The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Cable Bahamas is planning a 2021 adjustment to its TV channel packages to better reflect consumer demands and enhance its competitiveness against rival video streaming services.

Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider's president, yesterday told Tribune Business that the proposed "repackaging" involves channel changes rather than price increases after the plans were revealed by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA).

The communications sector regulator, in its just-released draft 2021 annual plan, said it planned to hold a public consultation on Cable Bahamas' proposed revisions during the 2021 first quarter so that impacted consumers could make their views known.

"In November 2020, Cable Bahamas submitted an application to URCA requesting approval for the repackaging of its RevTV service," URCA said. "URCA believes the repackaging application will be of significant interest to Pay TV consumers in The Bahamas.

"Therefore, prior to deciding on the application, URCA will conduct a public consultation to allow consumers a reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposed decision."

Mr Butler, explaining the rationale for the move, told this newspaper: "We are going to be looking at our product offering from a TV perspective, making sure we have what people are watching in our TV package and realigning our product to suit what customers really want.

"It's an adjustment to the line-up. It's really trying to reflect content that is more appropriate for consumers. We can determine what consumers watch and don't watch. We have to optimise and make sense of our TV offering to make sure it adequately reflects what consumers want and are prepared to pay for."

A source familiar with the planned changes, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Cable Bahamas was aiming to boost consumer choice and flexibility, plus give customers control of what they watch, by developing "tailored packages based on consumer needs and wants".

Noting that the pay-TV business is much-altered since Cable Bahamas entered the market in 1994, they added that the plans were also a response to the growing competitive threat provided by video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Pointing out that the industry was undergoing a period of dynamic, fast-moving change that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the source added: "The world has changed in terms of video consumption - how people consume and pay for it, and the impact this has on advertising and revenue streams. This is not specific to The Bahamas."

Cable Bahamas, they added, was simply responding to the change in viewing tastes and demands by tweaking its business model in a way that would enable it to continue delivering "shareholder value".

URCA, meanwhile, said the legal battles to determine whether it has regulatory authority to supervise Cable Bahamas' Freeport subsidiary, Grand Bahama Power Company and all utilities within the Freeport area had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The trial for the Grand Bahama Power Company matter was scheduled for March 2020. However, the national restrictions and corresponding health protocols affected the court’s ability to facilitate the trial. Consequential to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trial was postponed," the regulator added.

"The Cable Bahamas matter is also pending, and it is anticipated that the trial will follow the GB Power matter. Both matters, which commenced in 2016, remain of significant importance to URCA as the legally established regulator of electronic communications, and utilities, and energy in The Bahamas."

URCA continued: "The Communications Act and the Electricity Act empower URCA with the statutory and regulatory mandate to regulate both sectors. The ongoing litigation of these matters continues to challenge URCA’s legal jurisdiction to regulate electronic communications and electricity in the Freeport/Lucaya areas of Grand Bahama.

"The resolution of these matters is essential to URCA’s ability to fully comply with its sector-specific legislation and serve the interests of stakeholders across the archipelago. Protecting the interest of residents in every settlement on every island of The Bahamas, inclusive of Grand Bahama, remains a paramount mandate and objective of URCA."

The energy sector battle was sparked by GB Power's original action, filed on July 7, 2016, which challenged URCA's ability to license and regulate it on the basis that this "conflicts" with the provisions of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement as Freeport's founding treaty.

GB Power's position is that itself and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) "have been vested with the sole authority to operate utilities", including electricity generation and transmission and distribution, within the Port area until the Hawksbill Creek's expiration in 2054.

Cable Bahamas, the BISX-listed communications provider, is asking the same questions as GB Power in its separate legal action - whether URCA has the jurisdiction to regulate its telephony and Internet businesses in the Port area, which are carried out through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cable Freeport.