In a release issued Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance, which is overseeing the sale of BTC, revealed that the extension was granted after the initial meeting with BlueTel on Nov. 12 to allow the consortium time to provide the Tenders Commission with additional information.
“The Tenders Commission requested that BlueTel Consortium provide additional detailed information necessary for further evaluation of its bid.”
The release continued that, in order to provide sufficient time to review the requested information, a decision was made in accordance with section 11.3 of the Final Sales Rules to extend the negotiating period to 30 days.
This means that BlueTel Consortium will receive an equal negotiating period as the previous preferred bidder BahamaTel.
The Tenders Commission announced suddenly at the end of October the decision to discontinue negotiations with BahamaTel on the final day of the exclusive negotiation period, which ended Oct. 30.
The commission outlined reasons such as the need for specific investment and management commitments linked to the objectives of the government’s sector policy, price, costs and other transaction terms as the reason for the discontinuation of negotiations with BahamaTel the initial preferred bidder.
In an interview with The Guardian on Nov. 4, a week before negotiations with the Tenders Commission began, Lindberg Smith president of BlueTel expressed confidence going into the negotiations stating that his company would prove strong in the areas that BahamaTel was lacking as outlined by the Tenders Commission.
“I think…some of the things they highlighted as their weakness represents our strength,” he had said.
Mr. Smith also added that his company would be a better fit for the BTC, as the former preferred bidder had no major phone company with a significant level of experience aligned with them. He pointed out that his consortium had the backing of Deutshe Telecom one of the world’s largest phone conglomerates, which has successfully participated in privatisation processes in 17 other countries.
In addition he noted that there are also Bahamian partners within the consortium with 150 years of combined telecommunication experience in the Bahamian market.
In response to possibly raising the initial offer made by the consortium, Mr. Smith told The Guardian in this interview that: “We’re going to try and meet the government’s requirements.”
The Guardian was unable to get a response from BlueTel on this new development as the consortium is currently bound by the confidentiality agreement of the negotiation process. The Tenders Commission also advised in the release that it “does not expect to report routinely on substantive details or positions taken during negotiations.”
The release further warned that the bidders were also expected to “respect the confidentiality of the process.”
By Martella Matthews, The Nassau Guardian
