The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) plans to “attack” Cable Bahamas on its home turf in response to losing its mobile monopoly, with its ‘fibre-to-the-home’ infrastructure set to pass 20,000 New Providence homes by end-March.

Phil Bentley, chief executive of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), BTC’s controlling shareholder, said the incumbent provider aimed to challenge its BISX-listed rival’s dominance in the TV and broadband Internet markets via new products and improved services/infrastructure.

Speaking to London-based investment analysts after CWC unveiled its results for the three months to end-December 2015, Mr Bentley said BTC had to “focus on our game” rather than worry about the impending loss of its mobile monopoly.

He conceded that “poor network quality” had, in the past, caused BTC to lose numerous corporate clients, but argued that CWC’s Bahamian subsidiary had begun to reverse this trend.

Mr Bentley, though, is unlikely to receive a warm welcome when he next stays at the British Colonial Hilton, which he described as “not the best hotel, to be honest with you”.

Given that the downtown Nassau resort has positioned itself to be the ‘leading property’ for corporate clients and international executives in town on business, such comments by an executive of Mr Bentley’s standing could negatively impact its reputation.

The remarks are also unlikely to please the British Colonial Hilton’s owner, China Construction America (CCA), which is currently in the middle of its $250 million development, The Pointe, immediately to the existing property’s west.

Mr Bentley, earlier in the conference call, outlined CWC’s strategy for countering the loss of BTC’s mobile monopoly when asked about the Bahamas’ liberalisation process by Deutsche Bank analyst, Robert Grindle.

“On mobile liberalisation, you really know as much as I, Robert, in terms of what you read,” Mr Bentley replied, alluding to the minimal amount of transparency and information made available to the public since Cable Bahamas was unveiled as the second licence’s winner.

“Cable Bahamas were awarded the spectrum, there’s a spectrum licence fee of over $60 million ($62.5 million) which has to be paid over, and then they’ve got to build their network out,” Mr Bentley continued, implying that Cable Bahamas was unlikely to launch its rival service imminently.

“The process is that they are creating a NewCo, which will still have a local Bahamian shareholding in there as well.

“I’m not aware that that company has been fully set up yet and capitalised.”

Mr Bentley’s reference to “a Bahamian shareholding” means HoldingCo, the company that will be incorporated to hold a majority 51 per cent stake in NewCo, the new mobile operator that will be managed by Cable Bahamas.

HoldingCo’s owners are intended to be Bahamian institutional investors, such as pension funds and credit unions, which will subscribe for their shares via a private placement.

Mr Bentley, meanwhile, said CWC and BTC were focused on enhancing their business, rather than worrying about what Cable Bahamas might do when it finally ends this nation’s mobile monopoly.

“Obviously what we’ve got to do is focus on our game, which is rolling-out fibre-to-the-home,” he told investment analysts.

“We’ve started that now in New Providence, Nassau. W should have some 20,000 homes passed by the end of this fiscal year [March 31], and we’ve got a budget to continue to continue to roll that out next year.”

Mr Bentley said BTC had also launched its Internet Protocol (IP) TV product in November last year, with plans to roll the service out nationwide through the final quarter of CWC’s financial year, which ends on March 31, 2016.

“We had the Prime Minister on the day singing our praises,” the CWC chief executive added of the IPTV launch.

“Combined with a very good LTE network, where you can now credibly watch a great TV experience on your mobile phone, that’s how we’re going to attack in the Bahamas.”

BTC’s strategy is take the battle to Cable Bahamas in the TV and broadband Internet markets, two categories the latter has long dominated, in a bid to compensate for the loss of mobile revenues and share as a result of liberalisation.

Cable Bahamas’ success in winning the second mobile licence has effectively turned the Bahamian communications market into a duopoly dominated by two large players.

The stage is now set for the BISX-listed company and BTC to go ‘head-to-head’ as quad-play providers across four markets - TV, Internet, mobile and fixed-line.

Turning to “the other side”, Mr Bentley said yesterday said: “We’ve done geo-mapping of all our bigger B2B customers.

“As you know, BTC lost a lot of B2B customers in the past because of their poor network quality, but by reinforcing our NPLS network, we are starting to see our B2B business picking up, which is giving us a little bit more focus.”

Mr Bentley’s comments on the British Colonial Hilton came when he was asked by an investment analyst how much CWC’s results would be impacted by the Caribbean’s relatively soft economic performance.

“We never try and blame the economy,” the CWC chief added. “We’ve always got to try and work with what we’ve got.

“I know it used to be a fairly common feature of CWC’s results in the past. We take it for what it is. I think they’ve had a pretty good tourist season.

“If I went on down to the Bahamas, the Hilton Bahamas there, which is not the best hotel, I’ve got to be honest with you, it’s always full. The same in Barbados. They’ve had a pretty good season.”