Confident of their ability to win the bid for 49 per cent ownership in Bahamas Telecommunications Company, president of Blue Telecommunications (Bahamas) Ltd., Mr. Lindbergh Smith stated no downsizing is expected to take place at the company.
Instead, there will be much expansion, he told The Guardian during an interview Tuesday.
He was responding to reports of fears some BTC employees have about job security should a new strategic partner be selected.
“This is fundamentally based on our strategic plan of evolving BTC,” he said. “We see the evolution of the company hence the need to expand it. We believe that based on all international benchmarks, that BTC is right-staffed today.”
The Blue Tel team is comprised of retired ex- Batelco executives including Lindbergh Smith, president; Barrett Russell, chairman; Dirk Muenning, Detecon Executive; Gary Joubert, chief marketing officer; Cedric Farquharson; David Hanna; Ricardo Rolle; Andre Weech and Dr. Barry Russell.
The team also consists of prominent leaders from the financial and local business community, as well as persons from the various islands of The Bahamas, who have committed themselves to assist in those jurisdictions.
The Blue Telecommunications team further consists of Detecon & Diebold International, the management arm, which has extensive experience in, the privatisation process of telecommunication companies and is one of the four main pillars of T-Systems (T-Mobile) and Deutsche Telekom.
It is also partnering with the large financial advising and accounting firm, PriceWaterHouseCoopers (London and Canada) and three large international financial institutions supporting its financial offering upon selection.
Taking a look at the various areas of BTC, formerly Batelco, that may need to be re-positioned, the president said careful focus would be placed on those areas that could have a powerful affect on the overall structure of the company.
Over the past few weeks, Blue Tel has expressed their concerns to improve BTC, should they obtain 49 per cent of the company. With three other companies in the race, Blue Tel is determine to make their presence known to the public while showing their “enormous capabilities” to the ‘powers that be.’
Deutcsche Telekom is known for its familiarity with assisting newly privatised companies to overcome the early challenges that come with the process. They were also known for their knowledge of managing and operating wireless, wire line as well as integrating and managing evolving telecommunication companies.
“We hope as a bidder that the Government and the Tenders Commission do an extensive due diligence on our operator because Detecon will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of BTC once we move forward,” Mr. Weech said. “This is a critical point we want to convey, this is what we have done throughout all of our presentations to the commission and that is to expose them to the value and tying into national standards and procedures that Detecon uses in its operations and the value that gives to BTC and The Bahamas as a whole.”
Over the years, Bahamians have had little faith in the dependability of BTC’s delivery of service. However, according to Mr. Smith, Blue Tel intends to change the public’s view.
To begin this process, Blue Tel plans to have the public knowledgeable about the important role Batelco plays in the telecommunications industry of the country. Blue Tel also intends to increase the exposure level of BTC employees by illustrating the importance of preparing for competition in a global environment.
“The environment in The Bahamas will be facing international competition, hence it is very important to have a global player such as Deutsche Telekom & Detecon,” said Mr. Smith, “as our strategic partner who can provide the type of technology, training and exposure that the BTC employees would need in order to provide the level of service Bahamians are expecting.”
BTC has encountered a lot of problems with maintaining technological equipment, especially the ones which service the Family Islands.
The telecommunications expertise provided by Blue Tel is expected to add “great measure” to their plan of ensuring state-of-art technological equipment is provided for faster and more dependable service particularly to the Family Islands.
Part of the Government’s mandate regarding its public sector policies is its commitment to providing universal services. To this end, Mr. Andre Weech, an executive director at Blue Tel said it is critical for people to see BTC as a national organisation, which goal as the backbone of telecommunications in the country, is to enhance the present infrastructure of the company.
“It is our commitment that a child in Inagua should have the same privileges of high speed Internet access as a child in a school in New Providence,” said Mr. Weech. “As we look to develop the Family Islands, we are going to use telecommunications as a catalyst. This is observed as a national plan as well as a business plan to increase revenue and customer base.”
None of the Bahamian executive team from Blue Tel is expected to be involved in the daily operations of BTC. Instead they will lend themselves in a consultative capacity to ensure that Deutcsche Telekom, its financial partners, the Government and BTC’s employees are able to dialogue with them as they act as a transition team.
“We are moving a Government-based entity to a private one and there are any number of concerns that may come up,” Mr. Smith said. “We believe that the individuals involved can lend themselves because of their past experience to strengthen the bond between the new partner, the Government, the employees and the public.”
If and when Blue Tel owns half of BTC, it is anticipated that much of the human resources infrastructure and employee union involvement rights will remain in place.
Even though the Blue Tel executives state they do not know what BTC is worth, they are calling on the Government to evaluate and reveal this information as it would assist them (Government) in obtaining the proper monetary value of BTC’s 49 per cent share.
By Lisa Albury, The Nassau Guardian
