The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) is looking into Cable Bahamas’ recent failure to broadcast some NFL games, which sparked complaints from National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, among others.

“If you do research, you will see in other countries the regulator often fines a cable provider, makes them put something back on customers bills,” Mr Munroe told The Tribune yesterday, adding he wants URCA to hold the cable provider accountable.

“If I am one day late paying my cable bill, they give me a late fee of $5. I pay to watch content on basic cable. There are four channels I couldn’t find to watch anything on all day. So they should owe me, and they should owe everybody else with basic cable.”

URCA said in a statement yesterday that it is aware Cable Bahamas customers had NFL games blocked on certain channels on Sunday.

“Consumers have a reasonable expectation that their service should not be intentionally disrupted without notice and service providers have an obligation to inform their customers on changes to service ahead of time,” the regulator said in a statement, adding that many consumers filed complaints.

URCA said it is inquiring to understand what happened and will update the public if necessary.

 Cable Bahamas, meanwhile, apologised to customers for the interruption in NFL game broadcasts, saying it deeply “regrets the inconvenience”.

“Recognising the importance of reliable service, we are actively engaging with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) in a constructive dialogue to review and enhance our broadcasting processes and standards,” the company said.

Mr Munroe said a licensing issue likely prevented consumers from watching the NFL games.

 He said: “You see how Cable and Aliv bought the rights to Junkanoo, right, and ZNS can’t play it. I gather that BTC brought the right to the games, to play it on the network, and Cable didn’t. So they knew they couldn’t broadcast the games on those networks. So they deliberately put that message there. And they put an advertising message to say you have to get the NFL ticket, which means you would have to pay Cable more money.”

 “It’s sinister. They need to be punished for it. Let’s say they weren’t going to be able to put on the game. They should have gotten some other content to play, then I couldn’t complain. Go buy a Bahamian play. Go get rights to some soccer game, but you can’t not put anything on.”