The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Cable Bahamas’ multi-million fibre-optic network investment will enable it to face down the competitive threat posed by Elon Musk’s Starlink and rival satellite operators, its top executive asserted yesterday.

Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider’s president and chief executive, told Tribune Business that Aliv Fibre’s “superior” technology will give it an advantage over the growing satellite challenge when it comes to the consistency and quality of customer experiences.

Speaking after Cable Bahamas unveiled what it described as a “short-term share buy back”, where it will repurchase its own shares from existing investors, he added that its new fibre-to-the-home network now passes at least 90 percent of New Providence’s homes and businesses and the company is now working to sign-up subscribers.

And, with $70m of the $85m New Providence network investment already spent, Mr Butler told this newspaper that with capital expenditure set to fall to a “business as usual” level of around $20m per annum as a result, Cable Bahamas is now well-placed to deliver greater value for its shareholders.

Pointing out that the share buyback was “foreshadowed” at the company’s recent 20204 annual general meeting (AGM), he confirmed that the move has been drive more by the need to address the lack of liquidity in its stock on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) than desires “to put a floor” under the current $3.08 share price.

“There seems to be quite a bit of lack of liquidity in the market,” Mr Butler explained. “We wanted to address the liquidity issues. It was not necessarily to put a floor [under the stock], but to make sure those shareholders who have needs have the ability to liquidate and realise the value of their investments as they so choose.

“Also, based on where we are on our programme to complete the actual roll-out of fibre-to-the-home in New Providence, we anticipate that being done in early 2025 - February or March... From a capital expenditure perspective as it relates to that, we expect our capital expenditure obligations to start to reduce significantly.

“As we ramp that down, and we had $95m in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) last year, that’s more cash available to common shareholders. We increased the dividend from six cents to eight cents per share in December, and we believe that positions us well from a valuation perspective.”

While the “short-term” share buyback is due to start on Monday December 16, and close on June 30, 2025, Mr Butler hinted it could be extended beyond Cable Bahamas’ financial year-end depending on what he described as “market dynamics” and the initiative’s success as determined by a Board of Directors review.

As for operational issues, he added that Cable Bahamas is also focused on expanding its Abaco fibre-to-the-home network beyond Marsh Harbour and the mainland to the cays in a bid to counter the threat posed by Starlink and its satellite Internet rivals. 

“While satellite is out there and on the horizon, we believe the technology of fibre is far superior to Starlink and others, so we’re making sure we give ourselves the opportunity to compete,” Mr Butler told Tribune Business. “They are two different technologies.

“They can start up very quickly as its wireless-based, but we see them as complementary. Where there’s no access to fibre satellite is a complementary technology. You’ll find many people have satellite and fibre. If you have an outage you need redundancy, and people seem to be using Starlink as redundancy. But they will be using a lot of data, don’t need any latency, and fibre is the way to go.”

While expecting to enjoy “incremental growth in market share” by “picking up some BTC customers” as a result of completing its fibre-to-the-home roll-out, Mr Butler said Cable Bahamas also wanted subscribers to compare the network experience to satellite services.

“We are making some significant changes,” he added.”A lot of the customer service issues are going to be tied to the fact people now have access to fibre. You look at the platform for TV, you look at the in-home experience with the Nokia app, which has made a big difference. 

“A lot of the issues had to do with people’s confusion about service areas, in-house coverage on TV, DVR-related issues, not having enough capacity etc, so there are certain issues we have resolved with the platform with Aliv Fibre.”

Conceding that ever-increasing programming costs continue to pressure Cable Bahamas’ expenses, Mr Butler said: “It’s still a real cost pressure for us so we continue to encounter it on a daily basis and see where we go with that. We compete with Netflix, Hulu, which are unregulated but, at the end of the day, we will continue to provide value even though TV is a diminishing part of our revenue.”

Cable Bahamas, in its 2024 annual report, said the continued roll-out of its Aliv Fibre infrastructure across New Providence promises to “unlock new revenue streams” associated with the expanded use of technology.

Confirming that it is still assessing the business case for fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and associated technology, Cable Bahamas informed investors: “We will continue to prioritise the expansion of our fibre technology, aiming to reach 30,000 subscribers by the end of 2025.

“This investment in network infrastructure will unlock new revenue streams, particularly in high-demand areas such as IoT (Internet of Things), smart city solutions and enterprise services, positioning us as a market leader in the digital era. We also expect strong growth from the continued deployment of fibre-optic broadband, enabling faster, more reliable Internet access for both residential and business customers.”

Unveiling its other goals for 2025, Cable Bahamas pledged: “Improving our customer experience remains a central pillar of our strategy. In 2025, we will focus on delivering personalised, seamless services across our mobile, broadband and TV platforms.

“The ongoing integration of AI-powered support and digital tools will enhance our ability to address customer needs quickly and efficiently, reducing churn and driving higher customer satisfaction. Our investment in digital services will accelerate, with a focus on monetising our streaming platforms and cloud solutions for corporate clients.

“As customers increasingly seek bundled services that combine mobile, broadband and TV, we are well-positioned to offer attractive, comprehensive solutions that strengthen customer loyalty and increase ARPU (average revenue per unit).”