The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BTC CEO Leon Williams yesterday dismissed assertions that mobile competitor Aliv's entrance into the market could force the company to make additional job redundancies to avoid incurring any losses.

Mr Williams, during a press conference at BTC headquarters, said there have been "no discussions of downsizing" between him and his superiors in connection with Aliv's impact on the market.

Similarly, National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas (NCTUB) President Bernard Evans said he sees "no justification" for the company to conduct any layoffs at this point, referring to the many layoffs the company made in preparation for competition when acquired by Cable and Wireless in 2011.

NewCo, Aliv's operating company, was awarded the second mobile operator licence in July of last year. The Utilities Regulations and Competitions Authority (URCA) has already mandated that BTC allow Aliv to lease and utilise portions of its network infrastructure, until the latter completes construction of its own, so that competition can be brought more rapidly to Bahamians wherever they are living in the Bahamas.

In November, a BTC insider told The Tribune that revenue from mobile customers represents 70 cents of every dollar made by the company. The insider explained that pre-paid mobile customers accounted for more than 90 per cent of that share.

The insider also said that the telecommunications provider would be effectively "crippled" if incurred losses met or exceeded 30 per cent.

When asked if BTC anticipates any downsizing as a result of Aliv's entrance in the market, Mr Williams said: "Let me suggest that as I sit here now there has been no discussions of downsizing by my bosses to me. Certainly we've got an (annual operating plan) to make, certainly Cable and Wireless acquired the assets of BTC back in 2011. Since then Cable and Wireless acquired Flow in 2014. Since 2014, 2015, Cable and Wireless, the entire thing was acquired by Liberty Global."

He added: "We've had four chairmen in the last five years. So that tells you the speed at which telecommunications (change)…With each new chairman comes a new vision, comes a new mission and we could be on the cuff of having another chairman between now and Christmas."

Mr Evans, weighing in on the matter, said the company, via Cable and Wireless, previously let go close to 1,000 employees "to ensure that when competition comes we should be able to ride out that storm until it levels off and we find out what Aliv is really about, if it's really going to impact us to the point where we can't survive."

"…What happened since 2011 to now, BTC has lost almost 900 if not 1,000 employees in preparation for competition," he said. "Now that competition is here, well, as far as we see it, we are prepared for that.

"We have made the sacrifices. We offloaded. We have had our staff, those who remained were stretched and still stretched, asked to pick up the slack for those who left.

"So I don't expect of any magnitude, any kind of downsizing to come about as a result of the competitor coming in or the competition coming in or being introduced, but we know that in some cases we're understaffed. And if (Mr Williams) wants to admit he would like to have additional staff too. But then he has bosses who want to keep squeezing out of the remaining employees, work with what you have, try to resort to this new way of doing business of outsourcing and contract workers and all that kind of stuff.

"But to answer your question, for us we're saying that we don't see any more downsizing being justified. Not here, not now, not soon."

The comments by both gentlemen came during a press conference to announce a new mobile plan for civil servants in honour of this week's pre-Labour Day festivities.

Mr Williams said the new plan offers a free mobile phone upon sign up, free calls between members, free text messages between team members, one month free rental service and 50 per cent off the security deposit.

Officials also said BTC will begin its "Civil Service Pop-Up Store" experience, where it take the offers to various offices, making it easier to sign up for the plan.

BTC also announced its $20,000 sponsorship of the annual Sir Randol Fawkes Labour Day Parade.

"When you're a part of the BTC family, the possibilities are limitless," Mr Williams said. "As the largest employer in this country still remains the civil service, we felt it imperative to introduce a special mobile option. By adding features like free calls to members, we are giving even more value to our customers."