The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company's (BTC) ultimate owner yesterday said there was "light at the end of the tunnel" in its battle to fight off Aliv's competitive threat.

Balan Nair, Liberty Latin America's chief executive, told a conference call it was "encouraged" by BTC's numbers on both its fixed-line and mobile segments, with the subscriber loss in the last category the lowest it has been since Aliv entered the market in the 2016 fourth quarter.

Speaking as he unveiled Liberty Latin America's (LiLac) 2018 first quarter results to analysts, Mr Nair said: "On BTC we are encouraged by the numbers there, both on the fixed side and on the mobile side as well.

"You'll see the lowest [quarterly] loss since our competitor showed up on the island. Is it sustainable going forward? We think we see light at the end of the tunnel there, and we have a new management team on the ground, on the island.

"We've done a significant..... a very good job, both commercially as well as the cost structure for that business, so I think we're seeing some positive signs out of that."'

The Liberty Latin America chief was responding to a question by analyst Kevin Rowe, of Rowe's Equity Research, who asked whether BTC's reduced rate of subscriber loss during the 2018 first quarter was evidence that it was "at or near stability" in terms of customers switching to Aliv.

Mr Nair did not name the "management team" he was referring to, but presumably this is the all-Bahamian duo of chief executive, Dexter Cartwright, and chief operating officer, Andre Foster.

His comment on the "cost structure" also likely alludes to the latest voluntary separation package (VSep) offered to BTC employees, which was taken up by around 95-100 persons - including around 20 managers - as the carrier continues to realign its business model following the recent loss of its mobile monopoly.

Earlier in the conference call, Mr Nair said Aliv's continued inroads into BTC's market share were partly responsible for Liberty's net loss of 11,000 mobile subscribers during the three months to end-March 2018.

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), BTC's immediate controlling shareholder that Liberty acquired in May 2016, saw total mobile subscribers fall by 20,000 during the 2018 first quarter.

"Compared to the prior three quarters at CWC, the aggregate mobile attrition reflects a modest improvement driven in part by the Bahamas. They experienced the lowest quarterly loss since the 2016 fourth quarter," Mr Nair said.

He added that CWC also saw a 3 per cent "rebased decline in mobile residential revenue due to the competition in the Bahamas".

Not everyone is likely to be convinced by Mr Nair's assertion that there is "light at the end of the tunnel", and that BTC has turned the corner on the threat posed by Aliv - which is already thought to have gained 30 per cent market share.

Tribune Business yesterday revealed how BTC's net profits fell by at least $30 million, or 75 per cent, year-over-year in 2017 as a result of competition's pressure on not just subscriber numbers but pricing and margins.

BTC's 2017 full-year net earnings were down 71.3 per cent at $11.4m, compared to the $39.7m profit it enjoyed for the last nine months of 2016 - the last period in which it enjoyed a mobile monopoly prior to Aliv's launch in November 2016.

This suggests that BTC's full year-over-year profits comparison could have been down by as much as 80 per cent, given that the telecommunications carrier was likely on track for a near-$50m "bottom line" in 2016 based on its nine-month performance.

The figures also revealed that the Government and 'BTC Foundation', as non-controlling BTC shareholders, received no dividend in 2017 compared to the $12.6m payout they collectively enjoyed in 2016.

BTC's total mobile subscriber base stood at 251,100 at the end of the 2018 first quarter, with pre-paid customers having fallen by 3,400 to 224,700 since the start of the year. Post-paid subscribers were down by 400 to 26,400.

Excluding its mobile business, BTC's customer numbers (revenue generating numbers) were said to have grown by 1,200 during the first quarter, with video (TVB) subscribers up by 800 and Internet increasing by 500.

Fixed-line phone customers fell by 100, but the data shows BTC is finding it tough going to make inroads into a TV and Internet market dominated by Cable Bahamas, Aliv's controlling and managing shareholder.