Blue Telecommunications, one of three consortiums remaining in the competitive bidding process for 49 per cent of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), said Wednesday it strongly supports BTC’s decision to go ahead with a $100 million investment that will allow it to upgrade cellular service and increase capacity to Family Islands.
“We are aware that there are some who disagree with this decision and who say that the government and BTC shouldn’t be putting money into the telecommunications company because it is in the midst of being privatised,” said Lindbergh Smith, president of Blue Tel, a Bahamian-led group that includes Deutsche Telekom and Detecon Gmbh as its strategic partner.
Deutsche Telekom is the world’s largest private telecommunications company and second only overall to the telecommunications company of China, which is state-owned.
“Blue Tel not only strongly supports the decision to go ahead with the investment, but applauds the government and BTC for doing so and the reasons are clear,” Mr Smith said. “The need for improved service, upgraded wireless and expanded wire line service is urgent. Every day that goes by there is a tremendous loss of revenue, the complaints get louder and the system falls further behind. BTC employees are listening to complaints all day long and there is nothing they can do because the capacity just isn’t there. This, in our mind, is absolutely the right decision and the right course of action.
“The investment in an undersea submarine cable that will extend wire line service to Family Islands and particularly increase service to Exuma and the expansion of the wireless network is in the national interest to facilitate the opening of the Four Seasons and related properties in Exuma and secure other developments that are pending. We cannot ignore the need for immediate relief.”
Those who argue that the timing of the investment is wrong say that the bidding process is scheduled to close at the end of June and the new partner should be responsible.
“Even if the process goes according to plan, and the preferred bidder is announced June 30, the closing will not take place until October,” Mr Smith said. “Whoever the preferred bidder is, whoever the new partner is, must assume the fiscal responsibility and it is better to begin improvements now than to wait and allow the situation to fester. We have been advised that the Four Seasons which is by all accounts one of the most exquisite and premiere properties in all the Caribbean, we have been told they cannot open their doors until phone service is in place.
“How can you lure someone as an investor, watch as they pour $1 billion into your economy and then stand by and say, oops, sorry, we just don’t have enough capacity to provide you with phones. Can you imagine what it will do to our credibility as a nation?”
In addition to Deutsche Telekom and Detecon, Blue Tel includes a group of Bahamians with years of experience in telecommunications, the former international marketing director of Ericsson, advisors including PriceWaterhouseCoopers London and Canada and RH Kelly, developer of the British Colonial and other landmarks in Nassau as well as international banks and a private equity partner. It is the only bidder remaining that has partnered with a telecom provider of wireless, wire and Internet services.
The Nassau Guardian
