The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government has been urged to focus on introducing cell phone competition before 2014 in its Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) negotiations, rather than seizing back majority control, a well-known businessman describing the service as “dreadful” and “detrimental to business”.

Arguing that BTC, and its 51 per cent majority owner, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC)/LIME, would not have handled the 4G upgrade in the manner they did without the protection afforded by their cellular monopoly, Dionisio D’Aguilar said the company needed to be “heavily fined” for the subsequent poor service.

The Superwash president added that the Government’s focus in talks with CWC needed to be on amending April 2014 as the date when bids would be invited for a second cellular licence - something that has given BTC a three-year post-privatisation monopoly in the most lucrative area of telecommunications.

Given the time required for awarding a second licence, and for the new operator to build out its network, it will be 2015-2016 before cellular competition arrives in the Bahamas.

Suggesting that BTC’s attitude appeared to be one where it had “to collapse the existing system to get the new one to work”, and that Bahamians were expected to put up with sub-standard service for three months, Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business: “The effect that BTC has had on the business community is massive. They should be fined.

“This horrible, sub-standard cell phone service for as long as we’ve had to go through has had an enormously detrimental effect on one’s ability to conduct business in a modern environment.”

And he added: “Any monopoly should be deterred off doing this again, and URCA should be empowered to fine them heavily so they think twice about doing this. They should be fined for inconveniencing the public.

“The Government should not react by talking about re-nationalising; they should think about selling cell phone licences as fast as they can, as BTC is offering a sub-standard cell phone service and the best way to deal with that is competition.

“If Digicel was in here now, do you think they would have done it? No way.”

Just as with its 51 per cent majority stake, CWC is unlikely to give up its rights and terms in the privatisation agreement - negotiated with the former Ingraham administration - easily.

The cellular monopoly was part of the agreement, designed to maximise BTC’s price and give CWC plenty of time to prepare the business for competition. There are multi-million dollar penalties if the Government breaks, or changes, terms in the deal, that sum being set at $100 million for the first year.

Still, Mr D’Aguilar said the Christie administration was set to engage CWC over an issue “no one else cares about” - namely the 2 per cent stake that would take it from 49 per cent and minority influence to 51 per cent majority equity ownership.

“I want a cell phone system that works, and the only way to do that is get into the market as many different players as you possibly can,” he told Tribune Business.

“Get CWC to give up their monopoly. The Treasury is broke; you can’t afford to buy 2 per cent of BTC. The only thing to do is sell cell phone licences ASAP. That has the double benefit of getting money into the Treasury and getting competition into the sector. The quality of the cellular network is dreadful.”

And the Superwash president added: “It upsets me that we’ve rolled over and played dead over this. There’s no consequences for BTC. They haven’t been punished.

“This is where the Government should be protecting the consumer. We have no choice with BTC, none. We have to suck it up and deal with it. That’s what’s so frustrating.”