chief executive Leon Williams; ex-Ministry of Finance legal adviser Rowena Bethel; and ex-attorney general and key confidant of Mr Christie, Sean McWeeney.

They began face-to-face talks with their CWC counterparts back in October, as the Christie administration forged ahead with plans to regain a controlling interest in BTC.

“I think the negotiations will be concluded whenever I decide to have the final meeting,” Mr Christie said yesterday.

“I have communicated to the leadership of Cable & Wireless (CWC) that there is no pressure. We are very anxious about all of these dropped calls. I told them that they have to prepare for liberalisation. That’s become an issue in our talks.

“The Government’s agreement with CWC is that liberalisation will start at the end of March as part of the discussions, and there being able to be flexible in the way that I would like them to be flexible.”

The Prime Minister added: “The difficulty with management control is that if we had done the deal ourselves, we would have agreed for them to have management control whoever the privatiaed partner was, because the whole idea of privatsation was to take advantage of the private sector’s capacity to efficiently manage the facility.

“We wanted to have influence on the Board of Directors that the 51 per cent ownership would have given. It’s not easy when a deal was done, and people who have a formal right to the 51 per cent are being asked to relinquish 2 per cent.

“However long it takes, it is the principle involved in the process that we’re working with, and we are trying to do it where the value is not diminished because of what we are doing. The shares have value. Bahamians own 49 per cent of BTC. I cannot afford to diminish the value of it.”