The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) suffered an almost 30 per cent year-over-year reduction in its mobile revenues, which is blamed on falling subscriber numbers and the increasing use of Over The Top (OTT) applications,

The decline was revealed in the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) annual report, which showed that BTC’s mobile revenues were down more than $77 million on 2014 and traditional levels.

“Revenues from cellular mobile services decreased significantly during 2015 to $175.965 million from $253.301 million in 2014, or a reduction of about 30 per cent,” URCA said.

“Operator feedback suggest that this decrease reflects not only reduced subscriber numbers but also an international user trend towards increased use of Over The Top (OTT) applications in lieu of traditional voice and messaging services.

“This shifts revenue from mobile voice and messaging services to mobile data services, which earns comparatively less revenue.”

Given that BTC still remains the Bahamas’ monopoly mobile provider, the revenue decline noted by URCA’s annual report applies exclusively to it. The figures provide some insight into why the carrier was eager to downsize its workforce again last year, given that mobile traditionally accounts for two-thirds of BTC’s top-line income.

OTT applications are apps or services, such as WhatsApp, Skype and Netflix, that provide a product over the Internet and bypass traditional distribution. Leon Williams, BTC’s chief executive, has already complained that their frequent use by consumers is eroding the company’s revenues.

Little mention was made, though, of the reductions in pricing and margin that will have been made as BTC prepares for the end of its exclusivity in mobile.

The URCA annual report provided precious little detail on when the second mobile licence would be awarded to Cable Bahamas, the bid winner, and the ‘NewCo’ it will manage and hold a significant minority equity stake in.

“As at the end of 2015, the Government was in negotiation with Cable Bahamas on the award of licences to the new provider,” the report merely said.

“It is anticipated that this process will be concluded in 2016, with services to be provided within six months of the award of licences.”

The total number of mobile subscribers in the Bahamas fell by 1.16 per cent year-over-year, from 314,842 or 311,175.

As a result, mobile penetration rates (the number of subscribers per 100 individuals) dropped from 86.50 in 2014 to 85.49 in 2015.

“By contrast, while overall mobile subscriber numbers decreased, mobile broadband subscriber numbers experienced significant gains,” the URCA annual report said.

“The number of pre-paid data subscribers increased by almost 7 per cent from 132,600 at the end of 2014 to 141,730 at the end of 2015. Postpaid data subscriber numbers more than doubled from 20,322 to 40,955 at the end of 2015.

“Mobile data penetration in the Bahamas, therefore stood at 50.19 subscribers per 100 population at the end of 2015.”