The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Cable Bahamas yesterday said it was “confident” it can increase its existing 22,000 fixed-line subscriber base with December’s planned number portability launch, given the “pent-up demand” from Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) customers wanting to switch.

Dave Burrows, the BISX-listed communications provider’s marketing director, told Tribune Business that the three-month delay in launching number portability had cost it “deferred revenue” from residential and business customers who it knew wanted to leave BTC for its services.

While not speaking directly to the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) probe into whether BTC had acted in an anti-competitive manner by causing the planned September 3 launch of number portability to be aborted, Mr Burrows said how it was ultimately rolled out would determine how much market share Cable Bahamas is able to gain.

“We are most definitely believer in local number portability; it’s good for the market, and good for competition,” he added. “We’re looking forward to it, as we have been ready since the first of URCA’s dates. That’s been made clear.”

Number portability is vital to fostering competition and choice in the Bahamian communications market, as it will allow consumers to keep their existing numbers when switching to another operator - something they will be able to do from September 3, 2013, for fixed-line services only.

This will be especially valuable to Bahamian businesses, who no longer will have to spend time and money on informing customers of phone number changes. And it ensures they can make the switch at minimal cost to themselves.

“We have a pent-up demand,” Mr Burrows told Tribune Business. “We’re seeing it every day, with people saying that they’re waiting for number portability so they can bring their number over.

“There’s no question that there’s a pent-up demand, and we’re looking to bring as many on as possible before Christmas.”

BTC had previously asserted that the transition of its existing fixed-line customers from its ‘legacy’ infrastructure to the Next Generation Network (NGN) was why it was unable to meet the September 3 number portability deadline previously set by URCA.

With only 50 per cent of its fixed-line customers switched to the NGN by end-July 2013, BTC told URCA - late in the day - that the other half, still locked into the ‘legacy’ network, would be unable to enjoy number portability benefits by the target date.

It argued that upgrading the ‘legacy’ network for number portability would cost BTC a ‘material amount’ of investment in technology and other resources that, ultimately, would be obsolete and not worth the bother.

URCA, though, took a much different view, saying it was investigating whether the delay was an attempt by BTC to preserve its dominant market position and stifle competition by delaying the opportunity for its clients to switch to Cable Bahamas or other providers.

Tribune Business’s attempts to obtain comment from BTC on URCA’s findings, and investigation into its behaviour, ultimately proved fruitless despite Marlon Johnson, its vice-president of sales and marketing, telling this newspaper to call him back. Tribune Business calls to him then went unanswered.

Mr Burrows said Cable Bahamas hoped to “mitigate” any impact from the three-month delay to number portability’s launch, and said the company was “quite confident” it would expand market share in a niche reckoned to be 130,000-140,000 customers strong.

“The reality is that we’ve already put a significant dent in the market in a short period of time, two years, and are looking to continue that success,” he told Tribune Business.

“We are the first company to offer a complete national plan throughout the country...... There’s a lot depending on number portability as to what we’re able to achieve.

“People are loyal to their numbers. They go all the way back in family history, and the reality is that BTC has been around for 100 years.”

Mr Burrows said Cable Bahamas had already ramped up promotional activities in preparation for number portability, and added: “We’re already started up, and are busy selling and turning on customers.

“We have a two-day turnaround to get customers on to our network. That’s a very fast turnaround. We’re doing it at a clip now, and will continue to do so.”