The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is still claiming 51 per cent majority control of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), raising fresh questions over the Government’s assertion to have regained majority ownership for the Bahamian people.

CWC’s newly-released 2013-2014 accounts, approved by its Board of Directors and external auditors, list the company on page 151 as having 51 per cent “ownership of ordinary shares in BTC” among its various subsidiaries and affiliates.

Given that the so-called ‘2 per cent’ deal was concluded in January 2014, and CWC’s year-end was March 31, with the accounts not audited until May, strongly indicates this cannot be an oversight.

Thus the CWC accounts appear massively at odds with assertions by the likes of Prime Minister Perry Christie, and lead government negotiator, Franklyn Wilson, that the Government successfully wrested ‘majority ownership’ back for the Bahamian people.

The compromise, ‘face saving’ deal that allowed both sides’ to claim victory, saw CWC deposit 5,093,200 of its shares in BTC into a foundation where they will be held in trust for the Bahamian people.

These shares amount to just under a 2 per cent stake in BTC, and CWC executives were not shy in the annual report about suggesting the ‘Foundation’ deal had achieved their key objectives.

Martin Roos, CWC’s newly-appointed chief executive for the Caribbean, wrote that the deal had boosted the company’s government relationship while ensuring it both retained management/Board control and enabled the company to consolidate BTC into its financial results.

“We also strengthened our relationship with the Government – our co-shareholder in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) – by agreeing to establish a local charitable foundation,” he said.

“The BTC Foundation will be funded through our contribution of 2 per cent of our BTC shareholding. We remain the largest overall shareholder and have retained management control and a majority on the BTC Board.”

The CWC annual report also revealed that BTC suffered a 2.2 per cent year-over-year revenue decline, the latter’s top-line dropping from $362 million in the year to end-March 2013 to $354 million. Operating profits, though, were up 7 per cent to $128 million.

BTC’s total non-current (fixed) assets still in operation rose slightly, though, to $380 million from $371 million year-over-year, and there was no writedown of the $63 million in BTC-related ‘goodwill’ being carried on CWC’s books.

The CWC annual report again emphasised just how focused the company is on maintaining its cellular market share as best it can, even though some observers believe competition will not arrive until 2016 or even early 2017.

CWC has effectively gained another full year of cellular monopoly, given that the Government’s 12-month timescale for a new operator to get going puts it beyond the company’s 2015 year-end.

Sir Richard Lapthorne, CWC’s chairman, said: “The challenges for the business have not receded. In particular we still face difficult economies in several Caribbean markets, intense mobile competition in Panama and liberalisation of the mobile market in the Bahamas later this year.”

And chief executive Phil Bentley added: “The performance of BTC in the Bahamas, our largest Caribbean market, continued to improve over the year as we launched new mobile and fixed networks, and prepared the business for mobile competition which is expected to arrive later this year.”

His Caribbean head, Mr Roos, said: “The launch of high speed LTE mobile data services in February 2014 gave our Bahamas customers access to services on a par with the United States, helping our business to prepare ahead of the expected introduction of mobile competition later this year.”

The CWC report also included testimonies from two Bahamian customers, one of whom allegedly switched back to BTC after transferring her fixed-line service.

Albertha Bartlett was quoted thus: ““Having been with BTC for many years, I thought I would try the competition and applied to have my landline number ported.

“Half-way through the process I discovered that the new provider wouldn’t be able to facilitate my alarm system. My family’s security is very important to me so I cancelled. BTC couldn’t have been nicer when I called and told them about it. BTC made sure I could receive and make calls on their network until I was switched back.”

And Peter Carey, a real estate broker and appraiser at Realty Team Bahamas, added: “As a busy real estate broker and appraiser, I certainly appreciated the responsive nature and helpful service during the set-up of our BTC Business Enterprise communication package.”