The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Regulators fined Aliv $735,000 for failing to hit one of the deadlines for the nationwide build-out of its mobile communications infrastructure, it has been revealed.

Details were disclosed in the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) just-released 2019 annual plan, which certified that The Bahamas’ second mobile operator completed the roll-out some 17 days after the June 30, 2018, target.

However, URCA decided against imposing any further fines other than the one for the Exuma, Andros and Bimini build-out, as it deemed the delays were not Aliv’s fault – singling out the difficulties in sealing facilities sharing agreements with the rival Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

“On July 17, 2018, Aliv reported to URCA that it had completed all coverage and service requirements of Aliv’s individual spectrum licence,” the regulator said.

“URCA has reviewed the coverage report and issued Aliv with a Certificate of Completion on November 30, 2018, certifying that Aliv had completed all of its roll out requirements by July 17, 2018, some 17 days past the deadline required by its licences.

“It should be noted that in respect of Phase 1b roll-out, URCA levied a penalty of $735,000 as a result of Aliv’s failure with delayed roll out (in particular, completion of roll-out on Exuma, Andros and Bimini).

“But URCA decided that delays by Aliv in meeting certain other deadlines were not wholly within Aliv’s control due to challenges in obtaining sharing on facilities owned by BTC.”

Looking ahead to 2019, URCA said Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) small scale renewable generation (SSRG) programme was “lagging behind” National Energy Policy (NEP) targets in terms of uptake and anticipated demand.

“URCA has approved and operationalised the Small Scale Renewable Generation (SSRG) of BPL’s renewable energy plan,”URCA added.

“While this plan has made access to 100kW (kilowatts) or less systems available to residential and small commercial subscribers, the uptake is lagging behind National Energy Plan (NEP) goals and targets, and does not reflect the anticipated demand based on the benefits of the plan.

“In this regard, URCA intends to enhance its efforts to promote the SSRG programme by taking the renewable energy message to the end user. URCA will seek to stimulate stakeholder participation by providing access to subject matter experts via pop-ups, social media and apps, and also to consider other more tangible measures for increasing participation in this programme and generally increasing the small-scale use of renewable energy in The Bahamas.”

As for utility-scale renewable energy, URCA has given BPL until end-August 2019 to produce a plan for this area.

“The Electricity Act states that the REP (Renewable Energy Plan) was to be provided within six months of the coming into operation of the Act,” URCA said.

“However, BPL has advised URCA that it lacked the internal capacity/resources to develop the utility scale portion of the plan and requested an extension to August 31, 2019.”